Road Trip!

This past weekend was our first family of 4 mini-vacation/road trip.  Our destination....NEW ORLEANS!  We packed up the car Thursday afternoon and headed to Conroe to spend the night and pick up GiGi- our "hired help" for the weekend :)  We got an early start on Friday, and our first stop was in Jennings, LA.  There were several huge billboards that read Hold Baby Alligators, and I said, of course we should do that!



Remy checking out its feet

 

Ryan loved that thing! She kept grabbing at it.

 After checking out the gators, we headed over to the pond to have our picnic lunch.  It was very hot outside, but we found a shady spot right by the water.  We had a great view of the wildlife: geese, ducks, and turtles OH MY!

After successfully making it to our hotel, we got settled in and Rory and I had a date night while the girls hung out with GiGi.  Our original intent of the trip was for a surprise birthday party for a friend- so we met up with everyone for dinner at Oceana and drinks on Bourbon Street.  I enjoyed my one drink and gawking at the crazies out there!!

Saturday morning we were full on tourist! 


Beignets at Cafe du Monde



Jackson Square

 Transformers ARE real!

Carriage ride through French Quarters.

Enjoying the Street Car and GiGi!

 We ended our evening a little earlier on Saturday, we still met up with friends, enjoyed some Blues, and some very delicious crab cakes down in the French Market. 

 It was a great first vacation as a family- my favorite part was just all being together.  Thank you GiGi for helping with the girls!

Saturday Morning Entertainment

Who needs cartoons, when you can play with........tissue paper!!!  Saturday morning Remy was very intrigued with momma's pretty paper (that we had used to wrap dad's bday gift with the day before).  At first she was just interested in sitting on the paper, then laying the paper on her like a blanket, and also wearing the paper like a skirt.  She finished her playtime with the paper by tearing tiny pieces off -in the living room, and then running to the kitchen to throw them away in the trash can.  She did this about 15 times!


investigating



tearing of the pieces



disposal



Here are a few pics of Remy in her ghost shirt I made for her.  These are her "poses" when I ask to take her picture! :)

Let's Try This Again...

Ok, its been a few months since I've done this, but I'm going to give blogging another chance!  This summer was extremely busy:
First, we found out we were expecting another bundle of joy, she is scheduled to make her debut in January.  This pic was from a few weeks ago.  Everything is going great with this pregnancy, time is just flying by!

In July the Beal Family took a little camping vacation- we went to Pedernales Falls State Park.  We rented two pop-up campers, which was a nice retreat from the heat- we shared with the Frazier family, not sure we will do that again.  :)  We spent some time down by the water, but due to the drought there wasn't much there, just enough to wet your feet.  Back at camp we enjoyed playing washers (Dad was the Champ), uno, and apples to apples.





Camp Life





Love Bug keeping cool with her do-rag on!







In August, Rory, Remy, and I endured a seven hour flight to get to ALASKA!!  Remy was such a trooper on the plane ride-she was never fussy, just couldn't sit still.  We had many adventures while we were there: we spent time with family, hung out in Anchorage, toured Wasilla, rode a trolley and a train, and went on several hikes.

Remy's first pedicure: She sat soooo still.  She watched me paint mine first, then decided that she needed that too!



Fall Fun at the Arboretum in Dallas:



And finally, this past weekend we returned to our alma mater for SHSU's homecoming.  It was nice to visit, but unfortunately we didn't see any of our former school mates (well, a few).  Next year I think we will try to make it to the Battle of the Piney Woods at Reliant Stadium.  Rachael, Matt, and the boys did join us.

Our week with the Fraziers

This last week Remy and I took a road trip to visit my sister in Conroe.  It is always an adventure when we get the "cousins" together-hardly a moment of silence and never time to sit still!  For one afternoon of entertainment we went to Market Street in The Woodlands, and hung out in Central Park.  It has a sunny area with fountains that randomly shoot out of the ground that the kids can play around in.  We took a picnic lunch, an extra change of clothes, and enjoyed watching the kids frolic in the water!





Watch out Carter Bear!!



Ahhhhh!! It got you!!

Remy was fascinated with the leaves...she wanted to eat them all!!

Jake getting some serious air!

Look at me!! Standing up by myself!

I love these kissy lips.

Aunt Rachael cheering Remy on.

This is how our day goes :)  we tried to get them all to look!



GiGi would come over in the evenings to play....

Fun times at Candy Cane Park....

Three Amigos

Miss Serious

Yummy!

Jake Cruisin'

Let the blogging begin....

Well, this is my first blog, and what better way to start than with Remy's First Birthday.  Yes, it was a few weeks ago (April 30th), but nothing worth writing about has happened since then! :)

It is hard to believe that this sweet thing came into our lives a year ago- two months early and only weighing 3 lbs!  It is so exciting to see her personality emerging and her curiosity blooming.  Rory and I are so thankful to have such a healthy, happy little girl!


On to the party...


To celebrate, we had a small gathering of friends and family at our house- since she is our "Love Bug" we had a ladybug theme.  I really enjoyed planning the party and making all the decorations.  Here are a few pictures from the special day.