Papa's Birthday

We celebrated my grandfather's 83rd birthday on Saturday. Bryce was ready to eat the cake at 8am. Luckily when we met everyone for lunch my brother brought Bryce a new truck so that helped distract him. Bryce stood right next to Papa when we sang happy birthday and helped blow out candles. It was really cute. Ivy loved all the attention and showed everyone how fast she can crawl. We were so busy talking to all of the people that came in that I forgot to take pictures. Here are a few from Phil and Adam's camera.

Road Trip to Corpus

Well, it was time. A right of passage. A family trip. Sure we've loaded the car up for a trip to Gabby and Jack's...the whole 1 hour trip. A snack bite of car trips...piece of cake. This weekend was different. A full boar, load the trunk, pack the suitcase, gas up the family truckster and head East...3 1/2 hours to Corpus Christi to visit Dede (or Dee Dee as I had to put in my GPS so that it didn't pronounce it like Deet).

Sure there were nerves...would the plan work? Leave at nap time, sleep most of the way, have a snack and distract with trucks and cows for the rest...and it did. Went off without a hitch. Actually the whole weekend went great. Everyone ate, slept, pooped, played, and was generally in a good mood (including Mommy and Daddy). We met Paige's Aunt Susan and Uncle Bill for dinner on Friday at one of Corpus' finest dining establishments - POETS (Piss On Everything Tomorrow's Saturday - c'mon...gotta love it).

Then Saturday, Dede took us to the Texas State Aquarium which was a HUGE hit. Bryce loved the dolphin show and the turtles and seeing some really big fish. Then in the afternoon we got to feed the ducks and walk around the little lake near Dede's house. Bryce made quick friends with the big black swan who followed us around thinking we had more bread crusts.

But, I have to say the highlight of the trip for Bryce was probably staying at the hotel. It was such a big hit that when he finally realized we were turning in to our neighborhood, he got upset..."more hotel...I need to put the key in the door". He loved that the lights on the door turned green when you put the key in...he loved that his pullout sofa bed was huge...he liked watching TV in bed and eating popcorn (at the Embassy Suites they do happy hour every night and that means free drinks and popcorn). All in all...dolphins were cool, but hotels are AWESOME.

Oh...and Ivy had a good time too...just a different experience for her. Ivy is quite mobile right now and her favorite thing...toilets. Don't ask me how, but as soon as we put her down, no matter where we are, she makes a bee line for the toilet. So...she saw some of Corpus's finest porcelain thrones from the ground up.

So thanks to Dede for being such a great hostess...everyone had a GREAT time. In fact, we had a such a great time we might even do it again...although, we'll have to make sure the next place has popcorn and potties so everyone is happy.

Wait...come back here...

It didn't last long. We waited almost 2 years for Bryce to start walking. Less than 12 months later, Ivy is on the move. She's thought about crawling since December. She had this sort of inch worm action working where she could slinky her way to get something if she really wanted to, but in the last 2 weeks or so she's figured it out. This brings about this interesting dilemma that I'm sure all parents face. Since December we've been encouraging the crawling..."c'mon, Ives...you can do it"..."here you go...c'mon"...you get the idea. Within the last 2 weeks those chants of encouragement have turned into..."wait, come back here" and "Ivy, where are you?". I'm not sure what we expected. Certainly we wanted her to crawl, just as we wanted Bryce to walk...I just don't think we wanted her to go anywhere! Perhaps a baby treadmill where she could crawl in place would be the solution...that way everyone wins. Either way...here she is getting her crawl on. Gotta go...she left again.

Bob the Builder

Bryce loves Bob the Builder. When my grandfather told my mother that he heard a live Bob the Builder show was coming to San Antonio, she insisted we take Bryce. I've been trying to explain that we were going to meet Bob and what it means to sit and watch a show on stage. Who knows what Bryce was thinking but he's been very excited. Well, we went on Saturday and he loved it! The 1st act he sat very still and watched every move. By the 2nd act (yes there was intermission and I think it was only so people would buy more souvenirs) he got into it and clapped and danced along.

Ivy did not attend. My dad watched her and my great aunt Barbara was nice enough to come over and keep an eye on my dad :) Ivy loved all the attention as always and showed off how well she moves around these days. She crawls and pulls up on everything. Russell is trying to video her so check back for that.

This is what we saw, but not where we saw it. You can only imagine...