Reynolds Rap

I don’t know where to begin.  So much has happened in a week!  We left for our vacation to South Texas on Friday.  We sent Jackson to school until 10, so he wouldn’t be counted absent! 

The first real day we were there (sat) we went to Galveston for the farmer’s market on The Strand.  It was a beautiful day!  After browsing the farmer’s market, we strolled up and down The Strand and perused the quaint old shops!  Kiel and Jackson decided to spend the money that Nana gave them on henna tattoos!  Yes, they thought they were too cool!  We ate lunch in Galveston at a hole in the wall called Shrimp & Stuff.  The food was out of this world!  Jackson and Eric split a popcorn shrimp Po-Boy (and had some left over!) Kiel got a crab Po-Boy (and ate every last morsel) Brian got his own shrimp Po-Boy and I got the stuffed shrimp.  I still can’t get over how good the food was!  We ate dinner in the room so we could play on the beach the rest of the day!

On Sunday (Mother’s Day) we went to Kemah for the day.  We were lucky enough to get a parking spot in the garage!!  We ate lunch first, we got there around 11 and decided that the restaurants would get full fast and better get a spot while we could!  We decided to eat at The Aquarium.  I was a bit worried when we walked in and were asked if we had resorvations!!  Fortunately they were able to seat us right away and in very good view of the main aquarium.  While we were enjoying our appetizer, the fish were getting lunch also!  There were 2 divers feeding them!  It was a lot of fun for the boys!  Jackson and Eric split the chicken tenders and shrimp kids meal, Kiel had the fried fish and Brian and I split the big honkin’ dinner, it had stuffed shrimp, stuffed crab, fried fish, ya know, a little bit of everything!  After lunch, we strolled down the boardwalk to the amusement area.  We stopped and got tickets for the train and we were very thankful that we only had to wait long enough for the train to come back before we got to ride!  Eric thought it was so much fun!  We went through a cave and everyone started screaming, so Eric just buried his head in his hands until we were out!!  After our train ride, we took the older 2 to buy tickets for the aviator!  This was one of those rides that lifts you up in the air and spins you around!  They both had a great time on it!  After their ride, we went to the shopping part and browsed in the shops.  It started getting warm so we left around 2.  When we got back to the room, Eric was adamant  about going to the beach.  He had to ‘get his feets wet’!  So we spent the afternoon playing in the sand and letting the boys use the boogy board!  Then we went back to the room cleaned up and decided to go into Lake Jackson to eat dinner.  We took a wrong turn and were very glad we did.  The homes and landscaping were so pretty.  There was moss on the trees and everything was so green and colorful!  We finally agreed on a place to eat.  It was a little mexican joint and the prices were very reasonable.  We all ate and left a tip and still didn’t go over $30!

On Monday we went to Shiner, Tx.  We went to see how Shiner Beer is made!  It was interesting to know that they brew one type of beer at a time!  They had an old (the very first) ice cube maker.  It was a metal box that had 2 rows of 4 squares.  You put boiling water in it to get the metal hot and then you press the box onto a block of ice.  Then you scrape off the cubes with a fork/spatula/knife type thingy.  As the tour leader was about to show us this, she asked Kiel if he’d ever had to make his own ice.  Of course he said no, that he gets his ice out of the door of the fridge, but he told her that he’d seen ice cube trays at his neighbors’ house!!!  She looked around the room at the grown-ups, we were all between 30ish and 50ish, and asked how old we all felt after hearing Kiel!!!!  We headed home and just got a quick bite to eat on the road.  And you guessed it, we went to the beach to play for a while.  I always brought my phone down to the beach, but left it in the room to charge this time. 

When we got back to the room there were missed calls and a message from Flicka.  I called her back without listening to the message.  This is when we learned about Dennis.  I was so sad.  Brian was on the phone with work and could hear me talking and came into the room that I was in.  He asked me if it was about his Dad, and I nodded my head.  Then he asked if he had died, and I nodded yes.  I felt so helpless.  I had thought about Dennis most of the day.  I had been watching Brian as we were driving to Shiner and thought about how much they looked alike.  I was thinking about birthday parties and how last year Dennis didn’t want us to do anything for his b’day.  I had planned on just not listening to him this year and making him his own cake anyway.  I just may go ahead and do that anyway.

We talked more with Flicka the next day and learned that her Mom was out of town also.  Flicka let us know that the memorial would be on Saturday afternoon.  So Brian and I decided to go ahead and stay, and leave early Thursday morning.

Tuesday, Brian and the older 2 woke up bright and early and were out of the room by 6:15!  Brian had made reservations for a deep sea fishing trip.  He had planned on just taking Kiel and doing the 12 hour trip.  BUT didn’t think Kiel would last 12 hours anyway and knew how much Jackson wanted to go with them, so they did the 4 hour and Jackson went along as a rider.  They didn’t catch anything, but got to see a sting ray get caught and Brian’s line got tangled with another guy’s line and they both pulled up a hammer head shark, but the other guy’s hook was the one that got the shark!

While the 3 older boys were fishing, Eric and I just hung out together in the room.  He of course wasn’t awake as early as I was, so I got the downstairs cleaned while he slept.  After he woke up and had some breakfast, he and I went upstairs and made beds, folded clothes, wiped off counters and somewhat got everyone packed up a bit, so when we did leave there wouldn’t be as much to do.  AND it’s always easier cleaning with just one little helper!!  After we got our room back in shape, Eric and I got the colors and coloring book out and spent a good amount of time coloring.  Then we went out on the balcony and talked with the birds, and I had a great idea.  We got left over hotdog buns and broke them up and fed the birds.  He got a kick out of watching the birds fight over the bread!  He’d call them and laugh as the birds caught the bread in mid air!  We were outside as Brian and the boys pulled up.  We ate lunch in the room and then went and played in the pool and on the beach.  We went to Fish Tails for dinner that night.  It was very nice sitting upstairs on the balcony looking over the water, there was a nice breeze but we didn’t get blown away!!  AND, we called Uncle Kevin on the way home and wished him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

On Wednesday, our last full day, we got up early and went to Moody Gardens for the day!  I’ve always wanted to go to Moody Gardens and we’ve never been able to afford it.  This time, Brian did some research before our trip.  Brian found out that the week we went was Texas Tourism Week and the $45 day passes to Moody Gardens were going to be $21 on Wednesday!!  SO, we were able to go.  We were there for 7 hours!  The boys had so much fun.  Our first stop was the Rainforest!  As we walked in, Brian pointed to the tops of the trees and showed us the Two-Toed Sloth!  We were in that pyramid for an hour and never saw it again!!  After that pyramid grabbed a bite to eat as we waited for our movie Deep Sea 3D to start!  It was a great movie.  Eric wasn’t sure about the glasses and kept taking them off, but did enjoy what he was able to see!  After we left the movie he hopped on down to the Discovery Pyramid.  We didn’t stay long in there, and then went to the paddle boat.  Eric was pooped by this time and ended up sleeping through most of the cruise!  We were at sail for an hour and he slept for about 45 minutes!  He wasn’t ready at all to wake up and let everyone in earshot know it!  He screamed all the way to the Aquarium Pyramid!  That was, until he saw the seals!  He liked to watch them dive into the water and swim all around!  We even got to go in a tunnel part of the aquarium and walk under the fish while they were swimming!

After we left the pyramids, we went home and……yep, went to the beach!  We played a bit and then got cleaned up and went to Tortaluca for dinner.  After we ate, we headed back to the room and we all went back to the beach for one last walk!  AND, we called Grandad to tell him HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Kiel and I go outside to the mail box.  There are 5 mail boxes between our mail box and the stop sign at the end of the street.  Kiel gets to do suicides all the way to the stop sign (stopping, touching the ground and running back to our mail box) when he displays certain attitude difficulties!

I always dread going to that place.  It’s always so dang crowded and always full of misbehaved kids running up and down the isles, not to mention the adults!  Usually I glare at these people and tell Brian how much I hate that place!

So, we went to Wal-Mart today.  We had a bunch of stuff that needed to be done and Wal-Mart was the one place we could do it all!  We needed to eat lunch, get some groceries, some flashlights, some stuff for the garden and we needed to get the oil changed in the Honda……..AND it was 11:30 and we had to be home in time for Jackson to get home!

We went to the new one just up the road, and they have a Subway in the store so we didn’t have to eat Mc’y D’s!!  While we were ordering, Eric informed me that we needed to go to the restrooms!  Brian finished up ordering and got us a table while Eric and I went and took care of business.  On the way there, what did my wondering eyes see?  A nail salon (insert bright lights and angels singing)!  I really needed a pedicure and I’ve been waiting for my sister to go with me, and I just couldn’t wait any longer!  I’ve got a vacation to go on people!  So when I got back to the table, I let dear sweet Brian know that there was a salon and that there was a grand opening special going on which offered 20% off of all services!  He said he’d be glad to reluctantly took the boys and did the shopping while I sat and had my feet scrubbed, clipped, rubbed and soaked!! 

You see, I’ve been putting a bit of cash back for a while.  I never have cash and I always think I’ll need some and worry that I won’t have any.  I had $31 put back in my wallet.  These sandals cost me $31.46!!  Is that just fate or what????  Maybe not, because that’s the same price that a pedicure costs!  And now that I’ve got these cute shoes, I’ve got to have a pedicure!  Have you read the “If You Give A Mouse A Muffin” book?  Yeah I know, It’s a lot of work to look this good

Since this is his weekend to work, that means this is my weekend to do laundry!  I think I keep it up, and then all of a sudden, one day, IT’S A MOUNTAIN!  I was planning on hanging the laundry out, since I don’t have any plans to go anywhere, but it’s so dang humid outside, that I don’t think anything will dry!

I found these shoes yesterday while shopping with Mom.  (I found them cheaper!)  I’ve got to have them!  I’m begging working on Brian.  I think they’ll be perfect for vacation.  They are so soft and comfy.  I don’t think they will give me blisters, Especially if I get them now and can wear them some before we leave!  He got a pair of Sketchers that were only $10 cheaper than these, so that’s not much of a request, huh?

I found a new protein shake.  Target sells it and its a lot cheaper, and has a lot less calories than the other one I was drinking.  I made myself a Kefir smoothie for breakfast.  I put 12 oz of pomegranate kefir, 8 oz of frozen berries, 1T of grinded flax seed, and 1 pkg of protein powder.  I only drank half of that, put the other half in the fridge and I’ll either drink it for lunch today or breakfast tomorrow. 

Are you reading this Daddy?  You need to start back on your protein shakes also!  A little bit of flax seed won’t hurt you either!