San Antonio and Sea World...again!

Daddy and Jakey at the Sea Lion show

Mommy and Jake on the Shamu roller coaster! I think he rode it 5 times, which was fine since there was no line. I was just glad that I fit!


Before we left Gran and Lissa's house that morning...

Daddy and Jake waving...again...no line for Shamu!

My boys!

We got there at the wrong time to feed the dolphins, so we just had to settle with watching and trying to pet them.

Letting our boy cool off and get some energy out!

You can see him smiling, it just melts me!

He would ride rides all day if we'd let him, he's just like both of us. We love to ride!

Oh, and eating makes him pretty happy, too. :) Pizza!

Shamu! We hadn't seen the new show, "One Ocean".

Asleep in the stroller before we left.

And then again most of the way home =)

This past weekend we went to San Antonio on a whim. Of course, why not go- we won't be doing much on a whim in a few weeks when baby Seth gets here. I needed to exchange my bridesmaid dress for Haley's wedding next Thursday (and there was a destination maternity on the way into town instead of driving an hour from our house), Jake had been asking to see Lissa and Gran (who live there and have plenty of extra bedrooms), and we already had season passes. And we'd really like to make it back before the end of the year so we can go with the rest of the family, but atleast we got to go this 2nd time, in case we don't make it back again. We had a perfect day of family fun and I know we will have these memories forever!

PS- If you're wondering when the perfect time to go to Sea World is, it's now! Basically the weekends on the off seasons like spring and fall are less crowded than a weekday during the summer is what we've found. There really weren't very many people anywhere, and it was so nice!

Kemah Boardwalk!

Jake and Mommy (he has a mouth full of food :)

Jake and Daddy eating ICE CREAM!

We walked around the aquairium

On the train!

Playing in the bubbles

The weekend before last (Labor Day Weekend) we took a quick trip to Kemah. It wasn't planned for that day, but it was beautiful outside, Jeremy was done working early and we had Kemah on our list of things to do with Jakey for a long time! Jeremy and I have been there lots together, with family and friends but not alone with Jake. It was so much fun! We ate at Cadillac Bar, rode the train, rode the ferris wheel, ate ice cream, walked on the boardwalk and Jake played in the bubbles. We had a great night and can't wait to go back again!

Our Water Baby...

Isn't much of a baby anymore! He is beginning to get around this week on his own in the pool. On Tuesday of last week we went to the pool with our friends Jill and Christina and their kiddos. That day Jake would push me away -even in deep water. I guess he really was ready to spread his wings...he didn't sink! That day he did great and would swim maybe 5-7 feet before needing help.

Today we went back to the pool with my parents, and with the camera in tow. He was just getting warmed up in these videos, I was telling him to practice and get used to being in deep water again. Then....the rain came! Atleast we got a couple of videos and rainchecks too since Jer and my parents don't have pool passes. We will go again soon!

But for now, here are some videos of our lil fearless 2.5 year old water baby. Hopefully we'll get even better video next time! Now I'm having to decide if I'm still gonna want him to take lessons or just let him learn on his own now that he's begun on his own.

As always, we are so proud of our lil Jakey! =) It's so fun watching him grow and learn and we feel so very blessed to be his Mommy and Daddy.

Gruene and Canyon Lake!

Jeremy and I walked down to the water and this was our view...

Walking back from the water to the house (This 7.5 month preggo mama barely made it back up in the 100+ degree heat!)

Back of the house/Volleyball set-up

Sweet, sweet boy!

big jump!!

love this baby face!

Gruene, TX

The pool and lake view from our backyard!

Aunt Starr and Jakey

Our family in Gruene...love that place!!

On the boat!

big jump to uncle Shad!!

love the crossed feet :)

Kaleb and Aunt Starr

Shad and Court

Me and my big baby :)

Before he jumped in the lake wearing his glasses...

One happy captain!

We packed last Fri and Sat with fun in Canyon Lake and Gruene with Jeremy's family. It is so gorgeous, I've been several times and forget how clean and clear and cool the lake water is every time! We also love going thru the cute shops in Gruene and eating at Gristmill! Yummmm!! =)

Some of our favorite quotes from Jakey this weekend:

"Where's Daddy's gwasses? (pause) They're at da bottom of da lake!!"

"That's Papa, not Papaw, Papa."

And, as we're passing a road construction site... "That's a big crane, Mommy. Not a big train...a big C-Crane!" =) He loves to show us that he's not confused and corrects himself when two words are very close and easy to get confused. It's our favorite!

Port Aransas 2011!!

16 of the 17 people in our family who went! Yummy seafood!

Mom, Jon and Lissa takin' the boat out to ride the waves in...


The "grandkids" in our family

Haha--Haley's fiance Kris catchin' some zzz's on the way to Port A- using Jakey's blankey to hide the sunshine!

The sweetest and best little traveler-- 3hrs both ways with no restroom breaks.

Jakey loves Kris! And jumping off of the float, too.

Happy Boy!

Beach baby!

Some of the family relaxing on the beach

Me and my honey

He is totally a nut! He'd run to the other end of the pool with no one near and jump in. Once or twice he did it with no floaties and actually popped back up to the surface. I was hoping it'd scare him to deter him, but no.

Sweet face...

My family

This boy is 2.5 years now! Crazy!!

Playin b-ball w/Uncle Jon and Mitch

A sweaty 6.5 month pregnant mama and her baby boy!

The ferry ride! No dolphin sighting this time but Jakey loved it.

Last weekend we headed to Port Aransas for our annual family beach trip. This year there were 17 of us! We had booked our stay later than usual and had no options but two older condos with 3 bedrooms each. We were certainly not up to par with the 3 story beach houses we've had the past few years with 3 balconies, outdoor kitchens, granite countertops, etc, etc. However, we had an absolute ball! This place was older but clean and had lots of amenities. We played sand volleyball several times and tennis a lot, too. Since we had a super close walk to the beach, some of the guys would go down and fish at night. We played tons and tons of games and ate tons and tons of yummy food. I am so thankful for my big family that gets along so well and shares so much love for eachother. It seems like there's never enough time when we're together and we miss eachother when we're apart. We missed Daddy Joe again, and can't believe it's been almost 3 years since he's been gone. Looking forward to all being together eternally one day!