More Adventures

These boys have been busy, busy busy! There is no end to the entertainment possibilities here, including a variation of the game "stairs" with Grumpy.

A little quieter activity of dot painting with Grammy. I enjoyed this one too...makes me want to go play bingo in Vegas!

Ben's furry sidekick has her own chair at the table and has gotten pretty spoiled by handouts from little fingers.

Abby does return the favor by bestowing some of her precious attention on Ben occasionally.

We've all enjoyed getting to visit friends here and I've been terrible about taking pictures. I only seem to remember to get my camera out when there are kids involved which means I have few pictures of the adults I've gotten to see. Saturday we had a swim date with Beth and her two sweet boys who currently live in our old house in Singapore (their dad works for the same company as Matt)...such a small world! Even crazier, back before any of us had kids it turns out we all lived in the same apartment complex in Houston for two years. That evening after the kids were in bed I got my own playdate with some old girlfriends from work. We laughed for hours like the good old days....a lot has changed since we all met, like twelve kids between all of us, and now all of us have gone on to new jobs or full-time motherhood. L to R: Mindy, Vivian, Kristi, me, Holly, and Gretchen

On Sunday the boys spent the morning with Grandma and Grandpa and after naptime we dropped in to see our old neighbors, the Varas, at their new house. It was reallly beautiful and I was scoping out the street for potential vacancies so that one day we might be neighbors again. Jackson kindly shared all of his toys with Alex.

Haley and Ben got reacquainted with a big hug.

All four kiddos doing anything but smiling or looking at the camera. It's hard to believe we first met the Varas 6 years ago and none of us were even thinking about kids.

Monday started our stay-cation on Lake Conroe. We're using Grammy and Grumpy's timeshare condo here and enjoying a little R&R on the lake. Aunt Stacey and Reid came Monday as well and I was interested to see how the kids would react to their new cousin. Ben has been interested and asked tons of questions (naturally) but has otherwise only complained about Reid "whining too much". In Reid's defense, he's a really good baby but of course cries when he's hungry or he knows mom is trying to eat.

Alex has barely given Reid a glance but has been more than happy to try out all of his toys. I have to keep an eye on him to make sure he's not plopping down in the bouncy seat while Reid is in it.

Reid seems more excited about the whole meeting than his older cousins.

Interestingly, Ben hasn't cared if I hold Reid (which I haven't gotten to do much since my hands are usually full anyway) but was pretty jealous when Grumpy cuddled him. He was glued to Grumpy's side the entire time.

Grumpy and all his boys.

The condo has been fun! We've been swimming a lot, watching movies, and feeding the ducks from the balcony. It's right over the water so we'll start fishing this afternoon as well.

The kids love a good hotel visit and have had a ball just being somewhere new again.

We even caught a nice rainbow one evening.

Their favorite thing by far has been the pool and they're so cute in their new swimsuits. Think this guy is excited to go?

Since Ben hated his swim lessons last year I put off re-enrolling him until Alex could go as well. We don't have regular access to a pool anymore and the water in Perth was almost always freezing, so the kids are not swimmers by any means. They're comfortable in the water but both require flotation (especially Mr. Skin and Bones Ben without an ounce of fat to keep him afloat) so these floaties have been great for me to take them both in the water by myself.

After getting chilled at the pool yesterday, Ben came home and enjoyed his biggest bubble bath yet in the jacuzzi tub. Alex still hates bubble baths and wouldn't get near it.

We were all excited to get the chance to visit with my Uncle Lindy and Aunt Nell. Lindy was always so much fun we were kids and still keeps us laughing. Here he's teaching Ben the cut-the-cheese song.

Good fun with the family :)

All good things have to come to an end and unfortunately tomorrow all the out of towners will be heading home. The kids and I will probably stay here until Friday then they'll spend their last weekend with Grandma and Grandpa while I get started on the (*gulp*) packing. We have less than a week left now so the countdown to the Longest Trip Ever Part 2 has begun....