Alex's Birthday Weekend

Alex is such a tradition guy.  He's going to be the perfect Aggie one day.  He wanted his third annual waterslide party in the backyard, so we delayed putting the house on the market for a few days and had one last bash in the back.  Since it always falls around the 4th, we also didn't have a lot of choices when it came to slides, so we ended up with the mega bounce house and slide.  He was not disappointed!

 I'll never understand how kids can enjoy this for hours but all this sweet kids had so much fun!

The cookie cake was a winner as well!  Alex also picked out party blowers for everyone to use after we sang happy birthday.

Hours later we discovered something a little gross about a slide where kids get out and run around to slide again - the pool turned into a mud pit.  Good thing the parents had fun earlier because no way were we getting in that! The kids never even noticed.

To wrap up the fun, we had a pinata out front.

Most of the kids got a whack at Darth Vader before he cracked.  (And thank goodness no one got the truck that was to be sold a few weeks later!)

Later on, Alex opened some presents while we waited for the sun to go down.

It was a few days early, but we did some 4th of July fireworks with our neighbors for the last time.  We have so many happy memories of blowing things up together out on the street!

Wow, we love these kiddos and it's been fun to watch them all grow together.

Autumn, Sariah, Austin, Aaron, Rowan, Presley, Gabriella, Ryan, Ben, Spencer, and some crazy kid out in front.

Bright and early Sunday morning, we headed to church for a very special morning.

Alex decided a few months back that he was ready to be baptized and we were so excited about his decision.  All of the Houston family came to support him and enjoy the special day.

It was so sweet celebrating his birthday and his life in Jesus on the same weekend.  I love his precious faith and I hope Alex walks closely with God throughout his life.

 

I went around to watch with the rest of the family...

 The photographer in the back got lovely pictures for us while Pastor Mike spoke about Alex.  They got to know each other at church camp in June.

This is my absolute favorite - a precious hug afterward.  I'm so glad the photographer captured the moment. Happy birthday, sweet Alex!

Summer Fun

Typhoon Texas is our happy place in the summer!  It was a few weeks before we had time to visit this year, but luckily it was the day Tropical Storm Cindy was forecast to hit (and all we got was a few sprinkles!) and it was nearly empty.  We rode everything as many times as our legs could carry us up the stairs.

 

 It was the first time I'd taken my phone around in a waterproof case, mostly because I didn't want to pay for a locker, so I was a little nervous but it was fun getting pictures.

Breaktime for a funnel cake!

One more bucket list item for me this year - to touch the star.  It took several tries but we finally had the perfect ride with enough weight and I happened to be the person at the top so I got my fingertips in the star.  Success!

The kids will miss this playground area.  They have all kinds of games that they can play for hours here.

I've always wanted to stop and get a picture here and it's now or never!  We sure love Katy and we are going to miss it a lot.

We had some pictures done with Grandma and Grandpa after one of the recitals and I got a few of the prints early.  I sure have some handsome guys to enjoy.

Jamaica Beach

We rented a beach house on Galveston Island for some fun time with cousins and the kids couldn't wait to see everyone.  Unfortunately, the drive from the Dallas area is much longer than from Houston, so we had some time to kill.  We kicked off our vacation with a little mini golf.

 Finally, everyone arrived and we unpacked and started having fun together!

 

Then it was straight out to the beach!  We were on the third row so it was just a quick walk out to the sand. Jamaica Beach is great because it's quiet, shallow, and perfect for families.

Uncle Jason picked the perfect place to dig this hole because it stayed for days and was right at the tide line to fill up at high tide.  Every day the kids enlarged it and played in it for hours.

The kids dubbed it the "bathtub".

 And naturally, a toilet would be next to the tub.

Not sure why Ben wanted this so badly, but he maintained his "toilet" all week!

Nothing is more fun that sand and waves!

The whole gang eating together...lots of laughs with all these guys.

We found several hermit crabs and they quickly became fun little pets for the day.  Since we're moving, at least it was easy for me to tell the kids NO to bringing them home.

 

Straight from the hand!

The last time in the bathtub...a very large tide in the afternoon finally ate it up. The bigger waves did make for some great boogie boarding on our last afternoon.

Aunt Stacey found a really cool sandcastle kit so the hermit crabs got a pretty sweet home.

Finished product!

 We had a nice view from our porch, even though a few houses were in front of us.  It was a great place for coffee in the mornings and sunsets after dinner.

On our last morning, Tropical Storm Cindy was making her presence known. The storm surge covered the entire beach.

We still had fun walking around to see what washed up and we enjoyed our last few hours on the beach that was so different in just 12 hours.

One last picture!  Love these boys so much.  We said goodbye to the Frenches and started home.

 

The seawall was pretty interesting in places because some of the beaches were totally gone.  Naturally, we still saw plenty of people swimming though.  Crazy.  We enjoyed some lunch and then headed home right as the rain started.  Thanks, Cindy, for waiting until our trip was over to bring the bad weather!