Cowboy Cuteness and More!

Not much has been going on around our house lately. We're just chillin' in the last few weeks of summer. Mamu's been going to school twice a week and this past Thursday was Western Day. They even got to have pony rides and their pictures with the pony! We'll get the pony pictures sometime next week and I'll try to get it scanned so you can see the cuteness! Bebe was a little sad that she didn't go to Western Day, so she decided that we could have Western Day at our house. So she wore her boots shirt - with hot pink shorts. This girl's got style! She did bring her new horse "Cleo" along - she bought Cleo on Monday with her own money. She's been wanting to count her piggy bank money, so she counted it and we took it to the bank and they counted the coins for her (to make sure she was right - and I didn't want to carry that many coins around). She made some good decisions and saved some in her account and took some with her to spend. They didn't have the toy she wanted, but she found Cleo and it was love at first sight! Cleo also comes with a "purse carrier", felt food (an apple and a carrot), a comb, a bridle, and a saddle. I know! Fancy Schmancy!

We did some errands this week as well. I have started back to school shopping for Bebe. I'm old school. I don't buy the wrap packs that do everything for you (I'm not against them, I just like to shop for school supplies), so I start hitting the sales when they come out. I do love me some school sales! We've gotten a lot of stuff - almost everything. We just bought her a new lunchbox and backpack this week. I even sewed a cute little ID tag for her lunchbox - I'll make one for her backpack and then show you guys. I was mean this year and told her that her backpack had to last for this year AND next year. So no character backpacks, since we aren't sure she'd want a Barbie backpack next year. We also bought her a first day of school outfit (complete with matching hairbow - I actually paid more for the bow, than the dress) and a couple of cute shirts (like she needs more shirts) and a pair of capris that were 70% off (both the shirts and capris)!

Anyways, we puttered around yesterday and the kids were getting a smidge restless. I didn't really want to head to the pool because it was already getting close to Mamu's bedtime, so I took the kids out back and offered to spray them with the hose. Mamu thought this was a fabulous idea! Bebe decided that my zero gravity chair was a better choice - but she did enjoy a popsicle while sitting there. Since the "broken" hose - the hook-up thingy (I can't ask Jason what it's called right now because he's reading to Bebe) is bent from getting driven over (that's a story in and of it's self - it was either drive over the hose hook-up thingy or a child - I picked the hose hook-up thingy), I can't hook it up the spray toy we have. I didn't really want to get the hose from the front (I know, lazy), so I sprayed him. I actually sprayed the three trees in the backyard and let Mamu run through the "rain". He had a grand time. He's been really into pouring and splashing and doing all sorts of things with water, so I dragged the plastic picnic bench over near the hose, gave them some old pitchers and cups and the hose. Talk about entertainment! They had a grand time - Mamu loved that he got to spill water and not get fussed at!

I even taught Bebe how to turn the water on and off, so they could even get more water! I had a grand time watching them while chillin' in my zero gravity chair.

Today, after going to get our van vaccuumed and washed (it's been a long time since Bessie has gotten the star treatment) - that was Bebe's and my treat after we cleaned it out - we ran a few errands and Mamu kept asking to go swimming. I told him that we could go after nap. After a fabulous nap, we headed to the pool. Then I had the EASIEST dinner EVER! We stopped at Sonic, ate it at the picnic table and the trash went directly into the outside bin! Fabulous! Then I let them play with the water some more.

That's Mamu in his new "Woody" towel - he's pretty cute in it! Mamu's Grandma Joos sent it to him and he loves it!

We love us some summer!

I'm Helpless

So, I used Didi's camera to take pictures on day 3, and she's got them in the mail to me, so while we wait patiently for the USPS I thought I'd share a conversation we had on the way home from dropping off MG.

Bebe: Mom? What did you do back then?
Me: HUH? When?
Bebe: Before I was borned. What did you do?
Me: Ummm.
I honestly couldn't really remember that far back, so I winged it.
Me: Well, your dad and I worked and lived in an apartment.
Bebe: What else?
Me: Well, your dad worked at night (from 3 -midnight) and I worked early in the morning (6 am -3), so we didn't see each other very much during that summer. Then, when I started teaching, we would just watch tv or play games at night.
Bebe: Well, I think you were helpless.
Me: What? Why?
Bebe: Because you didn't have me to help you out. You had to do a lot of things without my help.
Me: You're right. I do appreciate your help.
:)

I'm not sure what spurred this conversation - all I know is that she was quite tired and when she's tired, she talks. I mean talks the whole 45 minute drive home from MG and Grandaddy's. Non-stop.

Road Trip Day 2

**This is a picture heavy post. For you people that know me, you know that I take pictures. Like crazy.**

So we woke up (ok, the kids woke us up) on Wednesday and got treated to a fabulous breakfast made by Uncle Mark - Texas shaped waffles, eggs, and bacon - YUM! Bebe was so excited to have a Texas shaped waffle and even asked where we lived. She saved that spot for last to eat.

KK enjoying her puffies for breakfast

Then we decided to take a trip to the closest "big" city - Lake Charles. We looked on their website and stumbled across The Children's Museum and decided to make that our destination. Bebe decided it would be more fun to drive in Uncle Mark's car, so Mamu and MG rode with me. It was about an hour or so away, so when we arrived, it was time for lunch. After a quick stop at Subway (and a discovery that Aunt Didi and Mamu both LOVE meatball sandwiches), we were off to the museum!

Oh My Goodness! This museum was very, very, cool! Mamu and Bebe had a blast! It was three levels (and we didn't even get to do all of the stuff) and even had a small soft play area for KK to play in.

The awesome water table! You moved the blue and yellow plastic rectangles to change the flow of water.

We stayed for a couple of hours and then headed back to Aunt Didi's house. We did have a fabulous stop on the way home - Dairy Queen!

Uncle Mark made us yummy spaghetti and homemade meatballs (Mamu was SO EXCITED!) for dinner. After dinner, we went to play at the playground that is right behind Aunt Didi's house! You just walk out the gate and there you are!

Then Bebe got to play the Wii while Mamu and KK took a bath.

The Banski's made a return performance and I do say that we got better!

Road Trip Day 1

So, we left on Tuesday, July 20 at 8:00 am to go pick up MG and then got on the road! We got to meet MG and Grandaddy's new kittens (Ben and Jerry), switched cars, and got on the road! I had packed a bag full of different things for the kids to do, plus a cooler with juice and water, and the infamous bag o' snacks (grapes, cherry tomatoes, goldfish, Kix, pretzels, and graham crackers) so we were entertained. Bebe also brought along her "Hear Us Sing God" CDs - there are 2 CDs with 50 songs each on them sung by small children. I was able to listen to the high pitch for a while and then we switched over to XM radio Margaritaville for our dose of Jimmy Buffet and friends. We stopped for lunch at a McDonald's (not a fabulous choice, but when you're driving through East Texas - there's not a lot to choose from) and let the kids run around a bit under their shade tarp; the playground was too hot.

Me with our GPS friend - Quigley

Bebe playing.

Then we hit the road again and got to Kilgore, TX. We went to the #1 tourist destination in East Texas (that's what it said) - The East Texas Oil Museum! The last time we had gone, I was about 5. That's been over 25 years ago (26 to be exact). It was a pretty cool museum. Very interactive for the kids and Mamu kept saying "Men get Oil out of the ground". We went on a journey to the center of the Earth. You ride on an elevator down to the center of the Earth! Our trip was narrated by Professor Rockbottom and his pal (forgot his name). It was both educational and interesting at the same time! We got to look at all the great exhibits and watch a film on the Oil Boom. We spent a good hour to hour and a half there learning about "Men get oil out of the ground" and both kids were sad when we had to leave. Believe it or not, I remembered parts of it!

Bebe, Mamu, and Me at the East Texas Oil Museum. That's carpet on the wall - it was pretty cool.

Mamu, Me, and MG waiting for the 8 minute informational video on the creation of the museum.

Bebe and Mamu listening to information about the Oil Boom.
MG learning too!

Mamu drilling for oil!


The Elevator to the Center of the Earth!

We then drove, and drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. And drove some more. Luckily, Mamu fell asleep for parts of it (it was quite past his nap time) and Bebe enjoyed her CD #2 of Hear Us Sing God.

Well, I don't know about you, but no road trip for us is complete without a stop at Dairy Queen! Thus began the hunt for the Dairy Queen. Let me tell you, for being in the backroads of Texas, passing through towns with as little as 300 people (last census count) there weren't a lot of choices! We finally saw one, I did a U-turn, and drove quite quickly (ok - I sped) to the Dairy Queen drive-thru. We got our ice cream (which did take quite awhile, but we were willing to wait) and got on the road again. The kids got a cup of ice cream to share and it was bigger than mine! Sadly, a lot of it went to waste because both kids ate what they wanted and it looked like they hadn't made a dent in it! Oh well.

Mamu enjoying his ice cream!

We finally made it to Louisiana -and discovered the speed limit was 15 miles slower there on the road - that's right folks - 55 mph on the highway. It felt like snails were passing us after doing 70 in Texas. We then discovered that we were heading for the wrong gate, so Didi had to direct us via iphone. We finally made it to the main gate and got our day pass. Then we drove to the other side of the post to get to Didi's house. We made it! Uncle Mark, Aunt Didi, and KK were so sweet and made dinner for us. Then we got the kids into bed (it was past their bedtimes).

Then I got talked into playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It helped that Didi has the Aerosmith Guitar Hero. Needless to say, we formed our own band - the Banski's.

The first performance of the Banski's!

Where did that name come from you ask? Well, on our day pass to get on post, the guard has to write down who you are visiting. He totally butchered Uncle Mark's name (turned Uncle Mark into Uncle Marco) and put the name as Banski. We found that quite humorous (probably because we were a little bit silly after being on the road for almost 8 hours) and thus it became our band's name. We stayed up way too late, but we were having a lot of fun! Then we hit the hay because the kids would still get up (in our opinion) way too early in the morning.