Fun day Friday

There's really no other way to describe today other than plain old fun! Everybody hit the boardwalk today for rides, games, and food. I'd been to the Kemah Boardwalk briefly before the last time I was out here in 2004 but we never hit the rides side of the boardwalk, only the food and shopping. Heck, I don't even know if there were any rides there the last time I was here; who knows?


I really wish I was more of a thrill-seeker. There wouldn't really be much for me to do if I had been on my own since I don't do those kinds of rides at all. Disneyland rides I can do; carnival rides I cannot do. But of course with a whole gaggle of little kids tagging along there was plenty for me to do. The whole bunch did ride this little train though. And what a long train ride that was - it wasn't just a quickie let's all go in a circle real fast kind of train ride. We went all around the boardwalk and even doubled back at least once. The kids really loved these little tunnels and caves that had a kind of Old West theme to them.






Uncle Brian, Bamma and I ended up going off on our own for a little bit to go through the shops at the other end of the boardwalk while Denise, Heidi and the kids went on a few more rides and then dissapeared into this little water-spout play area to cool off. I do want to know who's brilliant idea it was that there should be thousands of options in souveniers as far as shot glasses are concerned, but can I find a single water globe? Of course not. I'm really bummed about that. I need to find one somewhere. The Zoo had a couple of really dinky ones and that's all I've been able to find so far. In case you can't tell, I collect water globes (or snow globes, if that's what you prefer to call them). When we were done we met up with the gang to watch the kids running through the water, having the time of their life.



And shocker alert. I took Austin off Denise's hands for a little bit and fed him his bottle.




So much fun already and the day wasn't even half over!! Austin wasn't the only one who needed to eat so we all made our way over to Joe's Crab Shack for some yummy-yummy lunch. It was very good food, and believe it or not I actually ordered something that wasn't salmon (which I've had no less than 3 times since I got here). The only downside was that they didn't have an BBQ sauce that wasn't super spicy. I love my BBQ sauce with just about anything, but I can't take the heat!






The plan was to head back to Bamma's house after everyone was done with their last round-about with the rides so we could all enjoy some time in the pool before the dinner with everybody followed by a night out on Uncle Mark's boat to watch the fireworks out in the bay at the boardwalk. It's cray how warm the water in the pool is just from being heated by the sun all day long. Going swimming in a pool is more like taking a nice long bath in the biggest tub you've ever seen than anything else. Denise took a lot more photos than I got. I can't wait to see them.


I think anybody who knows me also knows that I am not a fan of boats; they probably also know that I'm not a fan of fireworks either. This whole idea of going out on Uncle Mark's boat to watch the fireworks wasn't really my idea of the best way to find entertainment for the night, but I was along for the ride. It turns out there's somebody else who doesn't like boats: Mikala. I think I have now witnessed first hand what it must have been like those very few times I ever went on a boat with my family when I was younger. I vaguely remember them, and I just remember that it didn't go over very well for me. I will admit, the rocking of the boat on the itty bitty waves was not my highlight of the night, but I didn't freak out. To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot. We got to watch the sunset, the fireworks, and it's not a bad view at all!

Everybody is here!

Today was even hotter than any other day that I've been here. Bamma, Aunt Heidi, Jayden, Anika and I all went into Houston to go to the Zoo and I am not joking - it was about 104 degrees!! You know, just a little hot, nothing we can't handle ... NOT! I was sweating up a storm, but I made it through the day. The heat meant my camera stayed packed away for most of the day. It was just too hot to keep that straped around my neck the whole day long. It's a pretty neat Zoo, if I do say so. It's so much different from the Zoo in San Francisco though, but with some beautiful landscaping. Too bad the heat meant that a lot of the animals were M.I.A. and fast asleep, trying to beat the heat.






The flamingos are Anika's favorites!



But the bigger fun today happened later! Uncle Brian arrived with Denise, Travis, Mikala, and little Austin (what a cutie) just a few hours ago. I can't even tell you how long it's been since I've seen Brian, and I think the last time that I saw Denise and the kids (minus Austin) was right after I graduated in 2004. Back then Mikala was repeating everything I could get her to say and Travis was still scooting around on his back. My, oh my! Things have really changed in the past 5 years. They're both so big. And then there's little Austin. He's 8 months old. How wierd is it to think that I have a little brother who's only 8 months old! But that's alright. He's just a cutie and it just melts your heart to see his big baby-grins! Oh, and he's just the spitting image of Denise!






Travis and Jayden have been inseperable since Denise pulled up and everyone got out of the van so it's been pretty impossible to get a photo of him. I can't wait to have a full day of fun tomorrow. Mikala and Ana had some fun putting on some little dance shows that remind me of when I was a little girl. Any moment I could get another cousin or even my sister to go along with it we would put on a little dance show or game show for the family to watch. There's nothing like being the center of everyone's attention when you're little!