Too much Dora the Explorer?

At the beach the seagulls and a chipmunk were very interested in Talmage and Anya's messy chip eating. The chipmunk would get closer and closer until Aaron would scare it off. As Aaron and I packed the car the seagulls and chipmunk saw there opportunity to close in on the feast. The kids tried yelling to scare the moochers away but they were not scary enough. So the kids took off running Talmage yelling, "The badger's coming!" and Anya screamed "Mom the Jaguar!" I think my kids have seen a little too much Dora and not enough outside!

Surprise Trip

On Tuesday we woke the kids up early and told them we were going on a surprise trip. Anya thought we were going on a plane and Talmage asked if he was going to daycare (he's never been to daycare but he tells Anya it is a place were kids are screaming all the time and you have to take a nap and mom and dad aren't there). We assured them they were not going to daycare and that we would be home to sleep in our beds that night. We drove 3 hours before Talmage saw the "ocean" and guessed we were going to the beach. It was pouring rain like I have only seen in Texas and once in Mexico. Unfortunately in Corpus Christi we ended up taking a wrong freeway over a different bridge and ended up going to Mustang Island by way of Port Aransas (probably and hour out of the way -- a Papa short cut). In Port Aransas we had to take a ferry to the island. In true Texan hospitality the ferry was free of charge. Here is a picture of another ferry coming in while we were waiting on our ferry to leave. We estimate 20 cars could fit on each ferry and the ride may have been almost 5 minutes long.

This is Anya, very pleased with herself for being able to stand on her carseat while the ferry was starting.

Once we got to the beach it was still pouring rain and we had to set up our borrowed "shade shelter" in the rain. Our shelter ended up being a good place to keep things sorta dry but it didn't keep out the mosquitos as much as we'd have liked. Here are the kids playing in the sand in our shelter while Aaron and I set up "camp". They are soaked from the rain not from swimming. The consistancy of the sand was perfect for sand castle building. We didn't even have to add water!



Here Aaron is showing the kids how to really build a sand castle-- again in the shelter.


Finally after everything is set up we are off to play in the waves. The beach was actually nicer than it looks from this picture. We also had the beach to ourselves for a long time (probably no other rain deprived Washingtonians in the area) and enjoyed ourselves very much. The water was a great temperature and it wasn't too hot out.

Some how all three of us seem to be winking with the same eye in this picture. Perhaps it was more trying to smile while squinting in the rain-- you can't see it but it's there.
Near the end of afternoon the rain stopped and the cloudes thinned a little. It didn't get sunny but it was enough to toast Aaron. He didn't realize it until we were nearly home but he got burnt bad. Now he's oozing accross his blistered back. I'll not post a picture of this. He had a big demo with some important executive the next day so he went to work but today he stayed home and worked from home with his shirt off and a pained experession. It's comforting to know that he whines more than me when he's in pain. In all fairness I have to mention I did get a little sunburn too but I can still wear clothes and move like a normal person. The kids were well covered and only have good memories of the whole trip.

Aaron's News

Aaron has been official excepted to Grad School here in San Antonio at UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio). He will be working towards a Masters in Computer Science for now but hopes to someday get a Doctorate in Nerd-- I mean Computer Science. He loves being a nerd and loves studying advanced computer stuff. He is excited to start school but we are still trying to work out the logistics of how many classes and what evenings he'll take classes. His classes will be taken in the evening and it will all be paid for my USAA (the company he works for). They pay all fees, including books. He has a company credit card with a specified annual limit to be used for school only.

He also recently received approximately two weeks extra pay for his patent idea. We are not sure where in the approval process that patent is at but once it is approved he can write about what it is. After getting this bonus he has started working on more patent submissions for other ideas he has floating around in his brain. He hopes to keep submitting them and collecting the bonuses. Ultimately I think he wants to save up for a new computer.

They've got personality

Here are few pictures of the kids showing there personality while I was trying to get them to model my handiwork.

This one Anya just wanted to see a picture of her making a face because Talmage was.

Sewing Projects

Anya needed more pajamas and Talmage has wanted a robe for some time so I decided to make them. Helping them pick our patterns and flannel reminded me of when my mom used to take us to the fabric store. I only had 2 instead of 5. How did she do it. After convincing Talmage that this blue cloud print would work better than shiny pink I was willing to accept just about anything Anya picked. She liked the "ABCD" print so we were set. Both kids love the finished product and try extra hard not to spill breakfast on it.

Anya is wearing my wedding veil because she thinks its from "when Mom was a princess" and I was so flattered I let her try it on.