It's Grandpa Bill again!

Every now and then, Grandpa Bill gets to come down and hang out with us.  He picked a good time of year to come, but unfortunately Texas got hit with some ice storms and colder weather, so it wasn't much of a winter escape from Montana for him.  After a delay in Houston, he finally made it down, and of course, made it to the beach.  We took the ferry across to Port Aransas and hit the beach shops and the water... not too bad for February.

The native Texan with the native Marylander.

Farrah was a fan... but she'll love anyone who gives her any kind of attention.

Gotta hit the water.

And get a little sand-covered.

Son #1.

Nolan with his "tough guy" face.

Another great visit, and we know he'll be back again soon! 

Is it Summer yet?

Well, it feels like Spring anyway.  Winter didn't stay long in Texas.  The sun has been shining, the air is warm, and it's all around been beautiful.  The boys have been out playing in the yard and jumping on the trampoline as often as we force them to.  Nolan, in particular, seems to enjoy the yard and throwing a ball around.  Oh, to be a one year old...

 

Is that Adam pushing the car? This may not be the best idea...

I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts!  It won't be long before the heat and humidity comes back, but for now, we'll just be outside...

The Winter so far...

The winter so far has been an up and down sort of thing.  Some days it feels like summer, other days it feels like Montana.  But overall, it's been fairly mild and mostly beautiful.  The boys have been enjoying themselves, as always.  Paul is probably half way done with first grade, Adam is the goofball he's always been, and Nolan keeps us all entertained on a daily basis.  Here are the phone pics we've taken so far from Fall into Winter...

 

Made the Honor Roll.

Grew some... tomatoes?

Looked fabulous.

Fought off bucket-head zombies.

Used a stick.

 

Led the charge. 

 

Went for a swim. 

Had a Texas-sized waffle.

Met a new cousin in Missouri.

Hung out with the Sellers and Millers.

Lounged around.

Made some holiday cookies.

Didn't clean our faces.

Got a dog. 

Swam in toys.

Annoyed the dog.

Lived in the driveway.

Cleaned up.

Got dirty again.

Played around.

Enjoyed the weather.

Acted like six year olds.

Got a Christmas wreath.

Wore our Christmas jammies.

Built some Legos... a lot of Legos.

Bounced ourselves half to death.

Rocked the chair.

Pretended we were really cats.

Strapped our boots on.

Got a haircut... weren't too happy about it.

It's been eventful, and there will be more to come before spring arrives, we're sure of it!

Folf it Up

I had a debate a few years ago with some friends about what this game was called.  They were convinced it was referred to as Frolf.  Notice the "r" that makes the word hard to say.  I told them they were wrong, this game is called Folf.  That obviously sounds much better, and that's what they called it on the world famous Blue Mountain Folf Course in Missoula, Montana.  We're not in Montana anymore, but this definitely brought back some good memories of playing this game with friends, losing discs and being literally eaten alive by mosquitoes.  Paul and I went to this course in Ingleside, Texas weeks ago and were again attacked by those winged demons and stabbed to death by the world's most annoying prickly seed death devices.  You couldn't walk more than a few feet without slapping off a dozen of those worthless insects and getting those spiked seed things stuck in your socks and shoes.  And let me tell you, if you try to take those prickles off with your fingers, you will end up in tears.  So needless to say, it was SO MUCH FUN!! But for some reason, we decided to try it again in December.  Thankfully, mosquitoes die painfully slow deaths in the cold, so they were gone, and only the dog was annoyed by the prickly seeds this time.  Here's the fun we had:   

Folf Champion Paul

There he is in action!

Even the smaller sons got in on the action

Staying warm, though the sun made for a beautiful day

The last basket, and a successful day on the course!

Watch out! He's got a stick!

The oaks made the course a pretty nice walk, though their twisting branches enjoyed knocking my folf disc to the ground on every hole.  Everyone had a good time, so we'll have to be sure to go back before the winter goes away and before another onslaught of mosquitoes hits the coast.