Fiesta Fun

Let's just be honest here and start this post out by stating something.  I don't usually "do" Fiesta.  There.  I said it!  I have always liked the "idea" of Fiesta, but I haven't been a big event go-er.  My husband, on the other hand, LOVES Fiesta.  He would have no problem going to the sweatiest, most crowded event ever.  He might even camp out under the freeway with all the people who were out there for over a week waiting for the Battle of Flowers parade.  (Can not understand that, for the life of me)
This year, in the spirit of festivity, and not being a turd in the proverbial punchbowl, I decided to try to "fiesta" a little bit.  We were careful and selective in the events we chose to attend.  First, Alamo Heights night!  This one was a no brainer because it was held half a mile from our house.  Good times!  We had some yummy food, and the babies loved the bounce houses.  There were a few incidences involving fighting over a sprite can, (Hayden and Cale) and then being forcibly pulled from a bounce house (Livi) but overall, it was a good time!

The River Parade was another one we attempted....Shawn's work hosted a party at the Hotel Contessa, and it was really nice.  Catered dinner, drinks, and seats set up on a patio overlooking the river (and away from the crowd!)  The babies enjoyed the floats and the music....again, there was a Sprite incident, but 50,000 napkins later we were in the clear.

The twins had a little fiesta event at their school....complete with homemade parade floats!  Cale's was a dinosaur theme, complete with a clay volcano (that he calls a "footballcano" for some reason) that he made and painted.  Sissy's was a "Tangled" theme, with a tower made from our old oatmeal box.  Mommy definitely did the lion's share of the work on these things, but really, what three year old can make their own float?  If I left them to their own devices, their floats would have come out looking like Shawn made them.  Kidding, kidding, although there have been some jokes made about what the floats would have looked like were daddy in charge of creative direction.  (Think spray painted shoebox with a plastic toy glued to the top)

The little float box parade was so sweet.  Bubby is still little enough to want to participate in stuff like this without feeling shame, (boys!) and Sissy thought she was Miss America in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  She waved and smiled to her public, and looked so proud.  Of course, it made me a little teary eyed.  (What doesn't, though?)  After the parade they school hosted a little Fiesta carnival in the gym with booths and treats.  We stayed and played until Livi started screaming because we wouldn't let her walk around with a full drink (sans lid) by herself...
We also went to the Fiesta Arts Fair downtown, because: a: this was a day time activity and involved no drunken crowds, b: we got free tickets and c: I love art!  It was too hot, but we liked looking at all the amazing booths and the babies loved their paleta.

Surprisingly, I really loved all the Fiesta stuff we did this year.  I even put a Fiesta wreath outside and decorated our front porch....I am actually looking forward to doing this stuff again next year!

My Beach Babies...

Last weekend we headed to the beach for the first of several planned trips this summer.  We stayed with our sweet friends from high school, and their kiddos (who are all the same ages as OUR kids) so it was wonderful!!  The little ones loved playing in the sand, visiting Sandfest (the sand castle competition) in Port Aransas, and (mostly) getting in the hot tub at the hotel next door to the condos.  The grown ups loved visiting and doing a whole lot of nothing.
Hayden runs all up and down the beach like a wild woman.  Cale adores Caleb, and wants to be wherever he is at all times.  Livi wasn't as adventurous as she typically is, but has a bit of a cough and fever so that might have been why.  Yeah for digging in the sand, swimming, eating seafood, and taking it easy....

 Hopefully the first (and last) time we'll have to holler at them, "Girls!  Quit dancing on the table!!"

Fun at the Lake...

We made a quick one night trip to the lake this last weekend...we thought the water would be too cold to get in, but it was just right!  Everyone EASED their way slowly into the water, but Ronny promised me that if I just dove in, he'd eat the whole pan of Buffalo Chicken Dip by himself.  Let's just say this:  I dove in, but he didn't end up holding up HIS end of the bargain.  (And it was SHOCKING to get in that fast!!)
All of us (minus Bub) enjoyed getting in the water....he actually GOT in once, but not on purpose.  He was throwing sticks to the dogs, and managed to fall in on the slimy steps.  He was standing up, but you would have thought the kiddo was in 50 feet of water the way he was flailing and hollering.  Sigh.  Not the most adventurous of our bunch, but loved being by the water nonetheless.
The girls loved being in the water, and floated next to me in a chair thing for the better part of an hour....later, Livi told me "I wimmin!"  (I'm swimming)

The boat was in the shop, so we just hung out in the water and the yard, had a shrimp boil and toasted "smarshmallows".  Of course, the kiddos won't eat the "black" ones, so they just ate them plain out of the bag!  Little do they know!!  After the little ones went to bed, we sat by the fire until midnight....so much fun!  Hopefully we can squeeze in some more trips before the McGinnis' sell the house....It makes me sad to think of it, because we have so many great memories there...from being in college to being married without kids, and now with all our tiny ones.