To end the week

Just a few pictures and a short video to end the week

Joseph had a birthday party last weekend for one of his buddies and here are a few pictures! The food was delish...

 As you can see Joseph wasn't really into the "activities".  There was a character from the tv show, "Yo Gabba Gabba" at the party  but Joseph obviously wasn't into it.

Still not into it

  

He did LOVE the bounce house though!

 Cooled off on Sunday in the pool-he was practicing his moves from swim lessons that we just began

And just a really short but cute video of Joseph and his little friend, Claire, holding hands during boot camp-she loves him (well actually she LOVES Rich but when Rich isn't around Joseph has to do!)

Ironman 2012

We have been talking about getting a bike trailer for the past few months now and this past weekend provided the motivation to finally do so.  The Woodlands Ironman was on Saturday and we wanted to go and cheer the racers on but really didn't want to fight the traffic and drive.  The bike course was about 5 miles from our house-too far to walk or run but perfect for a bike ride-so we went out Friday night and bought a bike trailer and love it!!

Joseph loved it so much that he passed out-can you see him in there?!?

 He woke up just in time for the leader of the bikes to come by (and to be entertained by Daddy for a bit!)

 The first biker!  For those of you that don't know an Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.  Rich completed one in 2004 and after Saturday is motivated to train for next year's race with his buddy.  We'll see...

Joseph cheering on the bikers

And then taking a break and looking at the water!  

It was a great way to spend our Saturday morning!

Outdoor fun

The weather has been gorgeous so we have been spending a lot of time outside!  Here are some pictures from the last few weeks of our outdoor fun!

Relaxing on one of the fun swings at a nearby park

 Playing with the water table with Elsie

 Fun with shaving cream

 Serious at the splash pad

 Chasing after Carrie at the town green

Touch-a-Truck

This past weekend we walked to a nearby park for a community event called Touch-a-Truck.  There were about 20 different trucks and other vehicles that kids could climb through, pretend to drive and look at.  Joseph was pretty excited and we roamed around with a few other families so it was a fun morning.

We just sold Rich's truck and are on the hunt for a new car so Rich thought this one would be perfect!

 Driving the sheriff's cart

 Looking out from the Homeland security's big bus.

 He played in the sandbox in front of the bulldozer for about 30 minutes.  What a great idea!

Crazy to think that if we stay here in Texas in about 4 years this will be a reality!  Will have to hold on to this picture!

24 hours with Aunt Lindsay

My sister, Lindsay, was in Dallas for work and she was able to sneak away for 24 hours to visit us!  We were so thankful and excited that she made the trip-even though it was a fast visit it was wonderful to see her.

When we picked her up we checked out the fountains at Market Street to let Joseph run around in them for awhile and to show her "downtown" of the Woodlands.

 

The rest of the time we just hung out at home, went for a walk, played with Joseph and just caught up.  It was great!  Linz spent a lot of time with Rich and I in Hawaii while we lived there so it was just like old times after Joseph went to bed!

Joseph was looking for Zoey (Lindsay's dog) on her phone

 Hugs for Aunt Lindsay!

 He loves the horse that she brought him!

This was as soon as he woke up in the morning-he walked by the guest room and said "La la" (or something like that referring to Lindsay)-she came out and he was so excited to see her and wanted to color with her.  The two mornings after she left he would ask for her in the morning!  Too cute!

 Love you Linz!  Come back soon-and bring PD!!

Weekend Staycation

We took a stay-cation over the weekend to Galveston beach...granted, not quite in the same league as a stay-cation to Waikiki, but we had a wonderful time and it was awesome to be by the beach, even if it wasn't as turqouise as we are used to.  And, yes, we know, we are spoiled and have very high expectations!!

Yay for road trips!!

We turned him forward facing just for the trip-although he definitely meets the weight requirement I am having a tough time keeping him forward facing so as soon as we got home he went backwards again!

The main reason why we went was for Rich and his friend, Mike, to compete in a triathlon on Sunday morning in Kemah whcih is about 20 minutes from Galveston in a cute, boardwalk town on the coast.  We caravanned down early Saturday morning with the Conley family and went to Kemah first for lunch and to pick up the race packets.  After lunch the guys checked out the race route and Carrie and I and the kids hit up Marble Slab for some ice cream and roamed around the boardwalk.

Checking out the train on the boardwalk

 Chilling in the stroller

 Exploring Kemah

Carrie and I 

Then we made our way to Galveston.  The sitter that both our families use was gracious enough to let us stay at her family's beach home!  It was the cutest little beach house, equipped with an outdoor shower and all!  It worked out perfect.

We then headed over to teh beach for the rest of the afternoon.  Joseph ran directly to the water, stayed in the entire time we were there, and didn't want to come out when it was time to leave.  Although his time in Hawaii was short, he definitely has it in his blood! It was such a nice afternoon and so fun to relax on the beach!

After the beach we roamed around the town and Rich found his twin

Packed up the kids, fed them dinner and put them to bed and then Rich and Mike made us a delicious, carbo-loading dinner of pasta.  Looking back on it, Carrie and I probably should have cooked since they were the ones with the race in the morning but the guys didn't seem to care and Carrie and I were way too comfortable relaxing!  The kids must have been excited for the race the next morning since they took turns being up all night long (Clarie didn't go to bed until 10 and then Joseph was up from 11:30 to 1:30 and then Norah 2:00 to 5:00) so needless to say we were a little groggy when we rolled out of bed at 6 to get ready to cheer on the daddies but after a Starbucks we were good to go!

On our way!

 The cheering squad

It was so fun to cheer on Rich and Mike and they both did great!  It was Mike's 1st triathlon and he and Rich have been training together for the past 3 months or so.  Rich came in 3rd in his division!!!  He would have gotten a trophy of a pelican but we were starving so left for lunch before hte awards.  Since I am not a swimmer nor a biker, his times didn't really impress me because I don't have an idea as to what "fast" is, but his mile splits for the run were 7:15 which is pretty fast if you ask me :)  Especially for a "Clydesdale"-that was his division name-the 200 pound plus!

Finishing the bike and ready to run

 Almost to the finish line

 Brian, Mike and Rich after the race

 We had another fun lunch and then headed back to Galveston for the afternoon and then made it home to The Woodlands-all in time to go out on a date night that evening!  It was such a fun weekend and he guys are already talking about their next race sometime in July so we should be reayd for another stay-cation by then.

All tuckered out after the weekend of fun on the ride home

Cousins in Kansas

In mid-April we went to Fort Riley, Kansas for a long weekend to visit with some of the Ducote family and to celebrate two of our nephew's baptisms.  Justin (Rich's brother), his wife Anne Marie, and their new baby Sam, are stationed at Fort Riley and Brian (Rich's brother), Gina and their two boys, Michael and John, came down from Fort Drum, NY to join in with the festivities as well.

Here are the Ducote cousins-4 boys under 4! 

Sam (3 months), Michael (4), John (23 months), Joseph (16 months)

On Saturday we spent some time getting to know baby Sam and then went to the park up the street.

 Sunday was the baptism.  Both Sam and John were baptized and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures except for this one.  Rich took pictures with Gina's camera and I was busy keeping Joseph somewhat quiet and entertained.  I'll have to add pictures once I get some from Gina and Anne Marie.

 Gina and Brian were stationed at Fort Riley a few years ago and their good friends, Christy and Gary, are John's godparents and they had us all over for an amazing spread after the ceremony.  They have 9 grandchildren so there were a ton of toys for the kids to play with and the boys had a blast!

On Monday we drove into Manhattan for lunch at a delicious, little spot and then found a great park within walking distance from the restaurant.

 We actually ended up going to 4 different parks on Monday-just enjoyed the weather outside and finished the day bbq'ing at a lake on Fort Riley with a stop at Baskin Robbins on the way home.

 Three big cousins!

Our flight didn't leave on Tuesday until 5 p.m. and since the airport was 10 minutes from their home and was the smallest airport we had ever been to we didn't need to leave their home until around 3:45 so it was nice to have another almost full day.  The weather was gorgeous again so we spent most of the day outside just enjoying one another's company and watching the boys!  Michael must have ran around the cul-de-sac about 50 times as he wanted Uncle Rich to time him-I didn't get a picture but it was too cute...and he is fast!!!

 This is Anne Marie, Justin and Sam's home on base.  Every morning Rich and I walked/ran around post and it really was just gorgeous.  The stone on the homes and the big trees gave it such a nice feel and we were really impressed.  We actually stayed at Officer's lodging across the street from Justin and Anne Marie which was wonderful-a huge living room, bedroom, and kitchen and had that old but very charming feel to it!  

 So nice to take a short flight for the long weekend to share the baptism with everyone and to spend time with Anne Marie, Justin, Gina, Brian and the boys!  We are looking forward to our next visit!