Snow Day!!!

Today we were blessed to receive a few inches of snow. It is SO much fun to get everyone all bundled up and head outside. Bella just looooves the snow. As soon as she hits the ground she is off running with snow flying in every direction behind her.



Sophie walks around at first and takes it all in... then decides to eat it. She just ate and ate and ate the snow!





Lee is a big kid! He was just as excited to be outside playing in the snow as the 3 year old and puppy!



The grapevine is totally iced and snowed over. I wonder if it will produce grapes this year. Last year we had a late freeze and it never produced and I'm eager to see what it does this year.



I guess the good part about Lubbock vegetation completely dying in the winter is that a lot of trees can survive this kind of weather. The trees that were downed on the news all had leaves.






Sophie got some more snow. She munched on it the whole time we were outside. I don't know why I'm surprised, she's always loved eating ice (although I don't really let her very often). Guess she gets it from her Aunt Erin.



My husband is so handsome. I love this little capture of him (especially with the reflection of Bella in his sunglasses!)



Bella got a snow bath today!



I can hardly ever get an in-focus picture of this dog. She's lightning quick.



Sophie started throwing snowballs at Bella and Bella would jump up and catch them!





This was the first time Sophie got to explore an ice storm. She loved all the icicles! And of course, she asked to eat them. LOL





After all the fun in the snow, it was time for Sophie's 1st hot chocolate! MMMM Yummy!



Until next time!

Worst blogger ever... Hawaii Part 2

So, I'm probably the worst blogger ever. I need to start posting more often. Here is Part 2 of our Hawaiian Vacation.

Maui December 6-13, 2009

I'm not sure what my expectations were for Maui. I knew it would be beautiful, but other than that I wasn't sure. I hadn't had much time to plan for it, which was hard for me since I'm such a planner. We arrived early in the morning and spent the rest of the day checking into our hotel and waiting for Sophie to wake up from her nap. We did go to Wailea beach that day. It was okay, but honestly, we were not that impressed.

Monday morning we woke up and decided to go to a "hidden" beach. At least according to Maui revealed. We got some snorkeling gear and a see-through boogie board for Sophie in Kihei and then headed south. We ended up going to Po'olenalena Beach. It was secluded and really fun! Sophie had so much fun digging and playing in the sand and jumping into the waves.





It was a beautiful beach and it was so nice how few people were there. Look, none in this pic:



We went to the beach in the afternoon and it was soooo windy! In case you ever need to know, hit the beaches in the morning and drive around and shop or go to dinner later in the afternoon. It was like we brought Lubbock wind with us!



Tuesday morning Lee wanted to go on the road to Hana, but I was exhausted and we couldn't really get out in time. We thought we would try for it anyways and we had planned to stop to see one of the biggest waves in the world. Jaws. The waves were 30+ ft. tall that I was able to get pics of. They said that while we were there the waves were in excess of 50ft. Talk about powerful! It was pure madness when we got to the little one way street to get to Jaws. People were parking all over the place and so there were pedestrians everywhere. I wish we had known you could drive all the way down... we would have. I ended up walking Sophie down (she was on my back) and Lee went back up and drove the car down. It took 30 minutes for me to walk downhill. It was probably 1.5 miles. I'm glad we stayed and I'm really glad we went. I will never forget those waves and the chaos that was surrounding them. 3 helicopters were flying around and there were 100s of people on the cliff watching the boats/wave runners and surfers.



You can really tell how big the waves are when you see someone surfing it. WOW!







The guy at the top of this wave did a back-flip over the top of it. It was awesome and everyone cheered!



Here's a picture to show how crazy busy it was at times down there.



We stopped at a look-out point on the way back. It was so beautiful there as well. Sophie really loved Hawaii.



I was able to get a few sunset pics Tuesday night as well. I took them on the resort property. We didn't really stop for very many sunsets. We stayed busy all day and I'm so glad we stopped this day. It was gorgeous. A totally golden sunset!















Wednesday we snorkled at Ulua Beach, the one adjacent (north) of the resort property. We left the camera at the hotel so I only got one pic.


Wednesday night we had dinner with Chet, Amanda and Preston. The kids were hilarious. The spoke each others language... growling. I'm pretty sure they were annoying the locals, but they were having so much fun getting to know each other. :)

Thursday morning we went to Kamaole Beach Park 1. We learned our lesson about going to the beach in the afternoon and started getting up early! There were lots of retirees at this beach. It was definitely a locals beach. Everyone was laughing at Sophie though. She would run down to the water and then when it came splashing up she would run away from it screaming.







Friday we got up early and did the road to Hana all day. It was beautiful. It was everything everyone said it would be. It was also a little cool. At least to us. I wore a light sweater most of the day. It was very shady driving around in the mountains and it was also always wet, although it never rained on us.

The first stop we made was to see this church. It was a neat place to see and I'm glad we stopped there.


The road there was very twisty and turny, but it wasn't as scary as my parents and the Maui Revealed book made it out to be.



This waterfall is known as the Three Bears


My favorite place that we visited was in Hana at the end of the road. It was a state park and it had a black sand beach, bright green plantlife and the bluest water you can imagine. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life. These pictures do not do this place justice. You have to see it to believe it.




We were able to go into a lava tube on the beach as well! For free!





Saturday morning we went to Baby Beach. It was Sophie's favorite, because the waves were blocked by an off-shore reef. She had a BLAST!!!








For some reason I thought Baby Beach would be a place that only Sophie would like, but it was fun and oh-so-beautiful!






After this fun we were all starting to get ready for lunch. We drove to Front St. in Lahaina and ended up eating at BJs. We had a pepperoni/pineapple pizza and watched the ocean and people walking around on Front St. There were also some little birds that flew into the restaurant to eat with us and Sophie thought that was just fantastic!





We walked to the Banyan Tree park to see what it was all about before we went and visited Chet at the Hula Cookies and Ice Cream store. I wish we had had more time to stay and play in Lahaina. Wait, I take that back. I just wish we had more time on Maui to do more. Like, maybe forever?



We still had some time left in the day so we ended up going to the Maui Ocean Center. It was expensive, but worth the $$. We could have stayed and played there another couple of hours, but Sophie was exhausted by then.







Sunday morning we got up and got ready.



Visited ABC for the last time



Took some pics around the resort:









Then we packed everything up and drove to Lahaina. We were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with Amanda and Preston before we had to drive to the airport. Amanda was also so kind and generous and let us keep our luggage at her house while we went out to dinner. Maybe some day we can live near each other and let the kiddos play again. :)



Amanda also took this picture for us, one of my favorites from the trip



The trip home wasn't bad at all. In fact, Sophie slept through most of it luckily!


Our last day on Maui was bitter sweet. Bitter because we were leaving, sweet because it was one of the best days we had while we were there. On every vacation I've ever been on, I've been ready to go home by the time the vacation ends. This trip however could have gone on forever... My <3 really does belong in Maui. I've never felt so happy and carefree. I am so thankful for this trip. It was one of the best experiences of my entire life. Right up there with having Sophie and getting married to my best friend.

Our Hawaiian Vacation 2009

At the beginning of the month we decided last minute to go see our friends on Oahu and vacation in Maui. We booked our trip 10 days before our first flight. It was an amazing trip and something that we will never forget. We love those islands and hopefully... one day... we will be able to live there.

We had 2 layovers one in DFW and one in LAX before we landed in Honolulu, Oahu. We barely had enough time to get the rent car and drive to the hotel, then a beach nearby. Here is a picture of the 1st sunset we saw in Hawaii and Sophie's 1st encounter with a beach/the ocean. Fort Derussy Beach was the closest to our hotel and seemed to be a popular spot with the locals that night. There were lots of surfers!





Lee and Sophie





We stayed at the Waikiki Prince Hotel and our room overlooked the marina. It was beautiful! Here is a map of the location of the hotel:


View Larger Map

and the view from our room:



Our first morning on Oahu we woke up around 8 HST (not bad!) and I gave Sophie her alphabet cards to play with while Lee and I packed up to go to Sandy Beach (the beach we were married on) and Lanikai. She kept saying the letter that was on one side and "is for" the picture on the back just like her leap frog magnet toy. LOL Like, "A is for Apple". Those toys are genius! She has learned so much from them!



1st up was Sandy Beach Park. A beautiful place with lots of happy memories! Sophie loved it too!


View Larger Map



and a couple pics from our wedding here in June 2004




We quickly got back on the road and drove to our favorite Lanikai Beach. One of the great things about Hawaii is the traffic. Don't laugh! OK ,maybe not the traffic, but the drivers. Everyone is so gracious and people actually let other people onto the road. So different from back home! We were slowed down quite a bit by some construction in Waimanalo and it was amazing to see everyone letting people in and it seemed like everyone was just happy to be there even if they were stuck in traffic!

Lovely Lanikai beach is just south of Kailua. The islands in the background are called the Mokuluas or the "Mokes". They are so gorgeous!



That night we ate in Kailua at a gourmet pizza place and then had a Lanikai Juice afterwards (Which apparently Matthew Fox frequents). MMMM yummy!

Wish we had seen him here!

Friday morning we woke up and headed to Fort Derussy Beach again just past the Hilton Hawaiian Lagoon. The beach was not impressive compared to Lanikai but the view was beautiful still! And oh the palm trees!









That afternoon we drove up to the North Shore and spent the day with Abby, Chelsea, and BJ! It was Abby's 2nd birthday party! We all had an amazing time!





These girls are just so sweet together. Now if we could just live anywhere near each other again.





During the party, the girls snuck away to play in Abby's room. They have grown so much since last year and they actually play like little girls now. Awww





Saturday (our last day on Oahu) we drove back up to the North Shore and played at Turtle Bay with Abby and Chelsea again. It was a great time! We miss our friends. :(

Sunday morning we got up really really early (like 3:45 HST) and flew to Maui. We were able to rent a jeep there and Maui is seriously the most beautiful place on the planet. It is so lush and so green.

Sophie fell asleep in her stroller, but after she woke up we ate lunch and got ready and went to the beach!



More Maui pics and the rest of our vacation to come later! Keep watching!

Silly Science Carnival at the Science Spectrum

Today was the carnival for 5 and under so we decided to skip preschool and have Sophie dress up and experience something a little different. Apparently, we just need to get her into crowds more often. Lee and I avoid them like the plague and it's pretty easy to do where we live, but Sophie just gets so shy and overwhelmed right now. She's not smiling in any of these pictures again because of the crowds. Oh well, I know she had fun and she wanted to nap in her costume. LOL This is costume 1 of 3. More pics to come in the next week of the others and her upcoming Princess Birthday party in DFW! YAY!! This is the week of birthdays in my family. My Brother's was on Oct. 27th, Sophie's is Nov. 4 and my sister's is Nov. 6. whew!

Oh, and it is freezing here! 39 degrees right now and the temp is falling. We might get below freezing tonight. So, that's why Sophie is wearing an undershirt. Last year she was sweating it up as a cat, this year it's freezing. Gotta love Texas and the unpredictable weather we get.



Sophie got to "make snow". Not sure what this stuff was, but it was really cool to watch!







She loved the multi-color shadow wall. She actually smiled here. :)





Playing dominoes with Daddy.



Making a halloween goody bag with Daddy!



Waiting in line for the bounce house.



She got so many compliments on this costume. I'm glad she was able to wear it somewhere! Next up, her Alice costume!

Sea World

Well, I missed posting this blog after we went to San Antonio. It's a little late, but just as fun! I was in need of a vacation in September so I finally convinced Lee to go to Sea World. We had a blast! We had yummy food and sooo much fun! It didn't even take us very long to drive there. Sophie was awesome the whole way too! We got to San Antonio on Friday and night and went to La Fogata. The food was excellent of course. We went to bed early and got ready for Sea World. We apparently didn't get up early enough for Sea World on a Saturday. It was busy when we got there. It really didn't matter all that much. We got to see the Shamu show and Seamore and Clyde. We also did the 4D pirates show and Sophie hated that one. Not only is it 3D so things jump out at you (like bats), but you get spit on with water and such and Sophie was crying most of that time.

I took this one at La Fogata after dinner. Sophie is wearing Janie and Jack Beneath the Sea from 2007. The bottoms are a 2T and the top is a 3T. She also is wearing m2m bows from a talented GF and jellies from Gap.


Sophie seems to get overwhelmed when we go to big areas with lots of people. She's fine at the park or any place here in Lubbock, but when we got to big places like Sea World she hardly ever smiles even if she's having fun. I think she's just concentrating and taking everything in. So, there won't be much joy in the following Sea World pics, just a concentrating Sophie learning everything about the new world surrounding her.

Day 1 we didn't take the stroller. Not a huge mistake, but Sophie did get tired of walking quickly. She normally doesn't like the stroller anymore and almost always refuses it. I didn't want to fight her and the stroller all day. BUT, We didn't make the same mistake on day 2. LOL

In the following pictures Sophie is wearing Janie and Jack - Sweet Coral Reef from 2008 size 18-24 mo, with m2m bows. She's also sporting an adorable pink puppy backpack leash so we could keep her with us at all times.



Sophie LOVED the Sea Lion/Seal area! She fed them twice!













ewww fish hands!





At the Shamu show, Sophie was just in AWE! Those whales can jump!



They can even do flips completely out of the water. Check out the water trail in mid air on this one:









This ends day 1 at Sea World.



We had dinner with my sister and Sophie's Aunt Erin. Sophie really missed her Aunt!

To dinner Sophie wore Gymboree 2009 Jungle Gem size 3T.





Day 2 at Sea World

We had plans to visit the water park this day, so I didn't take very many pictures. I wanted to participate and I couldn't just leave my precious camera laying about. We ended up getting a locker for it.

The water park didn't open right away though so Sophie got to have her 1st ever roller coaster ride. Daddy went with her first and then I got to! She's in the front seat closest to the camera and Lee is right next to her.



On my turn, I taught Sophie how to ACTUALLY ride a roller coaster... with your hands in the air!



Today Sophie wore a gymboree swimsuit and Gymboree 2008 Tropical Reef 2T with her pink crocs.



It was really fun taking Sophie to Sea World. I had been wanting to do it for a while, but it was so surreal being there with her. My parents took me when I was little and things like the children's play park just brought memories back. She had a blast, just like I did way back when.





There ends the pictures I took on day 2, but not the fun. Sophie had a blast at the wave pool and kiddie splash pools.

Day 3 is the day we left. We headed to downtown San Antonio and visited the Riverwalk and the Alamo before we headed to La Madeleine's for a second dine and left town.

Sophie wore Gap 2009 Villa 2T.





I need to invest in a wider lens for pictures of landscape and architecture...





The gates were opened right after I took this picture. I'm so glad I was able to get it!



One of my favorite pictures ever, with my two most favorite people. I had to leave this one big. :)





We needed to head out, but Sophie wanted one more peek:



And so ended our trip to San Antonio for September 2009. We have season passes to Sea World now. I can't wait to go back!

Here are a few misc pics from a photo shoot that didn't work out with Sophie. She's wearing fall 2009 Naartjie 3T. It's adorable on her. Too bad she didn't let me get any good pics. Here are just a few of the faces she made for the camera she didn't want to be in front of.









One fashion show to go and then I'm caught up. Whew!

Painting and Carving Pumpkins

Today was a blast! We had lots of fun! We went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch and had some delicious dinner rolls, fillet medallions, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salads, and get this FRIED PICKLES!!! They must be new and they are completely yummy! We walked that off at Target and picked up a few things while we were there. 1 Christmas present down! lol

We started painting the little pumpkins around 6 and I think Sophie crashed before 8. She didn't nap today and she was one tired little girl. She's been needing more sleep again lately... thank goodness. She did get to see the pumpkin I carved for her though, Snow White... just like she asked for.

For painting and carving Sophie is wearing a 2009 Target halloween top and an old pair of gymbo play shorts.



After she was done sitting on the pumpkins I gave her the paint color she asked for and a brush and she went to town on it.



Of course it needed to have some pink on it...



and then she added some green...



She thought she was done then, but I managed to convince her to add some black. When she was finally done she told Lee "I'm done painting my disaster".



I need to take a picture tomorrow of the finished product.

Then, Lee had her come over (he was sawing a lid for my pumpkin) and he lifted it up and it scared the bejeebees out of her. She stumbled backwards and her face just dropped. LOL She later said that she didn't want the pumpkin to "get her clothing dirty", but I don't buy that. Here is a video after the funny moment:



Then Sophie started scooping out all the "goo" for me! What a helper!!! She got most of it out herself!












The Snow White princess pumpkin I carved:



Sophie with both of our pumpkins, right before she went to bed.



Lee's pumpkin: Spooky trees with a moon and an owl.



Lee also carved a bat into the extra we had



I talked to my Dad a bit tonight on the phone and while I was doing that Lee was setting up his Halloween shrine. Then he made me take pics of it:

A visit to the pumpkin patch and maize

So, we finally made it to the Maize! I can't believe we are all finally healthy and it was nice weather to go! We have been trying to go for the last 3 weekends. So, YAY!

Sophie was so excited when we got there she was jumping around and giggling. We had a super yummy bbq sandwich and roast corn. Lee had part of the sandwich and a sausage wrap. The weather was perfect, just a little breezy and in the 60s. We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, Sophie decided she needed to use the little girl's room when we got out there, no potty in site... So... that was fun....

Sophie's wearing a gap 2009 pumpkin top with a gap ballet tutu and corduroy jacket. She's also wearing gymboree tights from 2009.

On to the pics:







See the excitement? She couldn't stop jumping around! :)
























While Sophie was playing in the kids hay maze a little boy started chasing her around. She was running and screaming and laughing. I think she might have been a little scared cause she saw Lee and ran right to him and then the little boy ran away. Daddy to the rescue! We couldn't stop laughing, it was soooo funny





Can you see how much fun she was having? Her joy was worth every penny!





OK, this goat looks totally creepy. Have you ever looked at a goat's eyes before? Their irises are horizontal! Crazy stuff!


The goats were so sweet though, they were snuggling each other and they played with Sophie!



She said that this one was "smelling her nose"


















On the way home, she completely destroyed one of her m2m bows. :( I was so sad, she only wore it for a few hours. I need some lessons on how to discipline a 3 year old. I am out of ways to get her to listen. It's ridiculous.



I have lots of pics to publish from the last month, so keep checking back for those. Hopefully, I'll have some time this weekend to do that.