moody gardens all in one day

during our stay at my parents,

we ventured off one day and experienced moody gardens.

we did everything you could possibly do there.

we first experienced the aquarium pyramid (the blue one).

i remember going with my cousin as a young girl,

but is was like i was experiencing it again for the first time.

(excuse the quality of pictures...we forgot our camera and used only our iphone)

we loved the seals the best

the were so large and graceful

a very sweet rescue turtle with only one arm

sea horses are such amazing creatures & we were fascinated by them

the girls entering the shark tank

 once we viewed everything there we took a lunch break only to 

discover that it was raining outside. 

luckily, that didn't matter because there was a

covered walkway that directed us to our next destination,

which was the rain forest pyramid.(the one with windows)

it was kind of fun to walk over to it while it was raining

and pretend we were really entering a rain forest. :)

can you see the bright orange birds below to the left of the girls? these were our favorite!

he was a cute bird with lots of character

cami and cari are walking through the cloud

apparently it is the year of the bat and there were several flying around in the cave

all the birds were brightly colored

behind us are two large beautiful blue birds like seen in the movie rio

after we were done exploring the rain forest,

we shopped and watched a 3d, 4d, and film ride.

 we also took a look at the bodies revealed exhibit,

which did not allow photos to be taken.

it was very interesting, but a bit too revealing for my two :)

my 3 in the imax ready to watch to the movie

did you know momma polar bears defend their babies to death. this was a very interesting film.

this experience had several surprises in it

by that evening we had seen just about everything

and were ready to put our swim suites on and head over

to palm beach. the weather was perfect by then.

this was a great way to relax, eat dinner, and let the kids play.

they had a band playing some great hits from our

teenage years, which helped to make chad and i feel young again :)

they were both pretty eager to hit those slides

the rain from earlier in the day actually made making sandcastles a breeze

cari having fun in the wave pool

this is their silly pose

 we had heard that they were planning to shoot fireworks later 

that evening and decided we would end the night

on the colonel cruise ship.

we walked over the paddle wheel boat from the beach

it was the perfect way to end the evening

 we spied different fish in the water, 

disused our favorite moments of the day, 

and had a great view of the fireworks while cuddling close together.

weekend getaway

earlier this month, cami competed in a state competition that was held at tcu in forth worth.

she was a first place psia academic winner for our district meet which means she got to represent that district at the state competition. she participated in an event called music memory where only first place advances to state.

 (her new earrings :)

we usually tell cami to do good, but not too good as to avoid going out of town, but

she never really listens.(she is now 2 for 3) we went once before for storytelling in first grade.

 but, this trip actually came at a good time for us becoming a much needed mini family vacation.

*

after decorating the vehicle on friday, we drove to our hotel.

i had researched months ahead trying to find a hotel with an indoor pool so that the kids would get to swim no matter what the weather was like. we only found one and we were very happy with it.

 (we are always looking for ways to embarrass our kids)

 (dad putting the finishing touches)

(the girls ready for take off)

after settling in for a few minutes, we hit the downtown area at sundance square and took the kids to see the avengers opening day. this is something new for us and we joked saying we were breaking all the rules while we were out of town. we never take them or let them see pg-13 movies!

it ended up being very clean and both of the girls, especially my youngest, loved it.

we then walked around downtown and ate at savianos-italian-pizzeria. A friend told me to check out paciugo gelato and i am glad we did because it was delicious. after that, we stopped in the cupcakery for cupcakes to go. our last stop was at barnes and noble where we let the kids both pick out a book. once we got back to our hotel, we enjoyed our cupcakes and milk for the evening :)

(top floor at barnes and noble)

(ihop...there was nothing left on her plate)

the next morning, we ate at ihop and then headed over to the college campus. like most campuses, it is really beautiful. we enjoyed walking around the area and imaging what college life there would be like there.

 (she was pretty excited)

(their mascot is the horned lizard or horny toad)

 (the beautiful magnolias were everywhere)

camille's competition was at 12:30 and we arrived early for her to study a little. 

we waited outside the door with all the other anxious families and we were all relieved once they all made it out alive.

 (one of the many buildings along the campus)

 (cari's new friend...a stuffed horny toad who she now sleeps with every night!)

he walked down to the stores and restaurants and killed time while several graders went over each test. we assembled back around 4:30 to verify the tests. cami chose me to go in with her because they only would let one parent in during the verification. i noticed immediately that she had improved from her last score. i was very proud of her. the test is very difficult and she had worked diligently for many months to prepare.

  (classic davis sister pose)

 (everyone runs to this swing to get a turn)

finally they let everyone in and announced the awards.

cami received a metal for 5th place. only 6th place and up got metals and i think she was really wanting to take one home...similar to the one dad got the weekend before for his kayak race :)

(proud of herself)

we finished celebrating at a popular frozen yogurt shop called menchies and then did a little window shopping at some of our favorite stores around there including apple and anthropology.

later we spent the rest of the evening at the hotel playing at the pool and ordering room service.

iron man happened  to be on tv and it started the craze to see all the superhero movies that were on avengers.

 (they had a blast at the pool)

 (room service was much needed after a long day)

we checked out on sunday morning and had our very first einstein bagels...hopefully not our last! it was good to be home again, but that weekend in fort worth will be a sweet memory for a long time.

i think it is important for families to go away together at least once a year. it really doesn't matter what you do and you certainly don't have to spend a lot of money to have a great time together. i think our most precious memories as a family are in the "in-between times." it is also nice for chad and i to take a break from our everyday responsibility and just enjoy each others company.

summer is right around the corner and i am looking forward to another weekend getaway with this special crew.

the count down has ended...

we have been pretty busy this past week...

making a chain...

to count down the days...

until we leave for our family vacation.

it's finally here, we leave tomorrow headed to the great wolf lodge!

we are all very excited!!!

lots more pictures to come...

the beach that was named after me (or not)

crystal beach ended up being a great beach for shelling and not a great beach for swimming. 

we took the ferry boat over to bolivar peninsula and experienced the beach that was named after me :)

there were some beautiful finds and the children and i came back with some really neat and very large shells.

my husband found a coconut and then tried to crack it open.

the pelicans were awesome to watch in the sky. 

i would say that hurricane ike really seemed to have made his mark here. 

 

but it was worth the morning ferry trip there to experience this adventure with my family.