Easter Weekend

Somehow, I am having trouble getting into the groove of regular blogging.  I have all the intentions but it seems so time consuming compared with slapping a quick photo up on instagram (which I do more often--link on sidebar if you want to follow).

I still have some posts in the works from the last few weeks but I will start here and then go backwards.

Our Easter weekend was pretty packed. Our niece, Olivia is graduating from college in a few weeks.  Unfortunately, we cannot attend her graduation as it is out of town and the same day as Kate's dance recital (which we had already committed to).  So, we decided to take a day trip to Austin on Good Friday to visit Olivia, take her to lunch and let her give Will a campus tour (yes, he's starting to look at colleges!)

I woke up Friday morning feeling pretty sick (killer sore throat, sinus headache) so I did not bother with bringing my big camera.  I just did not have the energy.  These are all I-phone pics.

On the drive to Austin, we saw the most beautiful array of wildflowers.  They were spectacular!  A certain someone did not want to pull over and let me take photos. However, he finally pulled off into the measliest patch and I snapped these quickly.  I REALLY, wish I had brought my good camera for the blue bonnets and Indian paint brushes.

So, Olivia showed us around campus.





There was a pretty little grotto.
We stopped and prayed and thanked God for his only son on Good Friday.







Will, Harry, Kate and Olivia




Dave and his favorite niece:)


Kate, me and Olivia

After the campus tour, we we to a great restaurant on Lake Austin.  We sat outside on the deck, had an awesome meal and excellent service.  It was a really great day.  It was just one of those family days where everyone gets along and is in a good mood.  It really was delightful.

We drove back home that afternoon/evening and then woke up (still sick) and headed to the beach for the rest of the weekend.

Dave has recently taken up kayak fishing and so we go to the bay/beach (or he goes with the boys) as much as they can get away with our busy schedules.  I still felt really crummy but did not want to sit home alone for Easter so I went along.



Harry LOVES the kayak and so does Kate.

Will wades out in the marshes to fish as well.

Kate loves sitting on the dock of the canal fishing (she doesn't ever catch anything--but she is happy)



Harry waxed his skim board and did some skim boarding.



On Saturday some friends came down to the house.  I was not the best hostess and napped most of the afternoon while they fished and went to the beach.  I LOVE the beach and it pains me that I missed it.  It takes a lot to keep me from the beach.

We did sit on the deck and watch a beautiful sunset.



(iphone pic)

We spent the night so the Easter bunny did baskets at the beach.

Then we piled in the car and headed home.  We spontaneously decided to stop someplace for breakfast. I had read/heard about the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe and really wanted to try it but I was afraid that on Easter there would be a long wait.  And we were not quite showered or dressed for Easter brunch.  Luck was on our side and we got a table just before a long wait started.  It was sooooo good.

Belgian waffles with fresh cream and berries, fresh gulf shrimp omelet, and homemade cream puffs.  Will had chicken and waffles and Kate had pecan pancakes.  We will definitely return to this place.

We ended up cleaning up and getting dressed for  a little egg hunt and 5 pm Mass.

Kate's smile was so big that it looked like her eyes were closed in a lot of the photos.
So, the boys did what big brothers do-- tease her!



Luckily, Kate has a great sense of humor and she laughed!





This year I put $1 bills and a few $5 in the eggs.  Will are Harry are teenagers.  They want cash.  Plus, I'd rather give them that than candy.  They raced around so quickly that I could barely get any photos.





Harry got almost all the $5 bills










Poor Will (who needs the cash the most for gas and food with friends) got the least.

We went to the teen mass in the evening and it was less crowded and less formal than our regular mass. It was nice.  Our Easter dinner consisted of BLT sandwiches since we could not really cook a big meal while at mass.  And I was still pretty sick.

Even though this Easter was very different from all of our other Easters, we all agreed that it was a really lovely family weekend.  The kids are at ages where they really enjoy each others company and there is little or no fighting.  We have fun together. I'd like to freeze time! I guess being sick worked in my favor as I did not go to any trouble for anything.  It was all super low key!

I know this is full of little details that are boring and insignificant.  I like recording all the details here so that we (our family) can look back and remember one holiday or occasion from another.

spring break beach day

Each year during Spring Break, our good friends invite a group of us to their beach house.  Due to Harry's Spain/France trip, Will's water polo schedule, Kate's intense gymnastics schedule and my work, only Kate and I could slip away for about 24 hours.  It was so needed though and it was very relaxing. We had an awesome time.

I did not take a ton of photos (like I usually do at the beach) but Kate had a ball with her friends.

Kate looks so grown up to me in this shot.

This is Kate's friend, Layne (her family invites us each year).

As an added bonus (and surprise) there were come other little friends from Kate's school there too.



The girls dug a hole and all sat around it with their feet inside.  They took turns filling a bucket with water from the cold ocean and pouring it in the hole. They did this forever and laughed and giggled each time.  It was so cute!

Kate loves her girlfriends but she is equally as happy and comfortable playing alone (which I love).




She is just the HAPPIEST little girl!



The water was really cold but it did not stop them...





And of course, cause my girl's gotta tumble so there was some of this going on...






Her muscle tone astonishes me.  I wish I had it!

This was Kate's first time in the sun this year but she looks SO dark to me in these photos.

And my favorite photo of the trip...




Both of Kate's bathing suits are can be found here.

Catching up...

I have so much catching up to do on the bloggity blog.   Something really changed in me this summer though.  If you've been reading a long time, you have probably heard me say (write) that I don't love summer.  And in the past, that has been true to a certain extent.  But this summer was great.  The kids did not do a lot of structured activities.  Will worked a lot, hung out with friends, did water polo and went to CA for the Junior Olympics.  Harry did a few LAX camps and Camp Utopia.  Kate did one art camp and vacation Bible school.  That's it.  We spent a lot of time being lazy and having fun.

I realized something really important this summer.  Dave and I do a pretty good job at parts of the parenting/family thing (we make a lot of mistakes too).  Like we are good at setting limits and creating boundaries and teaching values. We are good at getting them to study and get the homework done and go to church. We are good at spending time with our kids and talking to them.  But you know what we have not been really good at for a long time?  JUST HAVING FUN! We are not spontaneous and we are not super laid back. We don't act silly or laugh as often as we should. This summer, I have been much more laid back and much more spontaneous and it worked for me.  Who knew?  I have always been such a planner at heart.  Who knew I could fly by the seat of my pants?!

I really want to write more about our Seaside beach trip and post more pics from that but I need to do this post first....

Well, Harry finally came back from camp.  It was a long 2 weeks for me and Kate (I think Will and Dave did just fine).

Kate was so excited to see her Habu!!!  He came home tired and with a sinus infection and cough but he had an awesome time!!!  And that kid he hung out with in every single photo that I thought was from Mississippi actually lives a few blocks away and goes to Harry's school!!  So happy about that.  He seems super nice.

Kate's gymnastics competition meets are quickly approaching and she is getting excited.  I am getting nervous...about her hair!  She needs a hairstyle that will not fall out during all 4 of her routines (floor, bar, bean and vault).  I think they lose points if their hair falls out.  Did anyone see that episode of Modern Family?!  Any tips from you experienced Dance/Gym Moms? I tell you all this just in case you notice some funky hairstyles on her:)

Last week, Kate and I spent a morning with her easy bake oven.  I am personally not a fan of the easy bake oven.  I'd rather teach Kate to cook and bake from scratch with real recipes in real appliances.  And as you've seen, we do that all the time.  She, however LOVES the easy bake.  So, easy bake it was.

Our easy bake packets were old and the consistency of the frosting was not good.  But Miss Kate loved her cake anyway!!! Yes, she is in Christmas Pajamas in August with a giant bun:) See, it is the new spontaneous, fun Kim! HA!

Last weekend, our good friends invited us to the beach for some fun family time before school started. This is an annual tradition although this year we could only go for the day.  It was such a nice and relaxing day...

Will and our friend having a chat.  Lovely seaweed in the background:(

Will took the kayak way out but it was too far for me to photograph him.
All the boys enjoyed kayaking a lot.

In fact, Dave recently purchased a decked out fishing kayak and all the equipment for our family to fish in the salt marshes!!!  I think we will be spending a lot of time at the beach this year.

And finally, Will started school this week.  He is a sophomore.  I wish he had a car this year but none has appeared so far.  He does drive to school (with Dave) in the mornings.
 I am not sure if I ever posted it but he got his license this summer!!!!





First day of school pics:)

Kate and Harry start on Monday so we are trying to soak up the last few laid back days of summer:)