Texas vs. New Mexico State

For the Texas vs. New Mexico State game tonight, we invited the Lins to come over for the evening. Steven and Belinda brought over the beer and fruit. Daddy made chicken enchiladas with a green hatch chile sauce. I took care of everything else--buying the jalapano ranch dip from Chuys along with making guacamole, rice, and beans. I also made sopapilla cheesecake and the piece de resistance, peach margaritas!

Andrew was so stoked about seeing the boys especially Evan of course. During the afternoon, he would point out toys the twins might like and also asked if we could put up the bouncey house for them to jump on. Once James set it up, Andrew obviously told James that he had to check it out to make sure it was working okay. Later, he even set the picnic table for all of the kids.

The kids started off all playing downstairs. They all played LEGOs even the twins. Later, the twins were more into the kitchen while the older boys went upstairs and pretended they were fireman. They all did really well. There were a few instances of swiping and not sharing, but not too bad considering.

But we had a fun time with them and were so glad they were able to come over. We will definitely be doing it again during the football season.

And in regards to the game, the Longhorns had another victory!! Texas! Texas!! Yee Haw!!!

Batman Artwork

Just wanted to post Andrew's artwork from today at school of Batman and his Batcave. He told me that he didn't have time to draw Robin.

Zane and Tyler

This afternoon, we went to Aunt Kelly's house to finally meet their twins, Zane and Tyler who are now nine months now.

When we arrived, the boys were still at the pool with Mike. But it gave us a chance to catch up with Kelly. Soon after, the boys came home and they are so adorable. Andrew was pretty good with him. At first, he was stacking these blocks and Tyler was looking like he was going to knock them down. Andrew didn't want him to and tried to keep him away. So I had to remind Andrew that the blocks were the twins' toys and to be a good friend and stack some for him to knock down. So, both of them were happy after that.

I am sad that it took us this long to meet them, but better late than never, right?! But I was just happy to see Kelly and get to meet her boys.

Texas vs. Wyoming

Yesterday, Andrew attended his first Longhorn football game--hopefully the first of many. Last week, Monica heard about a promotion where tickets were half off. They weren't great seats, but thought it wasn't a bad deal. And it was a night game so I knew it wouldn't be too hot for Andrew. So, we bought some tickets and headed up this afternoon.

We headed straight for Posse East to hang out before the game and grab a bite to eat and drinks and also meet Granddad, John and Sharon. We got to spend some time with them before we had to leave for the stadium.

When we got up to our seats (way high, but not too bad), the game had already started. Andrew cheered and clapped along with the rest of the crowd.

I took him down to get some pizza for him and drinks for all of us. By that time, it was half time and he enjoyed the marching bands. Later, Daddy went to get Andrew some ice cream for his dessert. After that, we allowed Andrew to watch his iPad. He had did a good job during the game so far and we knew he was getting tired because he didn't take a nap during the ride up from Houston.

After the game, we walked back to Posse and met up with the family again. We didn't stay too long because Andrew was really tired. He fell asleep in the car in no time.

I was happy with Andrew's behavior and now we know he can make it at least through half a game. And I am sure we could have made him watch longer. But we definitely have no hesitation with taking him to another game.

We had a great time; and it was made all the better with a win to start off the season! Go Horns!!

First Day of School 2012-2013

Oh my!! Today was my baby's first day of Pre K! How did he grow up so fast!?

He was so excited about going to school. I even got him to wear a polo knit! Score one for Mommy!

And when I dropped him off, he didn't hesitate the least bit. He just went to play with his classmates. It's really nice because Soumodip from last year's class is with us again; and Andrew couldn't be happier about it. And I know he's happy to have Sebastian and Winn (from our first soccer team) there too. And I also know he's going to make new friends as well.

Here's to hoping for another great school year at St. Luke's!

Corpus Christi Day 2: Padre Balli Beach and Texas State Aquarium

For our final day in Corpus, we started out by hitting up the Padre Balli Beach in North Padre Island. Andrew had lots of fun making a sand castle complete with a moat--thanks to Daddy's mad skills. Then, we spent the rest of the time jumping the waves and playing in the water.

After the beach, we drove back into town to Taqueria Acapulco, which we frequented quite a bit when we lived here. I still cannot find a pastor taco as good as here!! Oh, how I had missed this place!!

Next, we went back to the hotel room to shower and pack up. After we checked out, we headed to our last stop on our trip--the Texas State Aquarium. James and I reminisced about had we taken Stephanie and Thomas here so many years ago and here we were taking Andrew now. We had a nice time looking at all the exhibits and animals. Andrew also got to hold a sea urchin, pet a sea turtle, and touch some stingrays. We also let him play in the splashpad for a little while until the start of the dolphin show.

Then, it was time to head back to Houston. It was a wonderful getaway. We had such a fun time and it was awesome family time!! I am glad we finally did it. And I hope we get to do it again!

Corpus Christi Day 1: USS Lexington and the Republic of Texas

James and I had been wanting to take Andrew down to Corpus Christi since last summer, but have never was able to yet. And we kept talking about going this summer, but before we knew it, the summer was nearly ending and we still hadn't gone. And we had planned on going last weekend, but Andrew's illness derailed that plan. But luckily, we finally made it here!!

So, we packed up and left Houston this morning and arrived in Corpus early this afternoon. We drove straight to the hotel to check in and wash up. James and I had talked about staying at the Omni which is right off the bayfront and we remembered it from when we had lived here. I also had looked into getting a beach house or condo because I thought it would be really cool to stay at the beach, but it just didn't work out. Most of the places that I liked required a two-night stay; and we were only going to be staying one night. But it all worked out in the end because I ended up finding a package at the Omni hotel, which served our purposes greatly.

We were a little bit hungry so we wanted to grab a bite to eat. Not only was this trip about taking Andrew around to sightsee, but it was also a chance for James and I to dine at some of our favorites restaurants in the city. We ate at Silverado Smokehouse, which has these beef ribs that are so delicious!

In our hotel room package, we got our tickets for the USS Lexington, which was where we were headed next. James and I knew that Andrew would love the Lexington. I mean, it's a huge ship with airplanes on it. It's an amazing aircraft carrier with lots of history behind it and it's breathtaking to look at (well, to me, it is anyway). Andrew was happy to see all the cool things inside the ship especially the models of other ships.

There was also a 4D movie theater and the next show was one called AirRacers. We thought it might be fun to watch it, but Andrew kept saying that he didn't want to go in. We just told him to try it for a few minutes and if he didn't like it, we would leave. He starts watching it and seems to like it. But then, throughout the movie, he periodically asks "when it over?" And I reply to him, "probably soon". Sure enough, we make it through the entire movie and he says he liked it. Whew.

We go up to the flight deck and check out all the planes. This size of the ship is totally massive!! It's so amazing! We walk up to the Gallery Deck including the control center. Andrew said he didn't want to go up or down any more stairs. I think he was a little nervous how narrow and tight things were. And truth be known, I was a little nervous for him. He did do a good job walking everywhere, but I didn't see the need to push him. And he seemed to have enjoyed himself already, but was probably ready to go.

We made a quick trip to the gift shop and picked him up a diecast airplane and headed out to see more of the city. We drove around checking out the city to refresh our memories. We also stopped the Padre Staples Mall to walk around a little bit. Then, we went back to our hotel and took a dip in the hotel pool.

After we got cleaned up, we walked over to the other Omni hotel a couple of blooks down. We weren't very hungry from lunch, but grabbed a small dinner at the Republic of Texas, which was one of our favorites back in the day. We requested a view of the Lexington so Andrew got to see it all lit up at night. It such a beautiful view from up there!

We ended up eating more than we thought we would and decided to talk a walk down the pier and check out the marina. The weather was nice and cool with a light breeze. Totally reminded us of one of the aspects we missed most about Corpus. Then, we headed back to our hotel to call it a night.