Our July 4th!

We had a fun family July 4th- nothing too crazy- just the five of us hanging out at home, daddy barbecued, red and blue fruit kabobs for dessert, and then went to watch the Fiesta Texas fireworks from the adjacent mall parking lot (along with a ton of other people). All the street lights keeping the parking lot all lit up took away from the experience a little, but the weather was great and the fireworks were impressive!

Then we found out that Helotes was having a celebration the Saturday after July 4th so we went to that too. It was your classic small town July 4th event- free popcorn and hot dogs, bounce houses for the kids, washer pits, canons on display complete with men in Revolutionary war attire all while the town band played patriotic songs. It was a little like taking a step back in time, and I loved it! The evening ended with fireworks that were a little too close and the canons firing a few times in the middle of it all. Pretty exciting, but a little scary. Thankfully Charlotte was fine as long as she had her head buried in my chest with my hand over her ear- she was actually surprisingly relaxed.

And now for the pics...

The kids and their fruit kabobs. Allison ate almost the whole plate by herself!

Playing in the backyard while Daddy barbecued. Won't be too long before she'll be ready for a Gator ride!

After the first fireworks show waiting for traffic to let up so we could get out of the parking lot!

Waiting for her 2nd fireworks experience at the Helotes Fireworks Spectacular on Saturday night.

I think she was enjoying watching everything going on around her.

Allison playing washers

TJ's turn at washers!

Pedernales Falls Day Trip!!!

A few weeks back we took a trip out to Pedernales Falls for a day of hiking and swimming in the river. Dwaine proposed to me at Pedernales Falls (actually it was on private property just outside the park past a barbed wire fence, but that's another story), so it has always been a special place for us. We hadn't been in many years and wanted to take the kids to share it with them too... 

First we hiked down to the falls to explore and enjoy the views!

A nice lady offered to take a family photo of all of us. Yay!

Off for a little more hiking!!

Alli modeling for me

Now for swimming!! The cool water felt great after all that hiking and we found the perfect shady spot by the river to hang out under when we needed to get out of the sun!

Charlotte enjoying her chair rock!! It was perfect for her and she loved it!

Swimming with Daddy!

A video of our fun!!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Charlotte!!

It doesn't seem possible, but my baby girl is 6 mos old already!!

Those big blue eyes, that smile, those dimples- I just love her precious face!

That giraffe is her favorite! She especially loves chewing on his tail!

Sitting like a big girl and with lots of confidence I might add.

She occasionally gets up on her hands and knees, but not really trying too hard to scoot or crawl yet. She's too quick to push herself up to sitting and is happy with that for now (and so am I)!

Charlotte, at 6 mos, you weigh 14 lbs 8.5 oz (25%) and are 26 in long (50-75%).
You love being outside. You have been hiking at the ranch, Government Canyon State Natural Area, Enchanted Rock and Pedernales Falls State Park. You have been to the beach at Matagorda and felt the sand between your toes and the water rush over your feet which scared you a little at first. You LOVE splashing and playing in water (bath, pool, river, anything)!
Being able to sit up by yourself makes you a very happy girl and you love to sit in front of your big basket of toys and pull out whatever you want. You have even pulled yourself up to standing a couple of times.
Your big sister and brother love playing with you, loving on you and making you laugh. They often argue over who is getting to spend more time with you.
You chew on everything. I keep thinking we'll see a tooth soon, but nothing yet!
You love your naps with Alli's pink baby blanket and you have the most adorable little routine of reaching back and wrapping it around you when we lay you down.
You tolerate your car seat much better now and even made it on our 3.5hr road trip to Bay City without much crying (there and back)!!
You are warming up to Daddy. He calls you "toot" and you laugh like crazy when he pretends to eat your belly! But you are still very much a momma's girl often looking for me when someone else has you just to make sure everything is ok.
You still refuse a bottle but have started eating baby foods and have liked almost everything we've offered you. Your favorites are mommy's homemade pears, apples, and sweet potatoes!
We are very excited to see what your next 6mos holds! I'm hoping it goes just a little bit slower and that it includes more sleep at night!!! I love spending time with you, but would rather be sleeping at 3am. Just want to make that clear in case you weren't sure about that :)

Happy 1/2 birthday sweet baby girl!! You have been such a beautiful blessing to our family!

A Texas Style Luau

To celebrate our niece Meg's graduation, her parents, Roger and Christie hosted a big blowout in the form of what I call a Texas Style Luau. A massive crawfish boil, bbq ribs and sausage, fun on the ATV's, pony rides,  Hawaiin decorations and plenty of leis for everyone to wear- so much fun!!! 

TJ doing his best to impress the ladies. Looks like TJ's taking a nap with the ladies.

Dream on TJ!!!! TJ's great at this stuff.

The sunflowers in the pasture make a great backdrop for pics!

Mom and TJ having fun on the 4-wheeler. I bet they want to ride again.

Charlotte's first time on a pony! She didn't ride, just sat for a pic :)

Dement Cousins. The kids LOVE Lyndee and Meg!



The Dements are having fun. I wonder if Charlotte was having fun too. 



Looks like the family is all together again- what fun!

Allison loves pony rides! She hopes she can ride again on her own pony if she gets one :)



Our future cowboy - that's what he often says he wants to be when he grows up. TJ makes a great cowboy.

In case you were wondering what the blue words are about. Allison is helping me blog right now and the blue is her contribution. :) 

Mini Getaway to Matagorda Beach

While we were already headed to the coast for our niece's high school graduation, we decided to stay for a few nights and make it a mini summer vacation. So we picked up the kids early from the last day of school and hit the road to Bay City!! We were not at all sure how miserable the almost 4 hr trip would be with Charlotte being that she is NOT a fan of her car seat, but it went way better than expected. That was in part due to good timing for a nap in the car but even more helpful was big sister Allison who kept drawing colorful pictures and holding them up for Charlotte to see. She enjoyed staring at the Cheese Nips box for awhile too - whatever it takes! Oh and I'm pretty sure lots of prayer leading up to the trip played the biggest part in everything going smoothly! Thank you Lord!

At Matagorda Beach the next day...

Allison playing in the surf!

Charlotte and I did our best to stay in the shade but we took a couple of beach walks too.

Much needed lunch break after LOTS of playing in the sand and water.

As you can see the seaweed on the beach was rather abundant, but it never seems to bother the kids.

Our good friends Derik and Crystal and their kids Audrey and Travis met us too. Nothing like friends to make the beach even more fun!!

I love this pic of the Daddies and kids hand in hand !

Daddy letting Charlotte feel the sand between her toes. She wasn't too sure what to think the first time the water washed over them.

Too interested in the sand to look up.

Here it comes!!!

Aunt April, Uncle Russell, Maddy and Lainey got to join us for some beach fun too! Adventurous Lainey and TJ jumped and splashed and played in the waves while Allison and Maddy carefully collected and counted seashells and other treasures! I love watching the different ways they play.

Aunt April got to enjoy some Charlotte time too!! We really don't get to see each other often enough.

The next day we decided we were beached out so we swam at the hotel instead and we got to visit with more friends and family. This time it was Corry, Steph, Autumn, Shelby and Carly and Grandma and Pawpaw too!! The girls had a blast swimming and playing. TJ was a little outnumbered but he managed to have a good time too!

The mommies and babies enjoying some pool time! Charlotte wasn't too sure about her pool float but LOVED splashing in the water from mommy's arms. Hmmmm- I see a pattern with this girl :) 

Napping in grandma's arms. Her schedule was a wreck and all of her naps on the trip looked like this, but she was a trooper and tolerated it all very well!!

Be watching for more pics to come of our niece Meg's super cool graduation party!!

Cornyval

Cornyval is an annual Dement family tradition that we all look forward to. Pony rides, games, rides, lights, music, prizes, cotton candy, kettle corn, funnel cakes...what's not to love? Well, there's the crowds, dusty dirty ground, germs and trash everywhere, strange carnies, port-a-potties, waiting in lines, and ridiculously priced everything! But we manage to look past all that and always end up having a great time and making great memories...


So much to say about this pic- the glasses, the face... Well, the glasses were just a random choice on her part. She has a ...umm... let's say unique fashion sense sometimes. About the face, apparently the horse squished her leg against the bar right before they got started. Ruined the experience for her just a bit.

Looks like TJ was having a great time though.

Allison was determined to meet up with her friends from school so she was super excited when we found them. She really felt like a big girl hanging out with her friends and riding big rides. Poor TJ felt a little left out though when she ditched him for friends. He's not used to that.



Back to being best buds again after Allison's school friends went to eat. Just like old times! Although now they think a lot of the rides are "babyish" including this one according to TJ who says he was embarrased to ride it. One of the highlights of his night was riding the giant ferris wheel with Dad - it better have been after their 45min wait in line. Thankfully, Charlotte was snoozing in her sling while Alli and I hunted and hunted for cotton candy but were never successful. Still can't believe we couldn't find cotton candy at a carnival! She managed to spend her money on some other assorted crafts and stuff though. And I picked up some cotton candy at the dollar store the next day since I had promised her some.

A day and a half later on Saturday morning at the parade. The kids had the opportunity to be in the parade with the school and chose to do that instead of watch it, so Dwaine took them while I stayed home with Charlotte. Apparently it was long and very hot as evidenced by the way Dwaine smelled when I went to pick them up :) The kids enjoyed it but I think we'll opt to watch in the future.
That's Sophia in the pic with TJ - let's just say he likes her a LOT and talks about her often!

Allison on the float



By far the best parade float! That thing is crazy cool!