A Busy Month

July is always a busy month for us. We've already done so much this month that it seems like July should be over and done with already but we still have two more weeks!

My sisters arrived to visit us at the end of June and we ended the month of June with a trip to San Antonio. We've been saying that we wanted to start exploring Texas and we thought that going with my sisters would be fun. What we should have taken into account is that Texas is HOT HOT HOT. We went to Sea World in San Antonio and we all knew it was going to be really bad when we were all sweating when we got to the front gate (and this was not due to a long walk since we parked in the VIP section and we were in the second row!). We stayed at the park for 3.5 hours and then went back to the hotel so Riley could take a nap (we all ended up falling asleep!). We went back, saw a couple of attractions, baked and sat in what felt like a large sauna to watch the Shamu show and then called it a day. We went back to the hotel and Riley and daddy went swimming to cool off. Never again will we attempt to do something like this!! No more amusement parks (unless they are water related) in the summer. Everyone keeps saying that this summer has been horrible and that the excruciating heat started really early....just our luck, heh?

Next it was my birthday. Nothing too exciting there - we went to a nice dinner and had cake. Then of course, Fourth of July. You can't set off fireworks within Houston Proper so if you want to see fireworks you have to go to the big celebration downtown. And like everything else in Houston this is a BIG celebration.....Clay Walker gave a free concert right before the fireworks and they had blocks of entertainment starting at 4 pm. Learning our lesson from San Antonio we stayed away from the crowds. We just couldn't imagine sitting around with all of those people in 100+ heat. So instead Riley had a great time playing with his water mat, we barbecued, and then watched the fireworks on TV!! Next, it was our anniversary. Since my sisters were here we were able to go out and have a nice dinner and finally break our 2 year hiatus from the movie theaters. We thought it was only fitting to see Transformers 2 since the last movie we saw two years ago was the first Transformers. I had forgotten how nice it is to sit in a movie theater with a soda and popcorn!

Click on the picture below for some pictures....

My cousins came in the following week and then it was Riley's second birthday. I still can't believe my little bean is 2 years old. It's amazing how much of a little boy he has become. He definitely knows what he wants and isn't afraid to go and get it. He is extremely social and doesn't know the meaning of "stranger". I love the fact that he is speaking more everyday. The Thursday before the fourth of July his daycare had a parade where they marched around with little flags. When I picked him up from school he marched all the way from his room to the door waving his flag and yelling "flag"....the only problem was that his pronunciation of flag comes out more like "f*!*k". Incredibly funny!! He loves animals and thankfully it seems we have moved on from Barney and are now progressing to Sesame Street. He had a great birthday and was once again spoiled to death. Thank you everyone that sent gifts/cards! He loved everything.

This past weekend we went to Schlitterbahn water park in Galveston. It was so hot but we had a great time there. We, of course, all got burnt (except for Riley) and looked like lobsters the next day but we had a really relaxing day playing in the water and floating around on the endless river. Unfortunately we are now all itchy and peeling like crazy! Nothing more attractive than a peeling nose.

Well that's it for now. Next on the agenda is the circus, the start of swim lessons, and Ben's annual trip to see the Angels. More to come! Click the below picture for pictures of Riley's birthday and our trip to Galvaston.