4th of July

So this year, the Fourth of July weekend was FAR different than those in the past.......unfortunately Hurricane Ike took Bill's beach house (was actually his full time residence that he lost there) which is where the Salinas family used to converge upon every July 4th for a fantastic family weekend of fun and relaxing. So, since that was not an option this year.....we just hung out at home and decided to ask Liz and Aidan if they wanted to come over and hang out with us, since Ken was offshore at the time.

So they came over, we hung out and let the boys play in the pool in the yard for a bit, we BBQ'd and then waited to watch the Freedom Over Texas fireworks display on tv that happens in downtown Houston every year. which was FANTASTIC on our big screen tv in HD let me tell you what! And no crowds to fight and traffic to battle to see it either...and in the comfort of the AC at home....couldnt beat it...even if it wasnt nearly as great as fireworks on Bolivar watching from the deck of Bill's beach house....

the grub....burgers, dogs, grilled corn, beans, chips and watermelon...YUM!!

gotta have watermelon on the 4th!

james and aidan getting their grub on

the boys hamming it up for the camera

james

aidan

liz wanting a bite of aidan.....LOL!!!

settled for a kiss instead....aaaawwwww.........

time for some fun in the pool!!

james having fun

sharing the hose...think it was the one moment they shared the whole time...HA!

oh nope...here's aidan "sharing" with james! hee hee!! :)

and james "sharing" right back at aidan!

bailey muggin' for the camera....silly girl!!

she's getting SO big!!!!

james decided bailey needed to cool off too!!

she liked it, so he went back to the pool for more water....

and there ya go bailey...nice and cool now.

the boys dancing to the music they were playing with the fireworks on tv.....

aidan the conductor....kid cracks me up.....like he is directing a symphony when there is music in a movie or on tv...its so cute!!

fireworks 2009

the boys dancing along with Clay Walker

they had a blast, and so did we...low key but we enjoyed it! Thanks Liz and Aidan for spending Independence Day 2009 with us!!! :)

Cinco Ranch Water Park

One of my good friends from work (Robin) invited us to come out to her place in Katy to spend the day at the Cinco Ranch water park in her subdivision. Of course, James loving the water like he does (as Im sure you have all caught on to by now....hee hee) we sais YES!! Absolutely!!!

So we packed up the van yesterday morning, and made the hour trek across town from our place to hers. Packed up her boys and their friends in her car, then followed her over to the water park. What a COOL PLACE!!! Makes me want to move out there just to be able to take James all the time....we would be there every weekend if James had his way if we lived there....no doubt about it!!!! I didnt take a whole lot of pictures, but got some below that show how neat this place is with the water slides, the kiddie splash pad area, the diving boards off to the far left end of the pool, etc.....truly was a really neat place. James couldnt go down the big slides you see in the first pic below. cause he would be required to swim across to the ladder unassisted after coming down the slide, and he does not know how to swim...perhaps next summer...and some lessons in the meantime! But he still had a blast and it was great to get to spend some time with Robin outside the office. Thanks again Robin for having us over, we loved it!!! Let's do it again soon! :)

Fun in the sun with Daddy on Father's Day

So once we were done with the breakfast feast on father's day morning....I asked James what he wanted to to with Daddy that day that would be fun. He said LETS GO TO THE BEACH!!! Well since we were just at Stewart Beach the day before with Elizabeth, Ken and Aiden (kid is obvoiusly obsessed with the beach now! HA!)...I asked him ok, what about Palm Beach at Moody Gardens? He said YES!!! That's GREAT!!! So we got ready, packed the van and spent the day at Moody. James has SO much fun there and we love it because we get to stay cool in the water all day...so no complaints there! It was a beautiful day weather wise and we all had a great time!!

Breakfast for Daddy on Father's Day

So James and I planned on making Daddy a surprise breakfast the morning of Father's Day. So we got everything James wanted to make Daddy at the store the day before......pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and coffee for Daddy.

He and I got up early and left Daddy sleeping while we snuck downstairs and cooked up a morning feast for Daddy. James LOVES to help me cook now and he has so much fun doing it!

Then when it was all done, I had him go upstairs and go in the room and say SURPRISE!! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY! BREAKFAST IS READY!!!! Well it worked, we startled Daddy awake as you will see from the pics below, and Daddy loved it all, enjoyed his breakfast, and reading his father's day cards from me, James, and even one from the dog (Bailey!!) LOL! :)

Got out the pancake mix and added the water....
Then had to shake it up good.....

Nex, to scramble some eggs.... My hammy kid smiling for the camera.....
Making Daddy some coffee.....
And signing a father's day card for Daddy.....
Two cards James made for Daddy at daycare too!!
SURPRISE DADDY!!! Happy Father's Day! Breakfast is ready!!!!
Big sweet hugs for Daddy on father's day.....
And more hugs once we were all downstairs.....
The boys enjoying the breakfast....
James helping Daddy read his cards.....
Daddy loving all his cool cards!
Then it was time for some help from Daddy with the trains....

Two peas in a pod...gotta love my boys!! :) HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY! WE LOVE YOU!

Photos from the beach trip on June 16th

I didnt have my camera with me when we went to the beach with Elizabeth, Ken and Aiden....but Elizbeth took some decent photos with her camera on her cell phone so wanted to share...... Building sand castles...looks more like mud castles with how much water James was adding!

James loves his sand toys!!

Aiden getting ready to hit the water....

James splashing in the water...

Aiden and James having a great time!

James is finally starting to have a "respect" for the water and the current and what not...not quite so crazy as he used to be in the water with no fear, but he does really well now.

Flinging dirt....nice son. LOL!

The boys trying out the boogie board Grandma bought James when she was here the week before.....

Freddy and Ken playing with their kiddos in the water.