The Dog Days of Summer (5-months)

Beach Baby--striking a pose at the lake

Waking up happy after another nap in the hammock on the dock

Wahoo! It's been a crazy summer of chaos, travels and reactive lack of routine so far. This month kicks off the beginning of the end. We had a great long Labor Day weekend at the lake. Jason finished his first fourth-year rotation at Wilford Hall (Lackland AFB) early on Friday and we headed east. It was another full house! Nate had a blast in the shallow water with Skyler and out in the deep water with Joseph (let's see if I can get this right, Nate's third cousin. Or as they say in Jeanie's family, a cousin. But Bill's explanation is still easier, he's kin.) Nate loved the kayak this time. I've been trying to get him to ride with me all season. He's reluctantly obliged, but for short stints. He finally rode with Jason for a good stretch on Saturday morning. He was kneeling, looking out over the helm and singing the VeggieTales song, "We are the Pirates who don't do anything!" at the top of his lungs! We got Amelia in the water again, too. She was content to float for almost 1/2 hour! Grandmother & Granddaddy were with us from Port Arthur; they spent a lot of time glued to CNN watching Hurricane Gustav's path. Gustav hit closer to Louisiana, so Port Arthur was spared (until Ike hit the Texas coast two weeks later).

Loving life at the lake!

oh, i couldn't resist

All the Goodwin cousins at the lakehouse (Nate, Skyler, Katie & Mia)

The following Thursday, my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Jill, visited with their two girls (Sydney, 4 and Sarah, 1) from Minnesota. We had a great time. It was Syd & Sarah's first trip to Texas, so we hit the big tourist spots (after teaching Sydney to say "Howdy!"):
Thurs: The Breyen clan arrived late into San Antonio. Their flight from Houston was cancelled for maintenance. I had no contact, but found out what happened from Mom who called AA costumer service after breaking in to my email account to find their flight number. We were told they were most-likely put on another flight into SAT (they leave Houston every 1/2-hour). Mia did well waiting in her mei-tei that Mom made (which I love, by the way! I need to post a photo of Amelia in it.) Nate stayed with his friend Xavier and luckily LaShun was very accommodating with our extended trip (three hours longer than planned). For dinner, we ordered gourmet pizza from Rome's. (It's a standing family joke that Jeff & Jill eat pizza about 3 or 4 times a week!)

Mia hanging with her cousins in Texas! (Sydney on top, Sarah on bottom)

Fri: Today we hit the San Antonio Zoo--the lorikeets loved Uncle Jeff's bald head, Nate loved his ice cream cone from Uncle Jeff and their carrot-lemonade (Sydney accidentally dropped her carrot in the Minute Maid bottle and Nate had to be just like Sydney so he dropped one in his bottle!), Uncle Jeff liked staring down the crocodile as it swam right up to his face and leered through the glass, I liked the fact that Jill had spare shorts when Nate decided to sit in the fishing hole at the Tot Spot, I think Sarah liked the stinky rhino, and Sydney seemed to like feeding the turtles.

Nate & Sydney in front of the crocs at Africa Live!

The end of a long day at the zoo! (Thanks, Uncle Jeff)

Sat: Today we played true San Antonio tourists! After morning naps, we drove downtown and hit the Alamo, Shiloh deli (for big sandwiches with homemade root beer), and the Riverwalk. After about 3 hours, everyone was ready to go home. The Riverwalk is not a toddler destination (imagine walking down narrow, crowded paths right next to the river with no barrier accompanied by a fearless three-year-old who loves to run or down those same paths that are not very stroller-friendly with a toddling one-year-old). For that matter, the Alamo is not very toddler-friendly either (signs that say "Keep off the Grass" and "Don't Climb the Trees" adorn the grounds; but the Alamo has vast lanes of green grass perfect for a game of "chase" and trees begging to be climbed). Not to mention the concept is simply anti-climatic to a 3-year-old. "OK, it's a building." Nate had to leave with Daddy because he kept running out of the room into the main hall to ask the volunteer at the desk, "Where are the toys?!" (It wasn't the question that got him expelled, it was the running away from Mommy & Daddy.) But the question proves what a little boy is thinking while he's looking at the hallowed walls. Jason made awesome Avocado Enchiladas from one of Jill's magazines for dinner (with margaritas--on-the-rocks since I dropped the blender pitcher and it shattered across the kitchen floor in dozens of pieces earlier that evening.)

Remember the Alamo (is not a toddler destination)!

Sun: Sea World! We planned 5 or 6 hours to hit the highlights of the park (before we anticipated child meltdown) and we made it to 7! I'd say it was a grand success. The kiddos fed the dolphins, ogled at the sharks, saw Shamu's show Believe (Amelia actually got to watch the whale this time...usually she's under the Hooter Hider breastfeeding--I have to get a picture of her HH in use, too), rode the Shamu Roller Coaster & Monkey Drop, we "big kids" got to ride Journey to Atlantis (a water ride), saw The Cannery Caper show (with the sea lions, otters and walrus), and after lunch we hit the highlights of the Lost Lagoon water park--lazy river (Nate loves to go without the tube and just let the current push him along in his lifevest...Amelia slept in her stroller), kiddie pool and waterslide, wavepool (well, Jeff almost got to experience a wave pool for the first time...until the first wave hit Sydney!), and waterworks play area (Amelia woke up in time to splash in the water here for a little bit). We capped the day with the family platter from Bill Miller for a taste of Texas BBQ.

Amelia, intrigued by the dolphins

Nate, not interested in holding the fish today (but J was having fun!)

Watching Shamu with the Breyens

Mon: This morning we took Uncle Jeff (oh, and the rest of the crew) to the Bass Pro Shop (one of Nate's favorite destinations--aquarium, jungle gyms on the boats & tractors, zoo, amusement park with the big window elevator rides, and obstacle course--through the sleeping bag tunnels and tents--all under one roof). To balance the morning, we then took Jill shoe shopping (for her sister's wedding). It was a relaxing catch-up day. After an afternoon of naps, coloring and cartoons; we ended up at Mike's pool for some more water fun. It was perfect--we had the pool to ourselves. To cap off the week, we went to Mamacita's Mexican Restaurant for our obligatory Tex-Mex meal. The kids did pretty well (our meals out are no longer judged on taste, but by how many stares we receive from the other patrons!) Jeff & Jason returned to Mike's to watch Monday Night Football (Vikings vs. Packers, of course!) in HD. We don't have an HD TV, let alone cable (that will be purchase #27 when we're done living on a student's salary and have a paycheck again--the TV that is, we're still debating about cable!), so the boys enjoyed their set-up.

The crew at Mamacita's

Tues: After our hugs & chorus of good-byes at the house, Nate stayed with his friend Kail while I dropped the clan off at the airport. Amelia drove with us in Big Blue (Jason's Grand Marquis). Sydney gave us the play-by-play from the back seat as Sarah kept playing with Amelia's carseat. Sarah seemed quite content to have someone littler than her around to experiment with! As always, it took a few days for Nate to adjust to the quiet house after his cousins left. It was a little lonely, but we started our school-year routine that week so he didn't have much time to dwell there.

GO TEAM! Our little mascots (AFA Falcons vs UT Longhorns!)

More smile & giggles from our little girl (Nate's perspective)

Our kiddos--after some morning snuggles ("Amelia, you're my best friend!")

In the milestone arena, Amelia's sitting is improving daily. She still spends most of her daily floor time on her tummy. She'll roll over every now and then; but she's quite content to observe the world propped on her elbows (and laying on her tummy). She will squirm in 360-degree circles around the blanket for a change of scenery. She still has a strong grip on fingers, rattles and plastic rings. She has recently started transferring her small toys from hand-to-hand. She's currently pulling at the hair on the back of her head. It's almost like she just discovered it was there and is trying to investigate. We still receive constant compliments from friends, strangers and childcare providers about how easy-going, smiley, and snugly she is. That was one of my biggest fears. Nate was such an easy-going baby, I was sure I was going to have Ms. Fussypants with severe colic. I finally had to hold on to the adage that God wouldn't give me more than I could handle. (Apparently I was right, I couldn't have handled that!) On the flip side, Nate was a smiley, easy-going infant and young-toddler; but he's a super-spirited preschooler with quite a bossy streak. What do I have to look forward to with Amelia? One of Mom's favorite stories from my preschool stage is the day I was being extra bossy. Mom finally sent me to my room. "Why?!" I demanded. "Because I'm the boss!" Mom quipped back. I stomped half-way up the stairs with my pigtails and curly ribbons and stopped. I turned around and lipped, "If you'd spend less time trying to be the boss and more time trying to be a better mother, maybe I wouldn't be sent to my room!" Huh. So that's what I have to look forward to. ;)

They really do love each other! (I think they smile more when they see each other than when they see me or Jason!)

Smiling (and pulling on the back of her hair like I was talking about)