Paul took Friday off and we had decided ahead of time that we were going to drive down to Padre Island (about 3 hours away) and do an overnight camp out at the beach. We gathered our supplies ahead of time, purchased a few new ones (Joseph was excited about getting his own sleeping bag and sand toys; I was excited about getting a new air mattress), packed everything up Friday morning and headed out. We got there just in time to snag the last camp site that had a BBQ, so we were grateful for that! We set up camp, sunscreened up, and hit the beach. Gulf beaches are totally different than the beaches I experienced growing up. The sand is way softer, the water is way warmer, and the waves are way smaller and gentler. I loved it! We could let Joseph go and not worry about him getting knocked over every time a wave came in (even though it still happened a couple of times). The water also stays shallow for a LONG ways out. After playing at the beach for a while, we walked back to our camp site and had dinner (foil dinners). We then went back to the shore for a bit more fun. Finally, we headed back to roast marshmallows and get ready for bed. Sleeping was pretty interesting. Joseph moved around A LOT (one reason we never co-slept, lol). He was next to me, crawled over to be between us, alternated snuggling up to one or the other of us, flipped around so that his head was by our feet, ended up perpendicular with us, etc. Needless to say, with that experience (along with the crazy wind and bugs getting us), we didn’t sleep much. In the morning, we made breakfast (breakfast tacos) and let Joseph play around the camp site while we packed up. The people next to us had collected a bunch of shells and as we were leaving, had Joseph pick one out (he chose a sand dollar). They were pretty cool! We drove home and relaxed, did laundry (and Paul did homework), had dinner at Jim’s, and went to bed early. Other than being pretty tired the next day (and bit up from the mosquitos and ants who were ignoring the bug spray we put on), it was overall a pretty great trip!
This Trip in Pictures (not necessarily in chronological order):
Making a sand castle.He kept flinging sand over his shoulder.SunRISE over the ocean (something I have never seen in person, growing up on the west coast).Roasting marshmallows in very serious business.He had a great time holding it all by himself.Weird creature? Nope. It was actually a pen cap that had stuff growing on it, lol.This seagull is pretty chill…others? Not so much. We had to chase them off a lot when they were going after our food.Joseph is “battling” a stick and Paul…is probably smacking a mosquito. Even with bug spray, they were ruthless!Foil dinner time!The mastermind behind the entire trip.The entertainer for the trip.Joseph got this picture. My hair is crazy (thanks to the wind), but I had to include it because I’m impressed that he didn’t cut my head off in the shot.It was quite bright out……but so pretty and calming.Yes, that is a jellyfish (pretty sure it’s a Portuguese Man-of-War). I noticed one in the water not too far away from us and hauled Joseph out of the water. We found this one on the shore. I made sure Joseph knew it would give BIG ouchies.Another type of jellyfish (also on the shoreline).Playing in the water.This log had barnacles and seaweed growing all over it.Our finished product…the sand was so soft and moist (from the humidity) that it was really easy to make a sand castle.The building process…We really loved being there!“Jumping” over waves.I could not get over how soft the sand was on my feet!
Weekly Happenings: We kept this past week pretty down-to-Earth since we knew the weekend would be crazy with our overnight beach trip. I’m going to write up another post about that…so stay tuned! We really didn’t do too much out of the ordinary.
The Weekly Weather: Rain, rain, RAIN! The lake/reservoir by us has risen THIRTY FEET in the last WEEK! The Edwards Aquifer (where most of San Antonio’s water supply comes from) has risen above drought condition levels (if it stays that way, we will no longer have water restrictions). Other parts of the state have experienced (and are still experiencing) flooding, but we’re doing pretty well here in South Texas. We had some crazy thunderstorms and a tornado warning (where they advise people to take shelter right away), but we’re all okay (I don’t think there was even a tornado in our part of town…but better safe than sorry)!
What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school as usual. He ordered a new blade for our lawn mower and is excited to get a chance to install it since the old one is pretty bent up and leaves our yard looking a bit shaggy.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: My piano recital is swiftly approaching. I will be joining forces with my friend who teaches voice, so it should be a great recital.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: A cute story from his Primary teacher: they were playing duck-duck-goose at the end of their lesson and he was running around trying to get his friend. His teacher asked him if he was out of breath. He said, “No I not…I’m IN breath!” One of his “Joseph-isms” is saying that things are either “upside-down” or “upside-up” (which totally makes sense to me)., Oh, and the other day, he noticed his shadow on the ground. He started dancing around, watching it, and then said, “Hey! That guy’s not stayin’…he’s stickin’ to me!” I love the way he sees the world! Oh, and today he got to say the theme in Primary. We practiced throughout the week and I whispered it in his ear as he said it into the microphone. He did really well, said all the words perfectly, and didn’t seem nervous at all. It probably helped that Paul was in the back, giving good moral support. 🙂
This Week in Pictures:
Checking out my chair to see what needs “fixin'”. Note the safety goggles. 🙂Loading up his tools……and getting down to business.Slam-dunk!This was the morning after he had run into a part of the playground at the park and had busted his lip open.As is clearly seen, it didn’t slow him down too much (other than when it first happened…he was understandably quite upset)…I’m starting to find it difficult to get a normal picture out of him.Ah, there’s one!“Shooting” aliens at the park…
Weekly Happenings: We really didn’t do too much out of the ordinary this past week. The weather kind of kept us home bound (rain is one thing…torrential downpours accompanied by thunder and lightning is quite another). I did get a couple of nights out with friends for a baby shower and a going away party, which was really nice. Paul and Joseph got a lot of father-son bonding time this week, which was fun, too. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: It’s been crazy to say the least. We’ve had some form of precipitation, be it just a smattering of rain or a full day of it, every day since the beginning of May. We’ve also had a couple of crazy thunderstorms (one where the thunder literally shook the house hard enough that I thought there had been an earthquake…I guess it’s the Californian in me) and even a tornado watch/warning or two (no actual tornadoes, though). We had a watch one day, which means that conditions are favorable for a tornado to develop. Another day there was a warning issued (which means that conditions are REALLY favorable or that one has been spotted either by a person or on doppler radar), but it was down south of us. *whew!* Today, the rain was really coming down. Joseph was watching a show on the television and the power flickered a couple of times. When it came back on the second time, the picture on the TV was upside down. At first I thought it was just the Roku Box, but when I went to change the input to get it back to TV mode (at Paul’s suggestion), we noticed it was everything that was upside down. !!! Luckily, turning the TV off and back on seemed to fix the problem. 🙂
What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school as always. He took his turn teaching his class for Pathway on Thursday. As mentioned before, he and Joseph had a lot of bonding time this week. Joseph really loves hanging out with his Daddy. They play video games together, read books, and have a general good time. 🙂
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much, really. I do have to share something really nice that happened while I was finishing up my grocery shopping. I had Joseph hop into the car to get into his car seat while I unloaded groceries into the back of the van. As I was finishing up, I was approached be a woman who said she noticed I had a young child in the car and she offered to take my cart back so that I wouldn’t have to either leave him in the car or have to haul him along whilst I returned it. It was such a small thing, but it made a huge difference in my day that day.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been a bit stir crazy as of late. I think the weather may be affecting him (mainly because he can’t get out and expend a lot of his energy outside like he normally does). His new thing is to try to do headstands while on the couch. This is frustrating me to no end, partially because I can remember doing the same thing as a young child, so I am really trying to be patient while repeatedly telling him to stop (and reminding him of how he should be sitting on the couch). Well, today at church, he tried to do the same thing (a headstand) in the pew. It sure kept me on my toes trying to keep him seated on his bottom! He also almost got the cup from the Sacrament stuck in his mouth or throat. I should preface this with the fact that I never really had a hard time with him as a baby as far as sticking things into his mouth that he wasn’t supposed to. Well, today, he decided he was going to stick the little plastic cup into his mouth. We were telling him to spit it out, so he spit the water onto Paul’s lap (sad face), but Paul had to take the cup out because Joseph either couldn’t or wouldn’t take it out (I’m strongly leaning towards the latter because he can be very stubborn at times). Methinks that next week we will remind him of proper Sacrament cup etiquette beforehand.
This Week in Pictures:
We had days that were full of torrential downpours. It’s hard to see in this picture, but there was a good inch or more of water flowing down the entire street (even the middle).We also had days where there was just one tiny rainstorm and then it was overcast but dry the rest of the day. Our grass is really loving it.He was making his action figures rappel down the rope.There was one morning that he spent almost the entire morning playing with his Duplos.I love that he just builds what he wants and doesn’t have to stick to the “plans”. My favorite was what he called his “house car” (you can see it in the very front of the picture with the white window block on top).I was so amazed by this sky that I felt compelled to pull over (I had just backed out of our driveway) and snap a picture. I don’t think I have ever seen such a crisp delineation between clear sky and cloud cover. It almost looks like the sky meeting the ocean, except we’re smack dab in the middle of Texas. 😉Getting out his energy in a productive way: boxing practice with Daddy. 😉
