Elliot's birthday weekend

My big girl is now 6 years old. 😭

Tuesday night lights

We officially have our first (and probably only) football player of the family, Andrew. He's on the school's 8th grade football team. Granted, he's only a kicker but a football player nonetheless. 

My main concern was him getting hurt. First of all, he's not a football player. Second, he's pretty small  when compared to the other players. But being that he's a kicker, it's not likely that he'll have any contact... or so I thought... 😧

September rain

(source: KPRC)

For the third September in a row, school was canceled due to heavy rain. In 2019, school was canceled for Tropical Storm Imelda. In 2020, it was for Tropical Storm Beta... which was actually the second cancellation of that year (school was canceled in August for Hurricane Laura). This year, it was for Tropical Storm Hurricane Nicholas. 

And now I have to deal with a leaky roof... 😩

Labor Day weekend

The return of the ghost face.

Dinner (no kids invited)

I've missed going out to eat... like really going out to eat, i.e. "fancy" dinners. We used to dine out frequently (sans kids) but that came to a halt when Elliot came into our lives. Not counting the Mother's Day dinner this year, the last time we ate at a really nice restaurant was a month before Elliot's arrival... six years ago! But when she was old enough to be left at home with her brothers (or other family), the pandemic hit. 

Now that things are essentially back to normal, we're back at it. Saturday night we went out to Eddie V's to celebrate my brother-in-law Dat's birthday.

Elliot's first day of school

First day of kindergarten.

National parks trip II (Colorado)

We spent a week in Colorado to continue our National Parks journey (and to also vacation in my favorite state not named Texas) but this trip was rough. I'm usually okay with long road trips (we've already went on seven road trips to CO) but maybe I overextended myself this time around. In the beginning, it definitely didn't feel like a vacation. It was exhausting. I might have to reconsider these long road trips... or at least not do two 2,000+ mile trips in one year.

Birthday boys

We will forever share birthday celebrations.

Young adults

Left to their own devices.

I got the 'rona

This picture accurately shows what happened. It was taken during our trip in Hot Springs, Arkansas... the very moment SARS-CoV-2 popped out and infected me! Okay, that's not exactly how it happened but it was definitely during our time there.

So everyone got home on Friday evening and by the start of the following week, a few of us started to get minor symptoms. A sore throat, runny nose, sneezing... nothing to worry about. Sounds like bad allergies or a cold.

On Tuesday, I was a bit congested and had a low grade fever. It felt like a minor head cold. But on Wednesday night, I couldn't taste my dinner. Uh oh.  So on Thursday I got tested for COVID which confirmed what I'd feared... I got the 'rona. 😑

Family vacation II (Hot Springs, AR)

Last week we took a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas in what is now becoming an annual vacation with the whole family. There were a few people who couldn't make it so we "only" had 29 people. To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about this trip. Hot Springs in the middle of summer? Sounds hot and miserable. And what is there to do in Arkansas? So glad I was wrong.

Jacob's haircut

As you can see from this picture, Jacob was in desperate need of a haircut. But I never push him to get one. It's only when he asks for one will I finally cut his hair... which only happens 2 or 3 times a year. 

Being that it's so hot now and his hair getting in the way, he finally wanted me to cut his hair cut.

And so I did... but not before I played around a little bit.

With Jacob having such a full set of hair, I wanted to experiment with different hair styles. I can't believe he didn't like my first two styles. 😂

Fourth of July

I ate too much sugar on this holiday weekend. We had two dozen donuts, 24 donuts, which happened when Lynn and I each ran errands and came home with a dozen donuts. Great minds think alike. Naturally I had to eat as much as I could since they wouldn't be good the next day... and the fact that they're my favorite sweets. On top that, we always make desserts for July 4th. Lynn made a strawberry cheesecake and banana pudding. I made a lemon loaf. We also already had cookies from days prior and a ton of ice cream in the freezer. It was sugar overload.

For lunch, we had burgers. For dinner, we went over to my parents' house to have ribeye steaks. I cooked half of the steaks (4) and my dad grilled the other half. Let's just say I didn't eat any of my dad's steaks. I like my meat with some pink in the middle... not my dad though.

More dinners

We met up with Lisa's family (visiting from San Diego) and my other cousins for dinner at Yard House. Afterwards we just chilled outside at the green space as the kids played. 

On Sunday, we went out to eat for my mom's birthday at Mai Thai Pho & Grill. It was weird when the owner asked us to write down our order. Then later talked about his troubles of finding a proper cook. We probably won't be back.

Father's Day weekend

My growing kids.