Galveston Island!!

It's kind of become our tradition since we've been here to go to the beach on "Royce's spring break." (He has to work the actual spring break, so he gets a random week off whenever he wants. So much better than during normal spring break week.) So this year we loaded up and went to Galveston Island. It was so much fun! We got a motel right across the street from the beach, and splurged a little bit for a nicer one, and it was great. Last time we went we went cheap, and I was almost positive we were going to bring home bed bugs, but I wasn't even worried about it this time, and it was really fun.

We hit the beach...

took multiple baths to get rid of sunblock...

went out to dinner...

entertained ourselves while Marta took naps...

and went to the Moody Gardens Aquarium.

Then on Friday we got packed up and drove around the island a little bit, then we went to the Battleship Texas, and the Texas monument.

Then we headed over to Houston to visit Rocky(Royce's brother) and Carol and their kids. We went with them to their ward Easter party Saturday morning, where they had eggs...

a baby kangaroo...(for reals!)

and baby ducks and chicks! It was pretty awesome, and we had lots of fun at Rocky and Carol's!

We went home Saturday night since both of us had things to do at Church on Sunday, and did baskets and an egg hunt Sunday morning, and a special Easter dinner Sunday night after Church.

Emmaline wanted to decorate the table.

Ahh, the beach. It was so much fun, and the girls loved it. Marta must have walked up and down the beach for an hour straight. The waves would knock her over, so when the waves came up she would squat down and brace herself, then stand up when the waves went back out. Emmaline found a little friend, and they played for a long time. It was just a really fun trip, and so good to be together as a family on our little trip. 

300th Book Party

We've been keeping a little chart on our door that keeps track of how many books Emmaline has read, and for every hundred that she reads she gets a special treat, and she decided that for her 300th book she wanted a party, so we had a party! It was pretty low-key. We had some snacks, made some little bunnies, and then the kids just played. It went pretty well, but around the last hour or so they started to get a little cooped up, but luckily Royce came home around then and entertained them with some magic tricks and balloon games. 

 Dirt Cake! 

 The kids were a little freaked out when I took a fork and ate some "dirt" out of our flower pot centerpiece. 

Magic tricks. 

Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'Sir' without adding, 'You're making a scene.'

This was a super-fun, really eventful weekend! Ronda is leaving on Tuesday for her mission in the Marshall Islands, so we went out to visit before she left. Royce was able to get someone to cover his shift for Friday, and we were able to get tickets for 8:45 for the Blue Bell ice cream factory tour. So we got up at 5am, got ready and drove out to Brenham to make it on-time for our tour. It was so much fun. I mean, there was nothing special about the tour, but it was just a really nice morning, and we stopped at Sonic on the way out and got breakfast, so we were loaded with caffeine(it does seem wrong to drink Dr. Pepper that early in the morning), and it was just really nice to be on vacation with just our little family. 

       

How can you not milk a cow statue at the creamery?

By the time we were done with our tour it was still pretty early, so we decided to stop at the state park "Washington on the Brazos." (Also right along the road to Royce's parent's house.) It was perfect weather; nice and overcast with a cool breeze. They had a museum and a visitors center in the middle, then little "hiking" trails that had historical markers around. (It's where they signed the Texas declaration of independence.)

The museum was really fun. It was just about Texas during the 10yrs that it was its own country, and in one wing they had a children's section. Here's Emmaline pulling the intestine and internal organs out of a pig. (Not even kidding!)

Marta loved the drums!

You could build a log cabin out of foam...pretty cool.

So after we hiked around and went through the museum we headed out to Royce's parents, and apparently I used up all of my picture taking "bug," because these are the only pictures I got of the rest of the weekend!
I didn't even get any of poor Ronda, but I know her mom got some, so we'll have to get copies. The rest of the weekend was filled with more family, movies, shopping, going out to dinner, the kids going to the park while Royce took me to the doctor(I was there for a UTI but found out I have a heart murmur, too), and a farewell address at Church. It was such a busy weekend, but really fun!

Playing dress-up with Aunty Gina.

The man hates pants...

 Here is Marta eating bacon for the first time. I think she's a fan.

 Emmaline decided she wanted to try reading her first chapter book. She can read it all, but I'm not sure if the comprehension is there like it is with the other books she reads, but she's determined to finish it!

 Sigh...Marta "insists" on feeding herself with her spoon occasionally. It's almost always a guaranteed bath, but she really enjoys it. (This is the beginning of the feeding by the way. I should have taken one of the end.)

Track is done! Yay!! No more early Saturdays. Emmaline had a lot of fun, but she was also starting to have problems with her legs, and starting to get shin splints from practice, so that's just one more reason to be glad that it's over. 

(Again, sorry to those of you on Facebook. This is pretty much exactly the same, but I just have no desire to  think of all new things. :))

Videos of my pantsless baby. 

Marta's 1st Birthday

Marta turned one last Tuesday, but since Royce and I were sick we didn't get a chance to celebrate her birthday until today. It was pretty low-key. She kind of opened presents, and then we sang her happy birthday, Emmaline blew out the candle and we had cake. Pretty easy and fun! 

 This is the only picture I got with one of her presents, but she was really excited when she saw this book from Aunty Lea and Uncle Mike. 

Yeah, she was not interested in eating cake at all. I thought we had gotten her all excited about cake, and she would even kind of repeat the word cake back to us, but when the time came I don't think she even had one bite. She's definitely Royce's child.   

Here's her finished cake. I thought I was choosing a simple design when I made it so it would be easy, but it was still more time consuming than I was planning. 

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Cricut Cake? And fondant. This is Emmaline's 2nd birthday cake, before I got into fondant. I really don't have any kind of talent with buttercream. We have fought and it has won. (Look at her chubby, cute little face.)