Hurricane Scare #2

Here's the latest, if you were watching the storm. We are going through evacuations and are heading to San Antonio. Too bad we won't have a canoe there. I guess they're expecting heavy rains & flooding. :) At least we've packed a swim suit!

Our Family is Growing!

Our kids finally have a pet! Well, um, sort of. Let me explain, no. It will take too long, let me sum up. :) (Yeah, Princess Bride!!)

A few months ago, Hubby got this great idea to hang tomatoes upside down in a hanging basket. Apparently it didn't work very well and within a month the tomatoes were dead. As a result, we now have a fantastic nesting spot for our local pigeons. We've had not one, but two families of pigeons that have nested & hatched in our little tomato wasteland that hangs right outside our door on our back patio.

The entire family has become caught up with this. We've taken pictures to document the cycle.

Here's the first set of babies.

Before we knew it, they had flown the coop. I was amazed at the sense of loss we all felt to realize that they had flown away. I took advantage of the first family leaving before we were ready and documented a little bit more diligently.

Here is the second little family (not even two days old).

The mother and father are very protective, but I think that they've gotten used to the fact that we are regularly so close. They won't even fly away if we come outside anymore.

Right now, the second batch of birds are getting ready to fly. They are already so much bigger than this last photo and I feel like a proud mama every time I watch them.

This has been such a fun time for our family. Who knows, maybe we WILL get a dog?! But then again, we've been spoiled with a pet that will take care of itself without even a little bit of help from us. Hmmm, maybe we'll start with a fish and see how long it survives before attempting something that will pee all over my carpet.

Vacation + Violation = Vindication?!?!

Hey everybody! I'm on vacation at my in-laws house and have been having a great time doing LOTS of activities. We got here early Tuesday morning and hung out with my family all day doing low-key-recover-from-the-flight activities. Today was the day that A took 3 unassisted steps! Yeah! Wednesday, we hung out, went shopping, had severe guilt about certain purchases, immediately planned on returning several of the items, and played games. Thursday, we went to a local Water Park (HUMUNGUS!!) and had a great time celebrating B's 6th birthday until... *insert ominous theme music* we realized that my mother-in-law's purse had been stolen. This would have been unfortunate in the first place, but add to the fact that we had been using her purse as a store-everything-valuable, well, that just plain sucks. B's brand new camera that I bought him for his birthday, my wallet with 4 Seaworld yearly passes, $60, Multiple CC & Account numbers, my mother-in-law's camera, & wallet were all contained within its 'shelter.' Why is it that because of this, I literally wanted to vomit yesterday afternoon and broke down in tears? For some reason, I was attached to my wallet and felt severe remorse for my son having to learn that some people are inheritantly evil. Hence, vomit wishes...

Now, thanks to modern technology, I was able to cancel all 5-6 of my accounts that the wallet had cards to, Hubby will close our checking account and reopen another, we will buy B another camera, renew my temple recommend (yet again), get new insurance cards, and I'll finally get a cuter, newer wallet... BUT! I have to fly home on Tuesday and I have absolutely NO identification. (This was the main reason, violation aside, that I was feeling nauseated yesterday.) Luckily, I was able to file a police report at the waterpark and the airline will take a copy of that as identification. *Sigh of relief.*

Even though this day will still make me cringe a little, I was able to get some perspective last night and realized that it could've been SOOOO much worse and that given the option of the alternative, I would gladly give away my wallet and even my son's birthday gift in a heartbeat. With that said, I wanted to lend some advice to those of you who wanted to visit a park of any kind. Take a small amount of cash with you and put it somewhere on your person (I even saw someone at the waterpark carrying with them a plastic bag with their essentials.) and leave the rest in the locked car. But double check that your car is locked before you leave it as well.

On a brighter note, we got some fun photos that I'll post as soon as we're safely at home.