GRIFF TAKES OKLAHOMA CITY BY FIRE

Mom had to go to OKC for work and since Griff can still fly free, they both made the trip. Griff had a blast being an only child for a while and clearly thrived on the attention. Sadly it was no cooler there than it was in Austin - 103 has been the norm this summer. We made it to the OKC zoo which is REALLY nice. We played in the sprinklers in the backyard which the golfers really enjoyed. Griff loved walking up the cart path to the club and eating breakfast at the country club with Gramma & Bippy and mom like a big boy. We visited Griff's great-great-uncle Buck in the nursing home and spread joy to all the residents. He was VERY well behaved and especially loved the 4 airplane flights it took us to get there and back and charmed everyone in the airport. When I asked him where we were going, he said "Up!" and pointed to the sky. He's no dummy! I'm also posting a couple of cute videos of Griff playing in the backyard during the trip.

WE'RE BACK - Galveston, Oh, Galveston

I'm probably the only person old enough to even vaguely remember the old Glen Campbell song but just pretend like you do. First, I'm sorry I'm two months behind on blogging. I will blog like a fiend this week to cram it all in. Second, we've been busy. So get over it.

Anyway, we took our first post-session trip of the summer in early June when daddy had to work a conference in Galveston, TX, about 3 hours from home and had 2 free nights at a very kid-friendly resort. So we bought a couple more and made a vacation out of it. We stayed at the Moody Gardens http://www.moodygardens.com/ which is about the best place to stay for kids of this age that I can imagine. It is literally built around kids of all ages - huge playscape, a manmade pool with mexican white sand beach (without the overwhelming, scary waves of the ocean), two splash pads with water slides, a life-like dinosaur exhibit on site, aquarium, atrium and tons of other stuff. The boys had a great time. The dinosaurs were a little TOO lifelike for Cal who was petrified the whole time but told me later it was just pretend. He did bring home a T-Rex so I don't think he's scarred for life. Griff managed to nap briefly on the beach one day which resulted in some cute pics. There's also a good video of Cal clowning around next to the pool at the hotel. What a comedian.

We also made a stop in Houston to see mommy's friends Katherine Easterby with her boys Everett (7), Jack & Alec (4), and John Neslage and his daughter Claire (2) - little Jack stayed home. We stayed at Kat's friend Paul's house and the boys had a huge party in Paul's pool while the big kids enjoyed a nice dinner. We also went to the beach with mommy's friend Nancy who has a house in Galveston. Neither of the boys are really swimming yet but Cal is fearless which is both good and bad. We are making progress but stil have work to do. While we were in Galveston we picked up a Lightning McQueen "big boy" racecar bed and Cal loves it. It was getting difficult to coax him into the crib at night and while he still liked it, we decided a big boy bed would be an easier transition at night. Griff still loves his crib and his paci. The trip was a lot of work for mom and dad but also nice to get out of Austin. And it was worth it to see how much the boys loved it.

MOMMY'S BIRTHDAY

All good things must come to an end, as they say, and the same is true of mom's youth. It's over. Kaput. Finis. The end. Sad days indeed. Anyway, we had a small family party just the four of us at home, preceded by a larger gathering with Gramma before she had to go home, followed by a private celebration with mommy and daddy in Dallas (including dinner at Fearing's and a Bryan Adams acoustic concert), concluded by a large surprise-type party at Aunt Meredith's house complete with band, food, drink and 75 of mommy's closest friends. 4 parties for 4 decades. Each one involving cake. Not bad. Here are a couple of shots from the party at home with the boys. Gramma took Cal to pick out his very first present for mommy on his own. He chose surprisingly wisely and mom loved her white flip flops with gold sparky straps. Yay mommy! There's also a super cute video of everyone eating cake & ice cream and Griffin saying "cake" for the first time. A word he will no doubt treasure for years to come.