Welcome to Texas Bug!

One of the hardest things about moving from Oregon was not being able to see my sister any day that I wanted to. Even tough we are 17 years apart, we have always been very close. So when we got the opportunity to have her visit us for a week, we were BEYOND excited! I never thought that July 14th would get here. When the day finally came, I could not wait to get to the airport. Once I was parked I checked Chey's flight status and her flight was delayed 45 minutes. REALLY?!?! I did not want to wait any longer to see her!!! The flight was only delayed 15 minutes in the end, but now I just needed to get her from the gate to the security check point where I was waiting for her. Chey called me once she got off the plane and I was trying to explain to her how to get to me. I guess this is where I should mention that Chey has only flown once. I think it was around 9 years ago. So it was an experience trying to get her to understand what I was saying. It does not help that IAH is a large airport. So while I am trying to explain to her how to fine me, call drops, my phone freezes up, and I go into panic mode worried that I will never get her! As I am trying to stay calm and get my phone to work, I begin to have visions of myself busting through tthe security gate to try and find Chey. I honestly considered what would happen if I did. I mean they would completely understand that my "smart" phone was not working and I was worried about my 13 year old sister roaming the large halls of the airport not knowing where to go. right? As I was preparing to run, my phone rings and it is Chey. Thank you god!! I have no idea where she is and she says, "I see elevators that say Baggage Claim. Should I just go down them?" So down the elevators she went and I met her down there. When she walked around the corner it took my breath away. I just can't believe how much she is growing up. I didn't recognize her for a second at the baptism and it is a good thing I saw her then cause it may have taken me a second to realize it was her at the airport. Where the heck is all this time going? My Bug is growing up WAY too fast.

Bugs FINALLY here!!!!

For months we talked about going to Six Flags while she was here. As the time got closer Jared and I came to our senses and thought what in the world will we do with the babies while we are there? I mean they would go with us, but that is not necessarily a baby friendly type of place. If you have ever been to Texas during the summer, you know how hot it gets. The idea of being 3 hours away from home, pushing the babies around in the stroller, in the Texas heat (have I mentioned Bennett starts sweating even thinking about heat?) made my heart race. I hated telling Chey that we would not go this year, but promised that next time she was here, we would go. She said she was OK with it, but I'm sure there was a little heart break there. My goal was to make sure that she had a good time while she was here. I needed to insure that she would want to come back again. 

The night that she got here, we had some friends & family over to BBQ. Poor thing was exhausted, but she was a trooper and stayed up until the last group of people left our home. I knew she would need to catch up on her sleep (plus she is 13 on summer vacation!) so I told her that Sunday was the one day while she was here that she was allowed to sleep in. She was up before noon on Sunday! I have been wanting to make growth charts for B & E for awhile now and thought this would be a perfect time to do it while Chey was here. She could help me pick out colors and help me put them together and I knew she would enjoy doing it. We all loaded up and off to Home Depot we went!! We picked out the boards that I wanted to use, the paint color, and some other miscellaneous things that we needed at the house. The PLAN was to finish these before Chey went home....so this is as far as we got before she left. I know she wanted to see the finished product in person, but promised that I would text a pic as soon as it was done.

It's a work in progress. I am hoping to get them done this weekend. Will TRY to post pics once they are done!

We spent the beginning of the week working on these, making bouncy balls, playing cards, one day at the outlet mall, and watching movies. Jared worked one of the nights so Chey got to be my sidekick for the evening. It was nice to have someone around while Jared was working at night. After the lil monsters were sleeping, we made star shaped sugar cookies (and a high heel shoe cookie! I HAD to get the cookie cutter when I saw it!) I had left over frosting from the Pineapple Coconut cake that I made on Saturday. We colored some of it purple and some blue and frosted the cookies and of course added some sprinkles! My plan was to take pics during this process, but the following is the one and ONLY picture that was taken.....

This makes me laugh, but it is a memory for me :) 

We took our first trip to the zoo with B& E and decided that we wanted to take many trips there every year so we became members! We already have our next trip planned (Come on 1st birthday!!) Everyone had a great time and it was such a wonderful experience to see the excitement on the twins faces looking at all the animals. B & E do not go anywhere without Sophie the Giraffe I was so excited for them to see the real Giraffe's and had planned on taking them up to watch Chey feed the Giraffes. Chey has already experienced this before so I don't know if she was excited as I was. (Wait, which one of us is 13 and which one is 30?) By the time we got to the zoo, we did not have enough time to make it to the first feeding. Once the second feeding came around, the twins were asleep. I was super bummed, but that will be a nice little treat for them on their birthday. We went into the Aquarium last and B just LOVED it!! I think a huge part of what made him so happy was that it has A/C!!! OK he did get excited looking at all the bright colorful fish, but I know my son and he was happy about the A/C :) We purchased some zoo souvenirs on our way out and headed home. Chey and I had BIG plans that night, and needed to get ready.   

Can we get some ice water? It's HOT here!

I think Ella was ready to go lay in the shade with that bear at this point

What the heck is that? A woman next to us took a pic at the same time and in here's the reflection made it look like the ape was holding Bennett! Wish I gave her my email to send it to me!!

Had enough and needed a nap....right before feeding the Giraffe's

Timed this just right! We were the only ones in there feeding!

It's so cool in here...the fish are fun too!

Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming! 

Bennett loves shoulder rides

First trip to the zoo a success! 

Our trip to the zoo was for sure exhausting, but Chey and I had our BIG night ahead of us. Since we were not able to go to Six Flags this year, I let her pick something in Houston that she would be interested in doing while she was here. After looking online for some ideas, she decided she wanted to have a sister date at the Circus. Before I go any further, I should mention that I have NEVER had any desire to go to a circus. I have always imagined that it would be creepy and being a lover of animals, I did not want to witness any kind of animal cruelty. That being said, this is what Chey wanted to do, so I needed to suck it up, and take my sissy to see the Ringling Bros. Circus. As we are pulling up to the Circus, it starts to rain. As we are parking, it just starts to pour!! This is where we rewind back 2 weeks and I tell you the story about  Jared wanting me to put my umbrella back in my car and me making a smart comment about how I don't need it right now. As I say to Chey "We will just sit here for a second to wait for it to stop" All I can think is I should have listened to Jared! Being from Oregon, where it rains 11.5 months out of the year nonstop (small exaggeration) Chey looked at me like I was crazy for saying it would stop soon. As I predicted, it did not last for long and once it was down to a slight sprinkle, we made our way for the Big Top!

Waiting for it to stop raining. Should I mention the next day I found the umbrella, under the stroller, in my car?  Guess I did listen to Jared and forgot!! Oops :) 

We find our seats and not long after it is time for the show to start. A woman on an elephant comes out with the American flag and someone (I think the Ring Leader) sings the National Anthem. I'm thinking this is not so bad....and then it happens!!! The lighting is lowered, a million circus people/clowns, elephants, ring leader, a man on stilts, (did I already say clowns? Even at 30 I still hate clowns) come rushing out of the side and everyone is singing and dancing and then I remember, oh yeah, the circus freaks me out! I don't know how many times I thought there was going to be some kind of freak accident and I am pretty sure that the tigers wanted to eat the man that was in the cage with them. Now, all of this freak stuff that was happening very well could have been a part of the whole show. Again, this was my first time at the circus so I don't know. Everyone around me seemed to be having a great time, Chey included. There was even a baby about B & E's age across from us and I am fairly certain she was enjoying the show way more then I was. I'm glad I went, I'm glad Chey had a great time, but the circus is just something I do not enjoy. Daddy will be taking the lil ones if they ever want to go. Mama will have a spa day while they are gone :) 

Ok so these are not the best pictures, but I did not take many. I kept forgetting because I was too focused on all the chaos going on in front of me and just frozen to my chair from my anxiety!

The next day we went to Galveston so Chey (and the babies) could see the Gulf. Our plan was to play on the beach for about 45 minutes and then off to Kemah. Once we got in the water, B & E kept trying to sit down in it. I'm pretty sure they thought it was a ginormous bathtub! I held them in the water for awhile, got a couple of pics and off we went to Kemah!

This is what happens when I let Jared be in control of the camera!

Once at Kemah, we ate and did a little shopping, and then I took Chey into the Aquarium to feed the sting rays. There were so many kids in there, it was beyond overwhelming!! We attempted to give the sting rays a couple of fish, but there was just too much going on. If I was overwhelmed, I can only imagine how all those poor sting rays felt. Off to the rides we went. I used to love going on rides, but now that I am an old woman, I just can't handle them anymore. I wanted to be the cool big sister, so agreed to go on some of the rides. The second ride that I went on spins around and around and up and down and around and around and.....lets just say there was no more rides for this mama!

We ended the week practicing pitching, watching movies, going on a bike ride, and just spending time together. I was so sad when it was time to take her to the airport. I was not ready for her to leave yet. Once she got on the plane, I sat down to wait for the plane to actually take off, and just started to cry. I'm sure I looked a little crazy haha! I am so glad that I got a week with my sissy and am already trying to figure out the next time that she will be able to come back. The kids will be older, we will get to do a little more exploring, and hopefully the visit will be more then a week next time!