Monumental Day

The Tuesday we were on vacation was a pretty monumental day. Not only was it our 9th anniversary but it was also Rambo's second birthday. Clearly he was meant to be ours, right?

We spent most of the day here...

...and enjoying this...

...but we did eventually venture out for Tex Mex...

...and a few pictures...

...before going golfing yet again!

Clearly the girl was ecstatic...

...and she played really well until she got bored...

...which was right about the time this got two holes in ones. Back to back.

No, I have no idea why she's giving the "Gig 'em" sign. It's like I don't even know her sometimes...

...but the scenery was definitely beautiful...

...and it was the perfect way to mark to celebrations. :-)

Beach Bums

Our sand and sun adventures continue with a lazy Sunday morning. I went running while my parents and Tonto made a ginormous breakfast. Then we settled in for some snuggling...

...and modeling...

...before following breakfast up with a ginormous lunch. Soon it was time for my parents to head back to reality so Tonto and I hit the beach again while the girl decided to "chill at the house." Seriously - who hangs out in the house while this is outside?!?!

Because I have an issue with just relaxing and doing nothing all day, I ended up talking one of the two into venturing out with me later in the day...

...while this one - again - stayed at the house.

We actually went golfing and I was beating him (badly) going into the last hole. Then he turned on the intimidation factor and we ended up tying. It was not good....

But I had spent the majority of the day here so I was pretty relaxed :-)

On Monday the adventurous spirits in the house won out and we headed here...

...and I made her pose for a picture where it actually looks like I'm taller. Looks can be deceiving, y'all.

It was a beautiful day...

...with ton o' fun in the sun...

...and waves, rapids, slides and rides galore...

We are serious waterpark junkies and hit one up on every vacation. Always one of my very favorite days. And this one was certainly no exception.

And then we all went home and passed out. Because the next day was a big one... :-)

Life's a Beach

So...we're finally back in business on the ol' blog. Our internet is hooked up again our computer even got some updating since it apparently got a bit "jostled" during the move. Did you know memory sticks will not work if they're snapped out of their resting places? :-)

What this means is I'm now (finally) uploading all of our vacation pics. So, you know, prepare your retinas...

We arrived in Jamaica Beach on Friday afternoon and my parents arrived a few hours later to hang out with us for the weekend. It was absolutely beautiful out. This was the view from our balcony. There was hardly ever anyone on this beach other than us. So, basically, it was perfect.

The first evening was pretty quiet but included lots of eating, hanging out and listening to the waves and even a nighttime stroll on the beach.

That night, though, the girl and I woke up to hail hitting the hurricane shutters. It was truly a pretty rough storm. I personally don't believe that type of weather should be legal during August in Texas but it does explain the lighting of the pics I took the next morning while Tonto and Rambo played on the beach.

So...

Precious. Right?

We spent a few hours on the beach and Rambo joined us for maybe 30 minutes. Let's say he's not a beach boy. Or one who likes change. Or strange people. He spent the rest of the day here.

After fun in the sand, we headed to The Strand where the girl talked Tonto into a henna tattoo.

And then we did a whole lot of window shopping. If you know my mom, you realize she wore all of us out. :-)

The good thing about the henna tattoo was that Dave decided it entitled me to as many pics of the girl as I wanted. Score!

We eventually made our way to La King's where T and I had dessert before dinner (hello, old timey soda fountain sundaes!) and we all watched the master candy maker whip up some watermelon taffy. This man is amazing, y'all, and fresh taffy will change your world.

We decided on Fisherman's Wharf for dinner and even ate outside, which accomplished two things: one, the lighting was HORRIBLE and, two, my hair took a beating. But it was delicious...

See, she even smiled! :-)

After dinner we took a stroll around Pier 21...

...and saw the Elissa...

...before Taylor decided to take pics of us...

...and you should be happy that I'm only sharing two because the kid would NOT stop. And probably took 50 frames, which included a whole lot of insanely funny faces. :-)

Shortly after this photo, I passed out on the couch. Why? Because the beach life is exhausting. Or something like that... 

Resilient

As some already know, last week was a rough one for my girl. Without going into all the details we'll just say she and 70 of her friends were cut from the school volleyball team. Yes, the child who has been playing for three years, won awards and has a vertical of 7'11".

No, that is not a typo.

But...if there's one thing I know about Taylor - and was exhibited throughout her devastating elbow injury - it's that she is incredibly resilient. So we took one night to be sad/angry/irritated and the next day we put our new plan into action.

Part of that plan was trying out for Texas Legends Volleyball Club last Sunday afternoon. We knew an email would come later that evening letting us know if she'd made the club or not. Well, it didn't come until 10:30pm. By that time, she had decided there was no way she'd been good enough and I was heartbroken (again) for my girl because I felt helpless.

This was something I couldn't fix.

But the email finally came and it began with "Congratulations!"

And last night we took her contract up and visited with the coach/owner who said my girl "rocked out and had an amazing tryout." And she is soooo excited, y'all. And I'm incredibly thankful for a sweet friend who commiserated with me when I needed it and then told me about Texas Legends.

So, yes, V is still for Volleyball.

And I can't wait to see this one rock out.

And maybe she'll even get to keep #7. :-)

This and That

So it actually dropped below 100 degrees this past weekend, which caused most Texans to declare it to be fall. Well, I've been around this rodeo long enough to know it's a big ol' tease so I'm not biting. I didn't complain, though. And I may have even worn jeans to Home Depot. 

So it wasn't an incredibly exciting weekend but it was very productive. It started by me learning that something my husband has been telling me for years (that I did not believe AT ALL) is actually true. Apparently when you drive this, high school kids really do rev their engines and requests races. Who knew?

Friday night was the first Midway football game. They beat A&M Consolidated, which was awesome.

And I got to hang out with these three and hear their girly giggles for a bit before they went to hang with their friends. It did my heart good, y'all, after a rough middle school week.

Saturday morning I marveled that - two weeks in - everything in our backyard is still green. Obviously I'm not in charge of this area.

Rambo was feeling rather studious that day...

...and I was once again ignored by people I know (very well) out and about because they didn't recognize me without hair and makeup. Say what?!?!

Later I painted the guest room (it was pink!) while watching a whole bunch of college football.

Sunday morning brought a nauseous Taylor due to allergy issues. I let her sleep in while I (finally) got around to actually cleaning my house. Can I just say it's difficult to paint, decorate, redo AND keep a house clean at the same time?!?!

She had a club volleyball tryout during the afternoon and after I picked her up, I went outside to repaint the front door. It has blackout screens on the glass when we moved but it's so pretty we took them off. So I had to putty some holes and ended up painting the whole thing. And I even found a few of my fall decorations. So, you know, score!

Also, this lives next door. I realize it's not a Charger (it's a Nova) but it still makes me want to meet the neighbors, ask if I can drive it, and have someone call me Daisy. Just sayin'...

Oh, and I would be remiss not mention that we now have NFL Sunday Ticket (thanks for a free season to get us hooked, DirecTV!) and it may have changed my life. Or at least the Sunday football viewing aspect anyway...

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Weekly Top 10 - It's Back!

With the start of a new school year, it would appear we're settling back into our old routines. Basically, we're busy and running all the time. And it's totally cool. Except that my house still isn't completely put together...once that happens, it'll all be gravy. Until then, you get pics from my phone... :-)

1. Rambo attended his first day of "school" as a 2-year-old. His Highness enjoyed being driven about town. Obviously.

2. Now that vacation is over, I'm off carbs again. That means these are my best friend. And most of my diet.

3. While looking for something to wear for last weekend's Baylor game victory, these called my name. It would have been incredibly rude not to answer.

4. I had these made for the girl about 18 months ago (for the Texas Bowl) but she's now outgrown them so, you know, GAMEDAY SHOES!

5. Our house is beginning to look like a home. In certain areas anyway.

6. Me and my dad tailgating. He's a Red Raider but wanted everyone to know that "smart Raiders" now wear green and gold. 

7. Sometimes it's so hot you have to change hair midstream. Thankfully one of my girlfriends had gifted me with this amazing hat a few hours earlier! Oh, and that's one of my other besties :-)

8. And that would be my boy Kaeron Johnson in the white hat and sunglasses. Unfortunately, he's suffered a career ending injury but he was on the sidelines with the team. And my husband yelled at him so loudly (from Row 18!) that he actually heard him. We were rewarded with a salute...

9. Thanks to DirecTV guys who work on Labor Day, we have now rejoined the 21st Century. Holla!

10. Our office is now Baylor green, which I think makes me incredibly Baylor Bold. That will only make sense if you keep up with our marketing but - trust me - it's clever.