Shelley and I decided to take a break from the work routine and took both the girls to Galveston. This was our first “official” family vacation since Avery was born, so we were long over due. We rented a house on the beach waaay down on the west end, and even invited the grandparents and my brother’s family to come down for a day. Everyone had a great time and we will definitely be going back asap!

Addison had fun soaking up the rays…

and so did Cousin Aiden!

Addison put her feet in the ocean for the first time…

Nana and Papap were happy to get the grand kids warmed up for the “big” family pic.
From left to right – Aiden, Avery and Addison

And here’s the “big” family pic… No really, that’s just about all of us!

In all my years of going to Galveston, I’ve never seen the sea weed this bad. It was literally 2 feet deep on the beach. Every day I’d plow a path to the ocean… and every night it would get plugged back up! That’s the house and our camp on the dunes.

At base camp, daddy teaches Avery the art of building sand castles!

Here’s Cousin Aiden, chillin in the rocker…

Shelley chillin with Cousin Aiden…

Uncle Dave chillin with Addison…

Addison chillin with her serious side…

…as well as her Hollywood drama!

And to finish the post, here’s Avery’s last trip to the dunes before heading home!

Much thanks to the home owners for their EXCELLENT accomodations! You guys were super nice and we will be back for sure!!!

Daddy got to pick the theme this year and of course it had to be something SUPER!

All the evil villains in the world better WATCH OUT!

Before the trick-r-treaters came looking for candy, Avery sat with Mamaw on the front porch. Super Girl dediced to show off her special powers and put her hand in to the (fake) fire. No children or Mamaws were harmed in the making of this photo.

Super Momma showed off HER special powers and teleported herself in to Mamaw’s spot. Super Girl was stunned with amazement!

After the crew made it down to our house, the moms and daughters posed for a quick one before we hit the street…

And so did the dads…

Enough with the posed pics… Let’s get some candy!

I love this one…

Like takin’ candy from a baby…

After a successful night of trick-r-treating, Super Girl had a SUPER sugar high!

Shelley and I had a great time catching up with the Bazins and Sicinskis. It was fun watching the little ones do their thing!

Ealier this Halloween weekend, Shelley and I took Avery to Rees Potts’ 4th birthday/costume party. We had fun with Mark and Amy… and of course Avery LOVED the bounce house.

She also liked Rees’ scarecrow!

After the b-day party, we went for Avery’s second haircut. It’s tough to find a pair of scissors strong enough to cut hair of steel!

And earlier in the week, Avery’s grandpa was in town on business. We snapped a quick one of him and Super Girl.

That’s it for this Halloween! Hope everyone had a safe and spooky holiday!

Keep checking back, and I’ll keep the material comming!

When the guys brought the box out of Toys R Us, all we could do was laugh. Fortunately, we didn’t need to bring the box home with us!

I was able to put about 90% of the swing set together by myself, but as the sun started to get low on the horizon, the cavalry arrived…

Mommy helped for a bit…

Then Mamaw and Chloe helped for a bit…

 And Avery helped by testing out her slide. She reeeeealy liked it!

Here’s the final product… and a family pic!

Avery and Christopher pose for a party pic!

The cake and cupcakes looked like little zoo critters. Very nicely done!

Of course, the cupcakes didn’t stand a chance with Aves around…

After the party we had full access to the zoo. Our first stop was the animal carousel and Avery had some concerns…

But it only took a few rounds before we made friends with Mr Cheetah!

Afterwards, Aves got serious and asked if the stroller was really necessary…

But it’s hard for Aves to keep a straight face!

Later we went to the petting zoo. I’m not sure if the cage was meant to keep the animals in or the people out.

Here’s the goat we almost took home…

And here’s the pig we almost took home…

And here’s the BIG kitty cat we almost took home…

We never got lost thanks to my onboard GPS…

Avery really likes maps…

I believe this was a type of antelope. You can see by the size of Avery’s finger, it’s a very tiny animal!

Aves makes her monkey face at the giraffe exhibit… funny girl.

And one last stop at the gift shop before leaving the zoo!

We all had a great time and can’t wait to go back!

This was a sweet pic with Avery’s Great Grandfather Del. It had been a very long and emotional long day, but Aves was a trooper and didn’t get cranky until late in the evening. Here’s one of her better moments…

Great Mamaw’s sister Kay was not able to travel to Duncanville, so the Anderson Family posed with Avery and sat around a beautiful boquet of flowers Kay sent for the occasion. No one realized it at the time, but Avery was quietly eating the boquet.

Before we left for Houston, Uncle Doug showed Avery all the places Mamaw and Bebop traveled as well as their collection of US Presidents. Avery loves her Uncle Doug!

We will all miss you dearly Mamaw. May you rest in eternal loving peace.

Click HERE for Mamaw’s official obituary.

It took her a while, but Avery finally decided crawling through tunnels is cool.

Here’s a pic from our first day at the gym.
Avery wasn’t sure what to think about all the equipment!

We practice climbing stairs…

Hanging on bars…

Walking on the balance beam…

Forward rolls…

Obstacle courses…

Wheelbarrows…

And reverse whoopdie-doos… Go Aves!!!!

Goooooooooo MAMAW!!!!

And while she’s having a bunch of fun, Avery is making lots of new friends too!

Every class ends with bubble time… and I think that’s Avery’s favorite part!!

Signing Aves up for the Little Gym is one of the best decisions we’ve made.
Not to mention how much energy it takes to do all the fun stuff!

This one really turned out… yup… GREAT!

As did this one…

There was however a bit of drama during the visit… No one knew what was going on at first, but Avery and Aunt Debbie had a very intense stand-off.

Aunt Debbie begged and pleaded with Avery to come back… “I said I was SORRRRYYYY!!!”

Avery later told us she was angry at Debbie for getting in her crib. It really crossed a line and she wasn’t sure if Aunt Debbie could ever be forgiven. The proof Avery said, was on the baby monitor. Baaaad Aunt Debbie!!!

In the end, Aunt Debbie gave Aves a bottle and all was forgiven. Avery loves her GREAT Aunt and Uncle!

PS… Don’t tell Avery, but Debbie stole one of her bows for the family pic!!!

Here’s where we really hit the harmony… Aves can wail!!!

Daddy’s Xmas girls…

The very first time Avery went for the lights, she used her index finger to point (normally she grabs, so this was another baby first!)… And now she points at everything!

The PJ Queen… hamming it up!

And she really likes her Xmas blankey… Thanks Wendy!!!