Wednesday, July 16
floating the river.
we just got back from floating the comal. it is a yearly vacation with the crispy's and is soooo relaxing! not a lot of pictures since taking my new camera on the river is not high on my list of things to do but i did get some fun pictures in gruene last night. i got to eat at grist mill where they have the world's best "gruene" beans. so yummy!!
Wednesday, July 9
addition to our family.
for everyone that hasn't heard already (not really sure how the word got out but oh well - so much for surprises:)), we are adopting a sister for rylea. her foster name is savannah (we may be changing it) and she is a young weim. the vet that she is seeing now estimated her at 3 but we all think she is younger - we will see what our vet thinks when she visits him for the first time. she is very similar in build to rylea. savannah is a blue weim which means that she is a slate colour.
we don't know what her story is but her foster parents, jim & carol, picked her up from a shelter in houston and she was extremely underweight. to give you an idea, rylea weighs 65 pounds and savannah weighed 49 pounds after a week of heavy eating to try to get her weight up. she is now up to 53 pounds and is looking so much better!
we all went to meet her - rylea included - at her foster parents house. strangely enough, her foster dad taught at my junior high - random i know!! rylea is very submissive and we wanted to make sure that whatever dog we adopted didn't come in and bully her. that was quickly addressed. after playing for awhile, rylea had had enough and told savannah off. we were shocked as we had never seen her do this before but it was a great thing to see. savannah was fine with it and went off on her own for awhile until rylea showed her she was ready to play again.
as we left, savannah tried to climb the fence to get to us - carol said she even had her back paws off the ground trying to come with us. so cute!!!
we were also worried how she would do with kids. jim & carol have grandkids that came to visit. one is 2 and savannah was extremely calm and gentle with him which was exactly what we wanted.
the reason we don't have her right now is that she was just starting her heartworm treatment. the good news is that she didn't have a bad case but that did mean that we had to wait a while to get her. we should be picking her up in the middle of next week and are really excited! we just hope we can decide on a name before then :)
we don't know what her story is but her foster parents, jim & carol, picked her up from a shelter in houston and she was extremely underweight. to give you an idea, rylea weighs 65 pounds and savannah weighed 49 pounds after a week of heavy eating to try to get her weight up. she is now up to 53 pounds and is looking so much better!
we all went to meet her - rylea included - at her foster parents house. strangely enough, her foster dad taught at my junior high - random i know!! rylea is very submissive and we wanted to make sure that whatever dog we adopted didn't come in and bully her. that was quickly addressed. after playing for awhile, rylea had had enough and told savannah off. we were shocked as we had never seen her do this before but it was a great thing to see. savannah was fine with it and went off on her own for awhile until rylea showed her she was ready to play again.
as we left, savannah tried to climb the fence to get to us - carol said she even had her back paws off the ground trying to come with us. so cute!!!
we were also worried how she would do with kids. jim & carol have grandkids that came to visit. one is 2 and savannah was extremely calm and gentle with him which was exactly what we wanted.
the reason we don't have her right now is that she was just starting her heartworm treatment. the good news is that she didn't have a bad case but that did mean that we had to wait a while to get her. we should be picking her up in the middle of next week and are really excited! we just hope we can decide on a name before then :)
july 4th weekend.
this weekend was so fun, i'm just now getting around to posting :) it took a little while to recover!
my family headed down here friday morning. if anyone was in southeast houston on friday, the weather was less than perfect. we hooked up the waverunner and headed down to galveston. our crew (mum, dad, james, brian, rylea, & me) drove through some insane rain but when we got down there, the rain was cleared off and it was a perfect temp - not too hot but not cold either. we took out the waverunner and played on the waves for awhile. rylea played in the ocean a little and then dug in the sand.
we headed home and got dinner ready. our friends, megan & byron, and their cute puppy, sammie (see post below) also came down and ate with us. quite a few dogs for our house (peaches & baley, my parent's dogs, also came down:)). after we ate, we went out to watch fireworks down at south shore conference center where we always go. we met up with our friends, troy & juliet, and their son jaxon (see post below), as well as our other friends tara & mike. we sat out there and saw the league city fireworks and then the kemah fireworks but after two hours, the clear lake fireworks hadn't gone off. there were tons of people waiting on them and no one knows what happened, but no clear lake fireworks for us this year:(
saturday, we rented two more waverunners for the day and spent the day on clear lake, taylor lake, on the creek, and out on the bay. we had a blast and plan on doing that again soon!
sunday we had a lazy day. i think we all finally got out of our pjs around 11 or 12 and made lunch about 2ish. it was fun having my family here for the weekend!!
rylea was more than a little pooped when everyone left on sunday. vanpa thinks she can handle two straight days of entertaining but anything beyond that kicks her booty! she slept all day and night sunday as well as most of monday - poor puppy!
my family headed down here friday morning. if anyone was in southeast houston on friday, the weather was less than perfect. we hooked up the waverunner and headed down to galveston. our crew (mum, dad, james, brian, rylea, & me) drove through some insane rain but when we got down there, the rain was cleared off and it was a perfect temp - not too hot but not cold either. we took out the waverunner and played on the waves for awhile. rylea played in the ocean a little and then dug in the sand.
the only pictures i took all weekend - oops!
we headed home and got dinner ready. our friends, megan & byron, and their cute puppy, sammie (see post below) also came down and ate with us. quite a few dogs for our house (peaches & baley, my parent's dogs, also came down:)). after we ate, we went out to watch fireworks down at south shore conference center where we always go. we met up with our friends, troy & juliet, and their son jaxon (see post below), as well as our other friends tara & mike. we sat out there and saw the league city fireworks and then the kemah fireworks but after two hours, the clear lake fireworks hadn't gone off. there were tons of people waiting on them and no one knows what happened, but no clear lake fireworks for us this year:(
saturday, we rented two more waverunners for the day and spent the day on clear lake, taylor lake, on the creek, and out on the bay. we had a blast and plan on doing that again soon!
sunday we had a lazy day. i think we all finally got out of our pjs around 11 or 12 and made lunch about 2ish. it was fun having my family here for the weekend!!
rylea was more than a little pooped when everyone left on sunday. vanpa thinks she can handle two straight days of entertaining but anything beyond that kicks her booty! she slept all day and night sunday as well as most of monday - poor puppy!
Tuesday, July 1
so busy entertaining.
rylea & i have been busy entertaining these last few weeks.
last week, our friend's son, jaxon, was sick and couldn't go to daycare. rylea & i went to their house one morning to take care of him so that his mommy could go to school & his daddy could go to work. rylea & jaxon hang out a lot but it's been really cute really seeing jaxon interact with rylea. even though he was sick, he played fetch with her & even took her on a "walk." she takes it all in stride and was a very good girl!
yesterday, my friend, megan, and her puppy, sammy, came over to play. we went over to my in-laws house and swam while the puppies played (& rylea of course swam as well!). i got a few pictures of sammy & rylea running around the yard. they are definitely quite the pair!
last night, we went over to my in-laws for brian's pawpaw's birthday (after having a social event with brian's next crew - yes, we were out with the astronauts - how fun!). rylea is exhausted from entertaining everyone. other than the barking when no one was giving her attention, she was a very good girl - she even got to taste the beer her grumps was bottling. we think she may have weaseled her way into her pawpaw's heart!
nanny, vanpa, peaches, baley, and uncle james are coming on thursday to spend the weekend so there will definitely be plenty of entertaining to be done! as of now, it looks like the beach with the waverunner on friday, waverunners on the lake on saturday, and lunch with the family on sunday - what a weekend!!
happy 4th to everyone!
last week, our friend's son, jaxon, was sick and couldn't go to daycare. rylea & i went to their house one morning to take care of him so that his mommy could go to school & his daddy could go to work. rylea & jaxon hang out a lot but it's been really cute really seeing jaxon interact with rylea. even though he was sick, he played fetch with her & even took her on a "walk." she takes it all in stride and was a very good girl!
yesterday, my friend, megan, and her puppy, sammy, came over to play. we went over to my in-laws house and swam while the puppies played (& rylea of course swam as well!). i got a few pictures of sammy & rylea running around the yard. they are definitely quite the pair!
last night, we went over to my in-laws for brian's pawpaw's birthday (after having a social event with brian's next crew - yes, we were out with the astronauts - how fun!). rylea is exhausted from entertaining everyone. other than the barking when no one was giving her attention, she was a very good girl - she even got to taste the beer her grumps was bottling. we think she may have weaseled her way into her pawpaw's heart!
nanny, vanpa, peaches, baley, and uncle james are coming on thursday to spend the weekend so there will definitely be plenty of entertaining to be done! as of now, it looks like the beach with the waverunner on friday, waverunners on the lake on saturday, and lunch with the family on sunday - what a weekend!!
happy 4th to everyone!
Sunday, June 22
glad to be home.
rylea & i have spent the week enjoying being home & off for the summer. we miss her daddy during the day but have fun at night when he gets home.
yesterday, we got some really good thunderstorms around our area. when we went outside to leave for dinner, there was a double, full rainbow. i got a picture of one part of one of them.
today, we went up to clear lake park where brian played a little softball with some friends while me & rylea played with jaxon (our friend's 19 month old). they had a blast together & jaxon even took rylea on a walk (i'm sorry i didn't get pictures of this!!).
it was hot when we left so we headed over to the in-laws for some pool time. rylea was already tired by the time we got there but was more than happy to go for a swim! i managed to catch her "laying out" on the deck chairs but notice what her eyes are doing. as i speak, she is sprawled across her daddy snoring. what a day!!
yesterday, we got some really good thunderstorms around our area. when we went outside to leave for dinner, there was a double, full rainbow. i got a picture of one part of one of them.
today, we went up to clear lake park where brian played a little softball with some friends while me & rylea played with jaxon (our friend's 19 month old). they had a blast together & jaxon even took rylea on a walk (i'm sorry i didn't get pictures of this!!).
it was hot when we left so we headed over to the in-laws for some pool time. rylea was already tired by the time we got there but was more than happy to go for a swim! i managed to catch her "laying out" on the deck chairs but notice what her eyes are doing. as i speak, she is sprawled across her daddy snoring. what a day!!
Monday, June 16
the cruise.
i just realized it is completely possible to have so much you want to include in one post & feel completely overwhelmed at the thought of getting it there.
we had such a fun vacation - it was just what we needed at the end of my last (very stressful) school year teaching and i'm sure brian needed a break from his job too ;)
we left galveston on sunday (6.8) & headed out at a whopping 20ish knots (about 24 mph so i'm told) towards jamaica. needless to say, you don't get anywhere very quickly at 24 mph so we didn't get to jamaica until wednesday. luckily, there was tons to do (or not do in our case) on the boat. monday and tuesday, we slept in - i think 10am was our average wake up time - and then spent the day at the pool or on our balcony. it was completely relaxing!
we woke up wednesday and opened our curtains to find jamaica on the other side. talk about a strange feeling! we actually got up at a decent time so that we could get out and explore before swinging through the trees on our canopy tour. little did we know there wasn't a whole lot to see near the port (i was supposed to be the expert having been there before - oops!!). we ended up waiting about an hour and then got on the bus with our driver ("buck"). he took us on a 45 minute windy and sometimes scary ride to the middle of nowhere - to be correct, to the middle of an orange orchard. our canopy tour was soooo fun but ridiculously hot (no air moves through the jungle). we then rode back into montego bay where we ate lunch at margaritaville, brian drank the traditional red stripe beer, and we headed back to the boat to leave for grand cayman.
view from margaritaville & view from our balcony.
on thursday, we again woke up to a new place - this time grand cayman. we had to tender in (take little boats into the port) since the water wasn't deep enough for the ship to dock. brian and i shopped for an hour before meeting up with some of my volleyball players who were there on their senior trip. one of them has family from grand cayman and her uncle owns a bar there so we took the local tour of the island, played on the beach, and then ate at the pub. we had to be back on the ship early since it was pulling out at 3.
view of 7 mile beach from our balcony on the ship.
friday, we were pulling into mexico while we were eating breakfast. once we got there, we met up with our excursion people who took us out in the middle of nowhere (catching a pattern here?!?) for our ATV tour. we had a blast (and got incredibly muddy!). then we were taken to a beach where we could snorkel and eat. the water was amazing -although it had been everywhere we had stopped but galveston. we had some of the best margaritas we had ever had there before returning to the ship.
ATV tour.
saturday was another day at sea - and another day of nothing for us :) it felt soooo nice!
sunday, my parents picked us up around 10 with rylea in the car waiting for us!! i was soooo excited to see her and she seemed a little happy to see us too. we had lunch with my family (even james was in town) for father's day. we then continued our tradition of napping established on the cruise with a nap that afternoon. this was followed by dinner with brian's parents.
the funniest part of coming home was the puppy. i'm not sure what she did while she was at nanny & vanpa's but she slept all day sunday and almost the entire day today. must be tough entertaining her aunt peaches and aunt baley!
we had such a fun vacation - it was just what we needed at the end of my last (very stressful) school year teaching and i'm sure brian needed a break from his job too ;)
we left galveston on sunday (6.8) & headed out at a whopping 20ish knots (about 24 mph so i'm told) towards jamaica. needless to say, you don't get anywhere very quickly at 24 mph so we didn't get to jamaica until wednesday. luckily, there was tons to do (or not do in our case) on the boat. monday and tuesday, we slept in - i think 10am was our average wake up time - and then spent the day at the pool or on our balcony. it was completely relaxing!
we woke up wednesday and opened our curtains to find jamaica on the other side. talk about a strange feeling! we actually got up at a decent time so that we could get out and explore before swinging through the trees on our canopy tour. little did we know there wasn't a whole lot to see near the port (i was supposed to be the expert having been there before - oops!!). we ended up waiting about an hour and then got on the bus with our driver ("buck"). he took us on a 45 minute windy and sometimes scary ride to the middle of nowhere - to be correct, to the middle of an orange orchard. our canopy tour was soooo fun but ridiculously hot (no air moves through the jungle). we then rode back into montego bay where we ate lunch at margaritaville, brian drank the traditional red stripe beer, and we headed back to the boat to leave for grand cayman.
the boat & my very own tarzan.
you tarzan, me jane.
view from margaritaville & view from our balcony.
on thursday, we again woke up to a new place - this time grand cayman. we had to tender in (take little boats into the port) since the water wasn't deep enough for the ship to dock. brian and i shopped for an hour before meeting up with some of my volleyball players who were there on their senior trip. one of them has family from grand cayman and her uncle owns a bar there so we took the local tour of the island, played on the beach, and then ate at the pub. we had to be back on the ship early since it was pulling out at 3.
view down 7 mile beach & the ships from the beach.
volleyball girls & brian and i on the beach
view of 7 mile beach from our balcony on the ship.
friday, we were pulling into mexico while we were eating breakfast. once we got there, we met up with our excursion people who took us out in the middle of nowhere (catching a pattern here?!?) for our ATV tour. we had a blast (and got incredibly muddy!). then we were taken to a beach where we could snorkel and eat. the water was amazing -although it had been everywhere we had stopped but galveston. we had some of the best margaritas we had ever had there before returning to the ship.
our boat (the far one) & our twinky ship in port.
ATV tour.
snorkel beach & view of cozumel from our balcony.
saturday was another day at sea - and another day of nothing for us :) it felt soooo nice!
last night at dinner with our table & server, andrea.
sunday, my parents picked us up around 10 with rylea in the car waiting for us!! i was soooo excited to see her and she seemed a little happy to see us too. we had lunch with my family (even james was in town) for father's day. we then continued our tradition of napping established on the cruise with a nap that afternoon. this was followed by dinner with brian's parents.
the funniest part of coming home was the puppy. i'm not sure what she did while she was at nanny & vanpa's but she slept all day sunday and almost the entire day today. must be tough entertaining her aunt peaches and aunt baley!
napping with mummy & daddy.
** all of our pictures are posted on our picture site (link to the left) **
Tuesday, June 3
lake rylea.
there is a "real" lake (& what i mean by that is that it's not one of those cookie cutter lakes that you see in neighborhoods these days - although we have those too if that's your thing:)) in our neighborhood that we take rylea to swim almost every day on her walk. we decided it needed a name and who better to name it after than our crazy water dog?!?! since i had the new camera, i decided to take a few pics yesterday but i kept the strap on since me, a camera, & water doesn't seem to bode well for the camera :)
here's what we got...
here's what we got...
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