On the Road Again

Labor Day weekend, Ethan, Elijah and I packed up and hit the road for a fun weekend out.  We drove down to Galveston to visit my younger brother, Daniel, and his wife, Jenny.  Elijah definitely took to his Aunt Jenny quickly!  She did all the cool things like holding him up to see their authentic German cuckoo clock and even bought him a ball (aka, coolest thing ever right now) to play with.  What a fun and cool aunt!  Uncle Daniel wasn't too shabby in his opinion either, or ours.  He was definitely our gourmet chef for the weekend and spoiled us with some awesome fresh shrimp and homemade brownies from scratch, among other things.  We had a great time exploring the city of Galveston with them.  Our favorite stop was probably an "old timey" candy shop where they were actually making and giving out samples of taffy.  I can't say that I consider myself a huge taffy fan, but this was delicious!  It was made on a machine from the early 1900s and I found the whole experience to be interesting and entertaining. 

My older brother, Michael, his wife, Jenny, and Eli's cousins Dylan, Katelyn, and Matthew also came in for a visit that weekend so we had a great time meeting up with them too in Galveston!  It was great to be able to get together with both of my brothers, both of their Jenny's, and the kids. :)  We got to go to the beach, which the kids loved, and had a great time catching up. 

For the second half of the long weekend, we went to Houston and visited some friends from college.  Ethan had the pleasure of getting to go to the first Aggie game of the year in which the good ol' Ags demolished the SMU Mustangs!  He had a great time getting to go with his A&M buddy and I stayed in Houston with a few of my old college roomates.  We had a great time too and "watched" the game while we visited.  We are both thankful that we had such a wonderful college experience and that our close friends we made during those years will be friends we will have for the rest of our lives.

Here is a little glimpse into our trip...hope you enjoy the pictures!

Eli and his cool Aunt Jenny :)

We went by Academy and found a bunch of Aggie garb, including this cute little Aggie hat for Eli.

Elijah with his Uncle Daniel and Aunt Jenny

The whole gang at the Confectioners Shop

Making Taffy...

Not sure which is more impressive, taffy making or the pinwheel he managed to pick up at the store

More taffy making...

Some of the delicious looking candies in the store!

Eli and Daddy

Family photo

The taffy is ready!

Getting ready to sample

The first bite...

Delicious!  Seriously, a face like that cannot lie. :)

Me and Daniel drinking our frappes which were excellent.

In this picture, you can see a blue line taped on the wall way above the people's heads that says Ike.  This is where the water level reached after hurricane Ike!

The other (cool) Aunt Jenny with the kiddos.

Eli and Matthew checking out the car dashboard.

Katelyn was so sweet with Elijah!  She is such a cutie pie and is already training to be a great mommy!

In Houston, the little Aggie kiddos are ready for some football!  Eli is with Kelsey, our good friends Matt and Julie's little girl. 

"Gross..."

"She's not going to try to kiss me again, is she mom?"

Elijah playing with Avery, my sweet friend Karrie's little girl.  He is very impressed with her laptop.

Eli and Avery are just 3 weeks apart and are already betrothed to marry when they get older...well, if they want to that is. :)

Avery coming to check out the camera.

Back home after the drive.  We got Eli his own little sports chair when we were in Galveston and it is just the right size.

Watercolors!

My little emerging artist had his first brush with the canvas on Sunday. In a previous trip to Walmart, I was lured into the craft world by all of the fun back to school supplies. I bought some crayons, watercolors, and drawing paper and began thinking of all sorts of fun "crafty" ideas for the future. We have colored with crayons a few times recently and let me say that those 24 crayons were definitely worth each of the 19 cents I paid for them! Eli and I both have fun coloring, although he does more banging on the paper with the crayon than drawing. I never really realized that coloring took a certain amount of finesse, but I'm sure that will come eventually...and in the mean time we will have fun anyway. :) Below you will see some pictures of our first painting experience with watercolors. It was a fun art project and not too messy when I confined him to his high chair. Behold, my little artist...

My very somber, serious artist hard at work.

"Let's see, what shall I paint today?"

"Let me just examine my palate for a moment and think..."

"Ah, I know just the thing!

"Let me just get a little of this purple..."

"And, hmmm..."

"Ah yes, a little black..."

"Now I'll swirl it around in the cup of water..."

"Yes, it looks like that is sufficient swirling..."

"And presto!"

"My materpiece is complete!  No more photographs please...I do not want them damaging my painting."

Like every great artist, Eli had a rinse down in the sink afterward. :)

Good thing this one is washable. :)  I'm pretty sure Elijah has just as much fun being washed down in the sink as he does making the mess in the first place!

Of all the dishes that I wash in that sink, this one is certainly my favorite. :)  Thanks for the painting fun, little man, you are a natural!

Teachable Moments

Here is a glimpse of last night’s teachable moment between Daddy and Eli. 

Setting:  Eli’s highchair during dinnertime.

Daddy: “No no, Eli.  Don’t throw your beans and corn.”

Eli: “No No!”

Daddy: “That’s right, no no.  No throwing beans and corn off of your high chair.”

Eli: “No no.  Beans.  Corn.  No no!”  (pronounced “beeee”  “koooor”)

Daddy:  “Good, beans and corn.  No no.  If you’re done just say “all done” but we don’t throw our beans and corn off of the high chair.”

Eli: “No no.  Corn.  Beans.  No no!  Beans.  Corn.”

Daddy: “That’s right, no throwing your corn and beans. 

Eli:  “Ball!  No no!”

Daddy: “You can throw your ball, just not your corn and beans.”

Eli:  “No, no, ball.  Beans.  Corn. No no!”

Daddy:  “You can throw your ball.  You just can’t throw your corn and beans.”

And on it goes while Mommy watches cheerfully from the sidelines.  Oh the joys of childrearing.  Enjoying each teachable moment with our little treasure!” 

Florida

We recently went on a family vacation to Florida.  We had the most wonderful time!  We loved getting to be together with grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and kids, not to mention the beautiful Florida white sand beaches!  Elijah had a great time too and was at a wonderful age for the beach.  He was able to run around and play and seemed to really enjoy the sand.  He especially enjoyed his cousins and jumped right in with "the pack." :)  We are so thankful for our families and love every moment we get to spend with them.  Thanks for all the wonderful memories...we are already looking forward to the next Florida beach trip!!

Eli with his cousins Asher, Emory, and Abram

Elijah loved walking down the beach (just like his mommy!)

The whole clan going for a walk

Eli is only 16 months old and already has a farmers tan :)

While Elijah loved to walk down the beach, he never wanted to turn around and walk back.  Here is Daddy carrying him back from their walk.

Eli longing to run back down the beach and explore new territory

Asher did a silly run that cracked Elijah up!  You can see Eli giggling at Asher who is just to the left of the shot.

Trying to run like his cousin Asher

Fun times at the beach down by the water!

Annual Boys Whiffle Ball Game

Watching the big boys play

"I want to play too!  Dad, can I be on your team?!"

"Watch out for that guy on 3rd!"

"I better get over there...looks like they could really use my help!"

Eli literally looking up to his bigger cousin Abram in matching outfits

Eli 16 months, Abram 2 1/2

Abram telling Elijah some little boy jokes... :)

"That's hilarious!"

"You are one funny guy, did you know that?"

"I like you!"

Partners in crime...busting into the cabinets to see what kind of trouble they can get into

At the airport saying bye-bye to Pops and Mamie in front of a very bright window.  Thanks for the fun times everyone!

Camp Cislaghi

To shake things up a bit, we recently did a little "redecorating" in our front playroom.  It has just been SO hot lately that we've been spending a lot of time playing indoors.  What better than a tent inside the house to add a little spice to the day?  Below you can see a few pictures of our indoor camping adventure.  Elijah had a great time playing in the tent and was none the wiser that camping trips usually take place outdoors. :) 

Daddy and Eli checking out the tent

"Daddy, do you really expect me to sit on your lap and pose for a picture when I have this awesome new tent to explore?!"

Not the most graceful exit, but it gets the job done.

"Welcome to our humble abode!"

Morning of day 2 and tent is just as exciting.  Boomerang joins in the camping fun.

"Reading" books inside the tent

Such a studious little guy already!

"Hi Mom!  Reading books in the tent is so much fun!"

While this picture is not exactly a framer, I love it because you can see Elijah running from Boomerang's bed over to the tent and he is just so excited.  Eli is definitely "toddler running" now and is getting really quick!

Made it!

Me and my silly boy...and Tad the frog :)

Thanks for visiting Camp Cislaghi!  Our playroom is now back to normal, but who knows when the tent will show up again for more indoor (air conditioned) fun. :)