Winter Doldrums

It's definitely January around the Simmons house. MOST of the time the weather is too cold, too windy, too wet or a combination of all 3. The boys are desperate to get out and run run run. After struggling to get their cold weather gear on, Beckett especially, only lasts about 10 minutes and then he's ready to come inside. Not enough snow to really do anything, too cold to just play...it's been rough. And, heaven help us, we have 2 months to go.

So, we have been trying to think of things to do inside. We make frequent trips to the YMCA for open gym and open swim, dance parties in our family room are a daily occurrence, and the kids love to "tuck and run" their footballs.  Today I am going to sweep out the garage so that they can ride their bikes around in there.

Our library has a good story time that Beck and I go while Grant is in school. He really doesn't like to listen to the stories, but he does like to sing and do the craft. Luckily the class is filled with lots of "Becketts", so usually there is just one book.

I have found a few places that offer trial classes, so this week we are going to Gymboree for a free music class. I am sure I will hear all about how much kids learn through music and such, but I am definitely sure we aren't going to pay $120 a month for them to attend! We are also exploring other places that have open gyms, but unfortunately they are usually really expensive.

Other news - We are officially not purchasing any more diapers - onto pull-ups and all that jazz. I am not sure Beck is fully ready for potty training, but he's getting too big for the diapers and hopefully being able to pull down his pull up quickly will help get him interested in using the potty. We have some success with him at night before bed, but during the day he really could not care less... He's quite vocal about changing though. The other day he came up to me and said "Mommy, I just peed. You need to change my diaper." As a friend said, at least he's really verbal! :-)

The kids are constantly saying things to crack us up, so here are a few of the funny things the kids have said lately:
"Yummylicious" - This is Beckett's new description. He used to say something was yummy. Then Grant said something was delicious one day. So now Beckett uses the both of both worlds.

"Apparently" - I am not sure where Grant picked this up, but it has definitely become his favorite word...replacing actually.

"Yes my do" (or yes me do) - Beckett's way of saying yes I do or me too. Pretty cute.

"Excuse me. I want to say something." - Roger just added excuse me because Beckett used to just interrupt whomever was talking. Anyway, Beckett says this CONSTANTLY. Then when you say "yes Beckett" he frequently responds with jibberish or just restates something already said. Quite frustrating!

 The kids outside for our first snowfall. Not sure Beckett looks too excited and as I said, he was back inside about 10 minutes later.

 Enjoying some hot chocolate after being outside for 10 minutes. I think that this was the only reason they went out at all. 

 Spiderman!

My 2 Spidermen. They also have Batman costumes. At various points in the day I will find piles of clothes on the floor and then see a streak of red/blue or black/blue. It's like Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne live here!

 Grant bustin a move during one of our dance parties.

Here is a video of the kids dancing to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." I think that this is Beckett's favorite song. Whenever it comes on...car, house, mall, wherever...he stops what he's doing and starts to dance. Grant has really added to his dance repetoire. Again, not sure where he's picking it up - it's highly entertaining nonetheless.

Another Gym Swim video. Notice Beckett cutting in line to go through the hula hoop...he just kept slipping right in the front.

Hope everyone is doing well and here's to an EARLY SPRING!

BEACH!

Today was our last day in Texas and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! The sun broke through the clouds and warmed up into the low 70s. Perfect!

We headed over to Port Aransas, a beach town on Mustang Island about 20 minutes from Rockport. Not only did we visit the beach, but we had to ride on a ferry to get to the island - really doesn't get much better than that for Grant and Beckett!

With trucks in tow, we found a great spot at the VERY empty beach. There was already a huge hole, so the kids jumped right in. We got some really cute pics.

 First of many trips by Cap and Daddy to get some water into the hole.

 Beckett helping out. I think that he ended up dumping most of the water on the front of him.

 Helping each other out....

 Running one truck over the other - much to Grant's disapproval.

 Love these 2 pics.

 Blew this one up for the house...too cute.

 For some reason, won't flip around. Love Grant's superhero pose!

 I think that Roger is saying CHEESE! :-)

 We couldn't get Beckett out of the water.

Beckett "driving" the car on the ferry. He LOVED this...Macie is in the truck behind him. :-)

Random Cute Pics from Trip

 Watching football with Cap and Daddy.

We took a trip to the beach park - VERY windy and really pretty chilly. The kids enjoyed being outside, but eventually the wind was just too much. :-(

 Grant and Daddy heading down the pier.

 Do you see any fish? Nope...but we see LOTS of jellyfish. Good thing it's too cold to swim!

 Lunch at McD's. MMM...nothing like it, especially in Rockport. :-)

 One of Grant's many interesting outfits - straw cowboy hat, sweatshirt vest with hood, headlamp, and basketball boxers. Lovely! :-) Roger thinks he looks a bit like Kenny Chesney.

Beckett wanted his picture taken too.

Football with Cap and Daddy

Today we visited Memorial Park in Rockport. We played on the playground for a bit, but then discovered the soccer fields nearby were great for playing football. After this trip, we went straight to WalMart to buy more footballs and soccer balls - we will definitely go back. And if the kids don't have to share a ball...it's so much better. :-)

 Run Beckett Run! I think that the ball is as big as he is - we bought a smaller one for him later. :-)

 Good catch Grant!

 Tuck and Run!

 Are you ready? Um, no, I think that the ball hit him in the face. Again, need a smaller and SOFTER ball. :-)

I know that he's throwing the ball, just not sure how this form works for him. :-)

Tanks for the Dolphin Show!

Today we went out on the boat with Cap for a longer adventure, and this time Daddy got to come along!

We were out for about 2 hours and saw LOTS of dolphins and a few barges coming through the area. We all thought that the kids would be excited about the barges...not so much. Although they did like it when the barges blew their horns. :-)

The dolphins were really fun to see. After surfacing near the front of the boat, where we were all sitting, they would follow the boat, playing in the wake. Some of the time they were really close and the kids could see them swimming in the water and then surfacing.

As we were getting off the boat, Beckett said "Tanks for the dolphin show!"

 Beckett driving the boat.

 Future Coast Guard rescue man!

Beckett trying to use the BIG binoculars.

Trip to Corpus

 Roger, the kids and I took a trip into Corpus to visit the aquarium and check out the downtown area.

We were very pleased to see that the aquarium was pretty much ours for the first half hour or so, then a school trip arrived. Even then, we were definitely visiting in the off season.

Corpus has a great aquarium right on the water. Lots to see outside (dolphins, sea turtles, river otters, birds, crocodiles) and then inside some HUGE tanks with sharks and big fish. We finished our visit off with the dolphin show.

Our quick drive through downtown Corpus was not as quick as we wanted (got a bit lost looking for a place to eat). We did find some great spots to revisit though at a later date. The city is really trying to make the area a tourist/family destination with parks and bike paths along the water.

 The kids in the underwater dolphin viewing area. We were the only ones down there, so the dolphins really played for the kids - very fun.

View of the "Big Ship" USS Lexington from one of the aquarium viewing areas.

These sting rays were CRAZY in this one spot. We tried other spots around the pool and for some reason this is where they tried to jump out - Roger thinks it might be their feeding area. Pretty funny. The fountain video is from a really nice spot we found near the Corpus Art Museum.

"I smell toots"

So far our trip to Texas has been anything but relaxing...unfortunately.

Both the kids arrived with some kind of sickness and after a night and morning of Grant throwing up, I took him into the Urgent Care center. The doctor diagnosed him with acute bronchitis as well as a stomach virus. Oh yea! I mentioned to the doc that my other son had the same symptoms and he was happy to set us up with 2 sets of meds.

So it appears that we are finally on the mend (although now Macie and Cap are coughing like crazy).

We arrived on Monday; Amy, Randy, Megan and Connie arrived on Wednesday; Roger arrived on Thursday. We had a nice dinner with present craziness Thursday night. Beckett, in his usual form, was being a pistol at dinner. He finished before everyone else and began pointing to each person at the table to ask if they were finished. Most were, but we were still lolly-gagging around. So, we think to hurry the process along, Beckett announced "I smell toots." We all burst into tearful laughter and he cleared all the adults from the table.

Thursday was a beautiful day so we all headed down to Cap's boat for a quick ride. Grant still wasn't 100%, so it ended up being a very quick ride. But I know that they enjoyed their first ride on Cap's big boat.

 Beckett driving Cap's boat. Right after I took this picture, he told me that he needed to "go and check his engines. Be right back." Unbelievable. :-)

 Grant posing on the upper deck. Side note - Cap built all that metal railing from 20 foot straight pieces - pretty impressive!

 Grant peeking out on of the side windows.

 Roger said Beck looks like a pensive sailor in this pic - lost something at sea. 

 Boat getting ready to leave the dock - kids checking out the bubbles!

 The kids and I on the front deck "doofin'" around, as Beckett would say.

 Not really sure what Grant is trying to do in this picture - lick my eyeball or something?

Beckett dancing with Macie during one of our many dance-a-thons.

Check out Grant's dance moves - watch out Lord of the Dance!

Christmas with Intermissions

After getting everything ready for Santa, the kids actually did a great job sleeping through the night and not getting up too terribly early the next day (I think it was a little before 7...our usual). With a quick peek at the tree, we checked out the Santa & reindeer plates. Grant was very excited to see that Santa had eaten his cookie and cupcake and that the reindeer gobbled up their oats (we didn't have any carrots...).

Then the kids hit their stockings with abandon. Both were packed to the rim with cars, Star Wars figures, astronaut ice cream and a few other goodies. We were able to convince them that eating a bit of breakfast before opening presents is a good idea and then we went into the living room to get a good look at the tree.

The boys dragged in their chairs, mom and dad grabbed some coffee and we were off. The kids did a great job of only opening one gift at a time. We did take a couple of intermissions to check out the new toys and to refill coffee.

Since we were leaving the next day for Christmas, we all stayed in our pjs for the day and had a nice Christmas dinner. After being in Texas for about 2 weeks, I think that it's going to be like Christmas all over again when we head home and see all those new toys again! :-)

 Beckett vrooming his garbage truck around.

 Grant examining his stocking contents (sorry it won't flip the right way).

 The kids waiting patiently for us to get started opening the presents.

 A quick pose in front of the packed Christmas tree.

 Uncle Dave came through with the BIGGEST boxes under the tree! As you can see, the box is bigger than Beckett! (Thanks for the aircraft carriers!)

Grant trying to peek inside since it's not sliding out very easily.