The girls, Mom and I just got back from our annual family reunion in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. As always, a super fun week filled with sun, food, and games. Mom and I try to take different routes each year that we drive. This year we stopped in Gautier, Mississippi and Atlanta, Georgia. Not our greatest route, but it was still exciting to see new things.
Each year Unle Dick brings flags to represent where our family is from. He changes them out every day and we snap a shot of everyone living in that state.
Showing our Texas pride...
Michaela did really well with her boarding this year. She caught several really good waves all by herself!
Skye outside our favorite souvenier shop in Calabash...
Michaela hates the beach. She pretty much cried the entire time and wanted nothing to do with the sand or water. She played with this shovel and pail for about 15 seconds. Notice my cousin, Carrie, in the background relaxing and reading because her baby took a nice little nap right there in her pack & play. Hmph.
Michaela also took her first boat ride on Uncle Bill's sailboat. She was very brave to ride right in to the waves, but learned she really prefers the shore. She cried for about 95% of the ride.
My cousins and I who all had babies under the age of 2. It was fun and a little loud. ;)
First cousins represented at The Beach this year, minus Walter, whom we could not find when taking these photos...
On our way home from the beach we detoured through Florida for a few days. We drove all over Orlando taking in the sites, then stopped in Pensacola our last night. This was taken at Pensacola Beach. The sand was amazingly soft- no shells or rocks whatsoever. Skye found 1/2 of a sand dollar that must have been 6" across when complete and about an inch thick. As you can see, Reiley wouldn't even let me take her shoes off.
We loved spending time with eachother and our extended family on this trip, but BOY! are we glad to be home!!!
Michaela is playing her first year of soccer with the Klein Soccer Club on the Dolphins. She did awesome at their first game this morning! A definite Forward.
The poor Bearkats had a rough CC meet last night. It was about 94 degrees when they ran and the course was hilly and sandy. I was hot and tired just standing there. I can't believe they ran 2 miles!
Blue & gold take the lead in the beginning!
There's my Bearkat!
My mother-in-law in front of Paris with a full moon...
You say you want a...
The Grand Canal Shoppes inside the Venetian. Probably one of the greatest places in Vegas...
This weekend had a pirate theme since we stayed at Treasure Island. Here is Mike & I with his parents showing off our new skull tattoos...
While there we met up with my beautiful cousin, Star, who lives in NV and just happened to be staycationing on the Vegas strip this week!
The only New York I've ever seen...
My favorite hotel/casino was the new Cosmopolitan. It's all glittery and fancy...
We had to experience Freemont Street. Once. No need to ever go back. Ever. Though I gotta say the light show was worth seeing.
Some of us were brave enough to eat on Freemont Street. You know what they say, "what happens in Vegas stays [on the blog!]"
Michaela did really well with her boarding this year. She caught several really good waves all by herself!
Skye outside our favorite souvenier shop in Calabash...
Michaela hates the beach. She pretty much cried the entire time and wanted nothing to do with the sand or water. She played with this shovel and pail for about 15 seconds. Notice my cousin, Carrie, in the background relaxing and reading because her baby took a nice little nap right there in her pack & play. Hmph.
Michaela also took her first boat ride on Uncle Bill's sailboat. She was very brave to ride right in to the waves, but learned she really prefers the shore. She cried for about 95% of the ride.
My cousins and I who all had babies under the age of 2. It was fun and a little loud. ;)
First cousins represented at The Beach this year, minus Walter, whom we could not find when taking these photos...
We loved spending time with eachother and our extended family on this trip, but BOY! are we glad to be home!!!
I had no idea the real construction of this temple was just a big pile of rocks. By the way, 90 steps to the top...
One of my favortie things to see was the "basketball" court. It had 4 walls of carvings which are so fascinating! It was an honor to win these games and to have your head cut off. That way you die a martyr rather than a nobody. If you look close at the carving below you will see the winner of the games kneeling. His head is cutoff and you see what represents blood spewing from his neck.
The carving below here is apparently the one who cut off the winner's head. You can see him holding the head in one hand and his knife in the other.
Our second stop in Mexico was to Cozumel. We took a 35 min. catarmaran ride over to Passion Island; a little tiny picturesque island. My boss and his wife joined us for the closest day to perfect I will ever see. We layed in hammocks, swam in crystal clear water, and enjoyed the endless free bar and buffet. It was paradise.
