Summer ends with a splash!

Ben was out of town all week with work and will be again this week, so when he suggested that we take Friday and head to Sea World, Belle and I jumped with excitement. It was an awesome day with both sun and clouds and since school has started, the park was nearly empty. Belle really enjoyed the few small rides she was big enough to ride and even went through the mini-Shamu-coaster line, only to find out she still is not tall enough to go. (Ben and I didn't think she was but she really wanted to try.)


During the Shamu show the audience started chanting "Shamu, Shamu" and waving their hands like a whale-tail. This is the "splash" sign and Belle quickly joined in. When we told her we were sitting in the non-splash zone, she was disappointed, so Ben, being the agreeable dad that he is, took her to sit in some seats where they most certainly were splashed with ice cold salt water. Although Ben was trying to shield her, the water actually hit Belle with such force that it burst her hair out of her ponytail and broke the rubber band. She quickly recovered and enjoyed feeding the seals, although she was a little nervous at first of the tiny fish that were their food.


It was a great end to the summer season with a full day of sun and fun. Although the fall weather will not really begin here in South Texas until probably November, we are ready for football season and are excited for pumpkins and the fall holidays!

When we're helping we're happy and we sing as we go...

Isabelle loves to clean. She will dust, vacuum, sweep, do laundry and mostly anything else that needs to be done. She and I have a great time every week on our "cleaning day" tidying up the house and listening to music loudly as we sing along. This week we cleaned to the sounds of U2 and some old school Bon Jovi. Belle usually is almost too much help and it sometimes takes us much longer than planned because we have too much fun while doing our chores. She likes to sing the "cleaning song" from Enchanted and we often take dancing breaks in between tasks to twirl and jump with her friends...Elmo, Dumbo, Doggie, etc. I am sure this is a learned behavior and her nursery leaders have commented to us before that she is busy cleaning up after all of the other children most of class time, but Ben and I have decided that cleaning too much (while having a lot of fun) is just fine with us.

Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came...

Isabelle and I enjoyed the easy-going life of Salem, UT over the last week. Our trip started with an early morning plane ride where Jelly enjoyed watching some cartoons on Direct TV. She has always been a good traveler and this trip was no different.

We were able to attend my cousin Casey's wedding and after the bride and groom left the reception by carriage, some of the young cousins were able to take a ride. Isabelle felt just like Cinderella!


Salem was celebrating it's annual "Salem Days" and we were eager to get in on some of the festivities. My mom, Alex and I all ran in the Salem 5K Fun Run and we even convinced my Grandma Joan who turned 77 over the weekend to participate in the 1 Mile race. My mom took home the silver medal and none other than my Grandma Joan was awarded the gold! (In her age category.) Alee and I came in around 9Th place...apparently there are many more 20-30 year old running these days than folks in their 70's.

We then enjoyed the Salem Pancake Breakfast where we shook the Mayor's hand and waited in line for a delicious warm pancake and orange juice. Belle was delighted to see the giant skillet filled with pancakes, just like in one of her favorite Curious George books. It was soon time for the town parade and we laughed until we cried at all of the local floats, queens, and special guests who marched along. This was Belle's first parade and she was so excited and loved every moment of it. She was especially surprised at all of the candy that was thrown her direction and that we actually let her eat it! Grandma Joan was even in the parade proudly wearing her hard earned gold medal.

We were able to get better acquainted with Alee's fiance and the soon to be Uncle Nick. Isabelle was quite smitten and she loved playing with Nickolas and even said "now I am marrying Nick" when she was given a candy ring sucker to wear. We also were able to host a bridal shower for the couple and had fun visiting with friends and dipping everything in the chocolate fountain.

This was like a dream vacation for little Isabelle as she would wake up early and go to bed late. She could play in Grandpa's backyard barefoot and pick tomatoes out of the garden as she pleased. She loved having not only Grammie with us, who flew in from Houston, but also Grammie Gloria and Grandpa Kent who came up from Arizona and the 85 degree weather outside everyday. She loved the horses next door and visiting with all of her distant relatives. Unfortunately, the night before we returned home she and I both came down with some sort of summer-head cold and felt pretty icky on the flights home. We missed Daddy and are happy to be home again...although when we arrived back in San Antonio and were greeted by the warm moist heat and the heavy afternoon traffic, we missed the simple life back in Salem. There is something so American about small town pride.

As good as it gets!

Yesterday I turned 29 years old. It was the first birthday that I was not super jazzed about celebrating. 29 is the age all women pretend to be for the rest of their lives. Someone will ask your age and you will say "oh, I'm only 29" when in fact you are 52 years young. Therefore, I feel like this is as good as it is going to get from here on out, which means I have some work to do this year!

My parents drove over from Houston for the celebration and Ben and I quickly took advantage of their arrival and went to the movie Mamma Mia Friday night. Saturday started with a jog past the temple with my mom while grandpa and Belle went on a walk in the neighborhood. Ben picked us all up and treated us to sprinkled donuts, Belle's request, at Krispy Kreme. We shopped at La Cantera and ate yummy lunch at Culvers. Isabelle was very excited it was my birthday and sang Happy Birthday to You at least a half a dozen times. I received wonderful presents from my parents and Ben and even some in the mail from my siblings! Thank you for all of your thoughtfulness and for all of the phone calls and happy wishes from family and friends!

Unfortunately, we never grabbed the camera for a quick photo to document me at the best age of my life! Here is to enjoying the last year of my 20's and to starting my new (too expensive) firming night facial cream!