Fun with Grandma and Granddad!

While Mike and I attended the National Youth Gathering with the highschool group from Point of Grace, Noah got to spend 5 days having a blast with Grandma and Granddad (and the rest of the family) in Angleton.  This was the first time for both of us to be gone from him for more than about 24 hours.  He did great (and so did we)!  We talked everyday on the phone to check in and say hi...finally by the last 2 days he started asking me "When coming home Momma?".  It was sweet.  And made me a little sad.  But really overall he did great!

They went to the zoo in Houston on Saturday along with Uncle Thomas and Aunt Kristi.  He got to spend lots of time with G.G. (great-grandmother).  Hung out at Bo's, went to the park, swam multiple times, and went to the beach.  It's wonder he didn't sleep for 5 days straight after he got home (maybe Grandma and Granddad needed that sleep too!) 

At the Houston Zoo

For some reason this pic of my brother with the stroller makes me laugh...

Hanging with G.G.

Playing at Bo's-Just like Mom and Aunt Kristi and Uncle Thomas used to

Beach time!

Pool time at Peggy's

More pool time with cousins at the Rec Center

Fun at the park

Seem Noah can always find drums wherever he goes...

Fourth of July

We enjoyed a fun, quiet 4th of July weekend with just our family at home.  Our new cover to our patio was finally completed just in time for the weekend.  And it was actually nice enough to be outside long enough to enjoy it which was also a big plus.  Swimming, grilling, playing in the back yard and watching fireworks.  What a great time!

Noah loved his little flags we got from our special 4th of July service at church that morning and played with them all day.  In our new neighborhood, we're pretty close to where Pflugerville sets off the city's fireworks.  Instead of fighting the crowds out at the lake where the official watching is done, we packed up some lawn chairs and an ice chest and made our own little party in the church parking lot (only about 2 minutes from home).  Definately not the same experience as being right under the fireworks as they pop off overhead, but was totally worth it when we only had to drive 2 minutes to get home rather than fight the crowds for an hour more more like we heard some people had to do.  Noah loved the fireworks and we did get to see some big ones just from our driveway from people around us shooting off their own.  Good times. 

We are so thankful for the freedom we have--in our country and the freedom we have in Jesus!  Thanks to all the men and women who serve so we can enjoy those freedoms.

New covered patio along with new outdoor furniture

Brownsville Zoo

When we were on acation in South Padre, we took a short trip over to Brownsville to go to the zoo. We'd taken Noah to the zoo one other time when he was an infant, so this was his first trip where he knew what was going on. He was excited to go and talked for several days in advance about all the animals he would see. We'd ask what he thought he'd see at the zoo and he'd say "Little bit of monkeys, little bit of lions, little bit of giraffes...(changing animal names to whatever he was thinking about at that moment)".

We didn't know what to expect from the zoo. It was actually pretty good. Some parts had a good amount of shade which was nice. We were disappointed that we didn't get to see any elephants and they only had a female lion that we could barely see. But there were plenty of other animals.

Noah liked it, but got more impatient that we'd expected. I think a lot had to do with the heat. We tried stopping for an icee but that ended up giving him a brain freeze so that didn't help with the crankiness. I was fully expecting him to crash in the car on the way back thinking he was cranky because it was close to naptime. But once we got in the car and he was in the a/c for a while he was a completely different kid.

We still talk about the different animals we saw so I know he did enjoy some of it and he likes looking at our pictures too.

Trying to kiss like the hippos were