Vacation 2010

This year's family vacation was taken in the Houston area. We decided to save money on a hotel by staying at my parents house. That would also give us the flexibility to use a kitchen to cook a few meals and clean Corina's bottles, and also give a home base with room to spread out. All in all a good set up when everyone needs naps, and early bedtimes. And that's not even to mention the extra help Mema and Grandad provide so Mommy and Daddy aren't entirely worn out at the end of the trip. Eric and I were even able to spend one night away in Kemah for an added bonus.

Thursday (10-7-10)
Activities: Eric and I went to Kemah and stayed at the Boardwalk Inn. We ate amazing food, rode the train (as seen in our picture), and enjoyed kidless company.



Friday (10-8-10)
Activities: Mommy and Daddy come back from Kemah. Go to park where Mommy gets EATEN UP by mosquitos. Eat a yummy pizza dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria.











Saturday (10-9-10)
Activites: We visited 7 Acre Wood farm. While there Lukas was able to ride a train, pet animals in a petting zoo, play on a playground, ride a pony, scout a pumpkin patch, and play with finger puppets. After naptime Lukas and Mema made cookies, and we relaxed.











Sunday (10-10-10)
Activites: We went to the Houston Zoo. We were able to see the very cool dinosaur exhibit as well as all the other animals. We then finished the day off with a train ride through Herman Park. The day was perfect! Exhausting, but perfect.

Lukas

Do you ever get those glimpses into your kids future that just kind of frighten you? Lukas has given us these glimpses since early on, and now they are nearly every day. The kid is brilliant. I don't say this out of parent bias (I mean, I am of course), but it's just true. He remembers EVERYTHING! If you have to repeat it to him most likely he analyzed the information upon receiving it, found it to be not currently useful or beneficial, and therefore discarded it. This doesn't happen often though. Anything he's heard or seen is a possible topic for conversation for months later. This has us constantly racking our brains trying to figure out where he's heard or seen something. And when he asks questions he wants the real answer, not some easy short answer. This of course brings on major mental gymnastics on our part to find ways to explain what he wants to know in ways he can understand (I mean he is only 3.5), and then of course also brings out even more questions that half the time end up in me saying "I don't know how to explain that". He understands concepts that I would never expect a 3 year old to grasp, and then he turns around and applies them. From a parental point of view it is amazing and scary at times. I feel a bit at a loss as to how to teach him anything because he seems to grasp everything (which of course is not true). I know all kids can do this, but his out of the blue questions make me think about things I haven't thought about in years. I'm so grateful he is able to go to preschool because there they can help keep up with his avid need for knowledge. As a mom with two kids to keep up with I can only do so much.

I pray that God continues to show us how to help him put his mind to work because without focus I know he'll be bored and unmotivated. I am amazed by him daily (even on the days I'd like to give him away). His future is something I can't imagine, but I know he'll be genius at whatever he puts his mind to. I love my little man more than I could have ever dreamed possible!

Getting Places

I tried to post a video about a month ago when she first started her semi-crawl, but the one I filmed was too long. After that I just never remembered to get another good one shot when Lukas wasn't running around interrupting her playing. I did today, and she's even closer to real crawling now. As of today (10-12-10) she is also picking up her hands independently (I think she does it in the video) while on her hands and knees. When she tries to move them forward in a crawling manner, however, she usually face plants like she has been.

Enjoy!

Picture Fun

Just a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Crafts



Building



Painting



Smiling



More Smiling



Playing with Aunt Ashley



He got his face painted like a Tiger at CiCi's one night.



Viewing a HUGE grasshopper.



Making banana bread with Mommy.



Showing Corina how the tools work.



"Crawling" around. As soon as she starts moving her arms, she'll have a full crawl together.



Playing with Mel Mel.



Helping Lukas play his game.

Zoo Time

Now that we have a membership to the Dallas Zoo, going is much simpler. We don't feel bad if we don't stay very long, and it's simply cheaper. Today (10-2-10) was a perfect day to visit. The majority of the time we were there the temperature was in the 70's, and the sun was shining. Like I said...perfect! Lukas had a blast (as always), and got to ride a pony, the monorail, and the carousel. He really to ride everything but the camel, and I wasn't about to pay $5 so he could. They aren't that exciting. Corina had lots of fun being outside in the beautiful weather.



































And by the end of such an awesome day, everyone was EXHAUSTED!