The High Chair

Today marks the day of officially saying goodbye to something that's been a part of our home for the last 7 years...the high chair. I actually got pretty emotional about the whole thing (ask Joel if you don't believe me). I know it's just a big piece of plastic and metal that is frequently hiding pieces of food that slip behind the cover unnoticed only to be discovered in fossilized form later. But it is also the place that I fed all three of my babies many of their first foods. It's where each of them were sung "happy birthday" for the first time and had their first messy bites of cake. It's the place that I brought them countless meals. And it's the place where all 3 sat when they were so little around the table as we talked and laughed. So, yes, I'm a little sad...so there.

On the flip side it is hard to clean and kinda large. Most recently (and also the deciding factor to go ahead and pass it on) Katherine has learned how to press the release levers to make the tray fall off along with any food that was up there too. So I do have that to take the emotional edge off a bit. ;-)

Emily eating her 1st birthday cake.

Jonathan having his first bites of rice cereal.

Katherine with a messy face full of black bean dip.

Bigger Things

Katherine has just a few short months before she turns 2. In the last month or so we have noticed how big she seems all of the sudden. She carries herself differently, is saying more and more each day, and plays more like her older siblings every day. The other evening while eating out we ordered her her own meal off the kids menu. It was a hamburger & she sat there in her booster seat (not a high chair) and ate the whole thing and drank her water out of a kid cup just like a big kid. I had my camera in my purse so I had to snap a photo of her mid-bite.

California

I had the awesome opportunity to go to California with my mom & sister this past week. Kerry, my little sister, is moving there with her husband next month...that will be another post. Kerry needed to go find a house for them to rent & asked us along. It was really great to have the opportunity to see the city they will be living in, their rent house & to meet some of the people they will know there. Here are some of my favorite photos from our trip:

The hotel room we stayed in. It was really nice.

Photo opp in the lobby chairs. The hotel had a western theme. I guess this is "Texas size" seating.

Sunday we had the unexpected chance to go water rafting. It was great! We will be ordering a photo & I'll post it later. This is us in front of the beautiful scenery right after we finished our ride.

The Kern river on our drive back down. So pretty!

One of the luxuries of the trip for me: getting ready at my own pace, whenever I wanted to, without anyone bugging me. It rocked!

All dressed up for dinner out with Jeff's future employers.

Kerry outside the amazing rental house she found. It's in a gated community on a golf course. It's beautiful inside too. Even has it's own palm tree in the front yard. The scenery surrounding it is mountains. Pretty much perfect.

One of my very favorite pics from the trip. :-)

The last day before we flew back home we walked around Hollywood. Snapped a photo of my feet on one of my favorite star's star.

In front of Grauman's Chinese Theater by Johnny Depp's signature, footprints & handprints.

And one of my favorite things about flying...getting to see the tops of clouds. These were pretty perfect in my book. Very fluffy, white, and sun-drenched.

July 4th

We celebrated the 4th with Nana & Leslie this year. Yummy hamburgers, a slip & slide, bath in the jacuzzi tub for the kids & fireworks. Fun!

Weekend Getaway

We had the opportunity to get away for a few days thanks to some generous people. We stayed at a local hotel with an indoor pool & awesome breakfast. The kids LOVED the pool & we went swimming every day. They loved the hotel so much that anytime we went anywhere they just kept asking to go back. Here are some photos from our much needed getaway.

The view inside our hotel atrium.
If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see Joel, Emily & Jonathan in the bottom center.

Emily took this great photo of us

We saw Cars 2 in the theater

Ate lunch in the Rainforest Cafe

This was a machine in the middle of the mall that simulated hurricane force winds. The kids really wanted to try it so Joel joined in too. They really liked it!

We picked up the board game Candyland & played it in the hotel atrium one evening. Fun!

Indoor Play

It's summer in Texas. It's stinking hot. School is also out. We have a lot of togetherness. The kids need to get out their "wiggles," but outdoor playgrounds are totally out unless we want to deal with heat stroke. So....I am very happy to have found 2 great new indoor playgrounds right up the street in some local churches. One of them even lets the adults get in on the play too. Here are some photos from our play outings over the last few weeks. Enjoy! We did!

Cousins

The kids got to really meet their new cousin, Benjamin, over the weekend. They totally love him, as you can see from the photos. Candice told Emily to go wash her hands & use some sanitizer if she wanted to hold him. Emily then practically sprinted to the bathroom to wash up. Jonathan even asked if he could let Benjamin hold his baby - that's huge! They sang him a few songs (even Kat got in on it as much as she could). It's going to be so fun watching them grow up together!