Sunday, August 22, 2010

Vacation Pics

I know it's been a while since I've updated the blog with pictures and I apologize for that. Our desktop recently crashed and my camera disk doesn't fit into the laptop. Thankfully, I got a few pics copied onto a CD before the computer crashed! Anyhow, here are a few LOT of pics from our recent family vacation to San Antonio and Austin. :)


We stayed at the Hyatt in the Hill Country the first couple of nights and LOVED it! It was a very kid friendly hotel with a lazy river and beach (which Korben actually thought was "yucky." He wasn't a fan of sand in between his toes!), a huge pool, and lots of activities every night including smores roasting, outdoor kid movies, and horse drawn wagon rides! We didn't get many pictures at the hotel, but here's one we got at the pool.
Enjoying some ice cream after playing at the hotels playground with Daddy
After we checked out of the hotel, we headed over to Josh's brothers apartment. Joey and Jeni had just moved from Rowlett to SA and they were gracious enough to let us crash with them for a couple of nights during our vacay! We were with them when Josh celebrated his 30th birthday and we had a really nice evening with just the 5 of us. We went out to dinner and then had cake at their apartment. Jeni make a delicious chocolate cake and then she and Joey gave Josh a "30's survival kit" for his birthday filled with a ton of cute gag gifts! They also gave him a bottle of Josh's choice of liquor, Crown Royal, so don't feel too bad for the old man! :)


When Josh took all of his gear off and Korben saw it on the floor, he decided he wanted to wear it!

We spent a day at Sea World and had an absolute blast! This picture was during a 4D pirate movie. The movie was in 3D and it also had water effects. Whenever someone got splashed or wet somehow in the movie, so did the audience!

Sea World had lots of spots to cool off with water throughout the park, but they also had a complete separate water park....not something that was there when I was a kid! Korbens favorite thing was going down this "whales tail" slide tummy first at the toddler pool!

Getting some grub to feed the ducks
Giving the ducks their food

One of the splash pads inside the park. This was not inside the big water park area and was pretty central in the park so we stopped here a couple of times to cool off after the shows!

Juice break
During certain hours of day, you can buy a tray of fish and feed the dolphins! It was really neat. I wish Korben had been awake for this because I think he would have enjoyed feeding the dolphins but of course it happened while he was taking his nap!

The star of the show, Shamu!

Shamu just had a baby last January so we got to see him too! He was super cute to watch as he followed his mama around! He even did a few tricks with her!
The dolphin show!

The sea lions ended up being one of Korbens favorite "fishies!" Yes, everything at Sea World was considered a fish to Korben! I think he liked this show so much because it had props and an actual story to it! It really was cute!
We also spent a day at Fiesta Texas. Somehow, we were able to get in a family picture!

We rode one single solitary ride inside the main park area at Fiesta Texas. We soon discovered that they had an entire childrens area dedicated to one of Korbens favorite group of people, The Wiggles, and once we got to that area, there was no going back! Poor Josh kind of got the short end of the stick this vacation with a toddler and a pregnant wife who couldn't ride anything fun with him! The Wiggles area put on short shows with a few of the characters from the show. Korben was in heaven getting to see them!

Josh and I got a bit of a kick at the nice dark tan that the Fiesta Texas version of Captain Feathersword acquired! :)

Wags the dog making his appearance
After the show, Korben got to meet and hug Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog and get a picture with them!

There were Wiggles rides all over the place. Josh and I took turns riding with Korben. This was the Fruit Salad ride.

Airplane ride

One of Korbens faves, the Big Red Car!

We spent the last night of our vacation in Austin with my aunt and uncle. Their names are Lori and Steve and Korben calls them Gus and Gal.... GUS for Great Uncle Steve and GAL for Great Aunt Lori. :) I wish I had pictures with them but my camera was dead by that point and I didn't think to get any with my phone! We all had an absolute blast with them! We ended the vacation by a show with the real live Wiggles in Austin! Korben was completely beside himself getting to see them in real life! He just kept saying, "Mommy Daddy, that's Jeff! (his favorite one) That's Anthony! That's Murray! That's Sam!" And of course we walked away with a TON of Wiggles memorabilia! Since my camera was dead and I forgot to pack my charger, I had to result to the use of my phone and a disposable camera for The Wiggles pictures, none of which turned out very well. But at least have some none-the-less. All in all, our first real family vacation was a success!


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Not the Maid

There was once a time when I was extremely OCD about keeping my house clean. I remember at one point, I would wipe down the counters about 10 times a day, vacuum every day (sometimes twice), and kept everything in proper order at all times. If one little crumb fell on the floor, I swept and mopped the whole floor immediately.

And I admit that during this period of my life, I was also judgemental about other peoples homes. I couldn't understand why people let their homes get so cluttered. You just pick it up and put it away; what's so hard about that?

Then I became a mom. And then I became the mom of a toddler. And then I got pregnant again. And my house is a complete wreck and there is so much that needs to be done, I don't even know where to begin. Furniture needs dusting, floors mopping, windows cleaned, dishes washed, and way too many toys need to be put away. And I know that just as soon as I put the clutter away, a little 36" body is going to follow right behind me and undo everything I just did. I didn't have the time and energy to clean my house 8 million times a day before I got pregnant with baby #2 and I sure don't have the energy to do it now! It would be so nice if I could clean my house and know that it would stay that way for a while. But it won't. The clutter will be back out in 10 minutes or less and while the clean dishes and floors may last a little bit longer, it still won't be more than a day before the trash is full again, the sink is filled up with dirty dishes again and the floors have food crumbs and spilled juice that needs to be swept and mopped up. And I just can't keep up with it all.

And while I'm sure that I get the same judgement that I used to pass on others about my not-so-spic-and-span house, I have to remind myself that judgement used to come from me and I chose to quit working when I got pregnant because I wanted to be a full-time mommy, not so I could clean my house 24/7. I am a stay at home mom, not a stay at home maid. That's how it should be and it's ok. Even if the mess does drive me up the wall!

If you happen to be one those super moms who can do it all and your house shows no sign of child dwelling in it, I commend you and ask that you teach me your ways! But if you happen to be one of the parents out there who fell victim to my judgemental ways in years past, please accept my sincerest apologies!