Backyard campfire

Last night we we lite our inaugural backyard chiminea. Alice declared we were having a camp out and that she was the leader, and insisted that we sleep outside all night. We were not ready or set up to have a real camp out in our backyard, so Alice conceded the all night sleep out for setting up her tent to hang out in. We toasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and told campfire tales. Larry was the best at the story telling....Alice wanted more, more, more.

Alice's love....

Alice announced today that she had found her love..... His name is Tanner and he is in her preschool class :-)

Donuts with dad

Good times before work and school.

Alice's Revelations

I feel sorry for the baby dinosaurs that were in their eggs and never got to be babies.

Shooting stars are beautiful.

Husbands think their wives are pretty.

Beggars never win.

Alice-ism

Don't cry when I get married because I'm going to live with you.

Cowgirl

Yahoo

Tender heart

I have noticed lately that Alice has a tender heart when it comes to the unwanted and unloved. It's the small things I've noticed.
She wants to rescue all doodle bugs.
She wants to secret food to the squirrels.
She picks the slightly wilted and pedal dropped flowers.
When playing super girl, she flies around rescuing lost puppies and kitties.
I'm pretty sure we have lost animals in our future.

Sweet Berry Farm 2012

Today was our 2nd annual trip to Sweet Berry Farms for Halloween and Fall Fun. This year was chilly... Wish we had worn pants ( me and Alice that is :-) We still had a great time.

Dog & Duck Pub

We stopped by for some drinks and snacks after attending the pecan street festival.  This was Alice's third visit to the dog and Duck pub.  There was a couple of families with kids this time and a college film crew doing some work.

Downtown farmers market

Alice quote

Alice quote

Larry goes out to dinner with the guys on Thursday nights. The other week Larry leaves for dinner and leaves his phone hooked up to the speaker in the kitchen. I tell Alice "oops - dad forgot his phone!" Alice looks at me and says "Dad is much more good at forgettering than you mom".

Padre Trip 2012

This was our 4th family trip to South Padre Island. Each year the car ride gets better with Alice becoming a more sophisticated traveler ;-)  We dropped Cupcake Bailey (our little man / doggie) at the Happy Tails Pet Resort on Sunday August 19th and headed down to SPI that afternoon.  We arrived around 9:00 that evening and got checked in.  Alice fell asleep on the couch - a tradition for Alice on vacation.

 

Day 1 at the beach: We pretty much visited the beach and the pool and did little else than lunch out at Pier 19.  We also did a little shopping and got Alice her annual beach dress and a boogie board.

 

 

 

Day 2 at the beach: We started the day off with breakfast at Pier 19.  Alice ordered what the menu called a "Giant Cinnamon Roll".  We figured it was just pretty big, but boy did we get a suprise when the roll filled the entire plate :-o   We went down to the beach for a while to try out the boogie board.  Alice had fun for a while, but the weather got windy and Alice got cold, so we called it a day and went swimming in the pool.  Later in the day we went over to the turtle rescue to see the turtles and then we drove to the end of the island to walk around.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Day 3 at the beach: We got a late start to the day.  We ate breakfast in and louonged around until about 11:00.  We went down to the beach for a little while and then swimming again in the pool.  After lunch, we went on a dolphin watch / eco tour.  We spotted multiple pods of dolphons and they dragged a net to bring up some sea creatures to give us a look and touch.  Alice held a starfish, but was not so eager to hold the fish or crabbies.  At one point of the tour they took us to rougher seas and the boat jumped up and down, spraying us with sea spray and thoroughly entertaining Alice!  That night we ate at Pirates Landing.

 

 

 

 

 

 Day 4 at the Beach : We knew this would be our last day at the beach.  We started the morning off down by the shore.  First order of the day was to bury Alice in the sand and make her a mermaid!  Alice and I then sat in the surf and played princesses and buried our legs in the sand.  Later we went into the deeper water (up to my waist ;-) and floated the waves while discussing "things, life, whatnot...". When Alice began to tire, we went to the pool for a while and then up for lunch.  Later we went back to the pool and Alice practiced swimming around the pool several times and floating.  by dinner time she was pooped!

 

 

 Day 5 was our drive back.  We only stopped once for lunch and were happy to be home again.

 

 

Alice and Friends

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I would just post some pics of Alice and some friends.

Secrets Shared, Daddy Speechless

Alice looks up quickly from playing like she just had an idea.  Turning to me she says, "Dad".  "Sweetie?", I say.  She walks over sporting a strange smile, an unusual blend of thoughtful with something new.  She comes right up to my ear cupping her hand carefully, protecting shared secrets.

She carefully whispers, "poop".  Fighting against laughter, she whispers "poop" three more times leaving a dramatic pause between each careful pronunciation.  She then swirls her dress around and dives right back into playing princess.

She soon starts singing snippets of princess movie songs and officiating over the Prince's third wedding of the afternoon, while I'm still working out how to respond to her awesomely executed tease.  I give up on adding to the joke, it was definitely all her's.