Summer Wrap-Up

The rest of the summer was busy too.

Miss Adelaide turned 3 years old in July. As you can see, her favorite gift was the (washable) nail polish set. It's a gift that just keeps on giving. I think the girls have painted their nails at least once a day since she got it, and there's still plenty left. 

Her "princess cake."  She is turning into quite a little princess, following her big sister's lead. The two of them play princesses, house, babies, restaurant, and build hidey-holes all over the house. It's nice to see the two of them finally getting along . . . most of the time.

Later in July, we joined Grandma and Grandpa for a fun weekend in Galveston.  We rode the Bolivar Ferry, played on the beach, and visited the Offshore Drilling Museum. The kids also got their very first experience eating at a Golden Corral buffet. They were thrilled at all the choices --especially the dessert bar.

This was Joseph's first experience with the beach. All of our other babies hated their first beach experience, but Joseph loved it. He did not want to leave the water, even when the tide was coming in and he was getting splashed in the face with every wave. He also liked (eating) the sand and seaweed.

The whole beach was covered with seaweed. You can see the brown strip along the water's edge. They had actually cleaned our area recently, so we only had to wade through 8 inches of the stuff. Directly in front of our hotel, where they hadn't cleaned at all, it was at least 8 feet deep. The smell of rotting sea weed is quite aromatic.

Feeding the seagulls is a must on the beach. I enjoy it as much, if not more, than the kids do.

Here we are on the gang-plank leading to the Ocean Star Oil Rig Museum. (It is an old oil rig converted into a museum all about oil exploration and production. Actually a lot more interesting than it sounds.)  Kids and Grandma are looking down at a sea turtle in the water. I'm still bummed that I missed it.

Something they use to haul people around on the rig.

A seat used by the drill operator.  Grandma and I both thought Michael looked a young Captain Picard.

Back at home, this is Michael's favorite pass-time right now. With the hot summer, he has moved his attention from climbing trees to climbing door frames. I've started calling him "Spider-Man."

Also this summer, we took a little day trip out to a farm. 

We got to feed the rabbits, goats, and calves

and even got to try our hands at milking a cow.

Sadly, we didn't see any horses at the farm, so Dad stepped in. 

This little man finally learned to crawl (real crawling, not the army crawl) on our Colorado trip. Now he is crawling all over the house, pulling things out of cupboards, and making a mad-dash for the potty whenever someone forgets to close the bathroom door. He has just learned to stand independently and is babbling constantly.

Maked Baby! --For some reason, all of our kids pronounce the word "naked" as "maked." I think it's cute, so I haven't really tried correcting them yet. Anyway, isn't he cute --dressed or otherwise.

"Yeah, I'm too cool to wear clothes."

s