Finally A Bigger, Better Patio

We finally decided to add some life to our postage-sized patio, and after various building and furniture delays it is complete.  Yay, except now it 2 degrees below boiling point with 200% humidity outside.  Here's the transition.

Such a sad little space before the transition where so much furniture and a grill were shoved into the equivalent of a closet.  Even Little Pope did not want to sit or play on it.

So we decided to add some more concrete to enhance our backyard experience.  We debated for a long time on what to add, and ultimately decided to wait on stone and a covered roof.

It was a slow process in the beginning, but one day I came home to find this, and then the concrete truck showed up 10 minutes later and the space was finished shortly thereafter.

And here we have the (almost) finished project.  I still need to attempt to repaint our old chairs at some point, but it is mostly complete. Sorry for the glare off the concrete, but picture time does not always coincide with the best sunshine angle, instead it runs on Little Pope's nap time.

I have always wanted dark wicker furniture and this set was a good compromise between just buying a set at Walmart and the super expensive Restoration Hardware set that NN and Little Pope decided we should buy.  It is two sofas, two end tables, and one ottoman with a huge 'no eating here' sign.  This means you NN and Little Pope.

From the formerly sad patio side with the view to the lake and the Costco cantilever umbrella, which provides a good amount of shade.

Eventually we are going to put in a pool, but this will have to suffice for now!

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Gonna put the world away for a minute, and pretend I don't live in it, sunshine gonna wash my blues away...Wishing I was knee deep in the water somewhere, got the blue sky breeze and it don't seem fair, only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair (Zac Brown Band.)  Thanks to some help from two sets of the grandparents, the Nutrition Nazi and I were able to escape away on a much-needed vacation to Mexico at the Casitas Royale.

 The view from our room as we walked in....serenity is that you I see?

So let me show you a few pics of the room. A nifty liquor cabinet.  At first glance you might think now why would one need this at an all-inclusive resort?  Well as members of the timeshare we have the option of getting better liquor in our room than we can get at the bars around the resort.  And yes my mini-beer drinking friends that bottle of Cuarenta y Tres did happen to jump in my suitcase for the trip home.

Pretty bed with a jacuzzi tub off to the right, which also has the view above!

Our own little private pool with floats!  

Outdoor patio with a bed and table perfect for having breakfast in the morning.

The bathroom area with closets to the left and indoor shower directly ahead.  Please excuse all of my mess.

Definitely one of my favorites about the room - the outdoor shower.  We never used the indoor shower the entire time because this is so cool, and yes very very private.

The rooms are set-up on a semi-circle so that all the rooms have a view of the pool and the beach.

Each set of casitas has its own pool with a swim-up bar.  This is usually where we retreated after being out at the beach all day.  It's a great place to meet your casita mates and have a good time or watch NN get a beat down by a middle-aged woman playing basketball.  In all fairness I believe she played league  ball until a few years ago.

The one thing that did surprise on our first trip a few years ago is what many people call the 'beached whales' which are gigantic sand bags to prevent further erosion.  About 5 years ago the resort lost about 2/3 of its beach to Hurricane Wilma and were forced to use extreme measures to save the remaining beach.  A few margaritas and you forget!

It was SUPER windy while we were in Mexico, as evidenced by the palm trees about to blow away.  We actually got wind-burned while we were at the beach.  Bummer!

For many of us native Houstonians clear ocean water is something we only hear about, and some don't believe it truly exists!

The grounds crew does a phenomenal job at keeping the resort's manicured tropical/jungle look and feel perfect.

The beach has these awesome covered beds to relax on, and the best part is the bartender from your pool will come out to the beach and bring you a drink.  And for those of you wondering...no I never wanted to come back because no one waits on me at home.

And so another great vacation comes to an end...hopefully to be re-visited soon.  Adios and vaya con dias!

Back this hitch out into the water

After over a year we finally got the boat back from the boat yard with its new transmission.  I mean it is basically new at this point, and it only took money!  Anyway so everything finally aligned correctly and we took Little Pope for his very first boat ride.

He wasn't too sure about the life jacket while we were still sitting in the slip, but his happiness is not overridden by the safety laws so he had to deal with it.

Once we got going he seemed to be more interested in the boat.

Check out his baby banz headphones.  The boat motor is really loud for his little ears so I wanted to make sure he has no excuse other than manhood for not listening.

 True to baby's attention span he was more interested in the holes in the hatch cover than anything else.

All smiles at the end of the day.  Next up...wakeboarding!

Mobility with a side of Unwavering Patience

 Patience is not a virtue that I possess, nor will I ever, but one of my children has it down to a fine art.

This is my oldest as many of you know.  She was a super cute and very high-energy baby!

This is my youngest for those of you just reading the blog for the first time.  He is also full of energy!

And he has now become mobile.  Deep breath.  Life will never be the same and free time is extinct in our household!

He is still working on his stability, though. 

He is a super fast crawler.  One minute he is there, then the next he is wreaking havoc on something or someone four rooms over.

He has also learned to be a jokester.  This is the look he gave me as he was crawling over to jack with me.

He thinks he is so smart when he unties my shoes, but he only wants to do it if the shoe is on my foot. Leave a flip flop laying around, though, and he will put that in his mouth.  Great, huh?

But my oldest has nerves of steel and unwavering patience when it comes to dealing with her brother.  In the above pic he was yanking on her tail fairly hard and she never even flinched.  I finally had to go break up his fun because I was afraid he might rip her hair out.  He was so excited at the new toy he found!

Little Pope has also discovered the Team Leader's water bowl, which is like a rare gem to him.  We normally have the door closed to the laundry room, but he can sense when it is not and speed crawls to get there.

Even with such a huge violation of her personal space she still remains calm, which is more than her mama can say.

Have a great week!

Five Easters Later

I am tired, to say the least.  I am sure you needed to know that, right?  We are so happy that we got to celebrate Easter this year with the Littlest Pope, but I feel like we have driven to Oklahoma and back right now.  Wait, I think Oklahoma may be closer.  We celebrated Easter 5 times over the Easter weekend. 

One of the Saturday celebrations was at the Nutrition Nazi's dad's house.  Here my father-in-law was going into way too much detail about each child's area to hunt for eggs.  It really crossed the too much info line when he told one of the kids his area ended at the black chevy.  How many 4 year-olds do you know who can identify a black chevy?

Look Pops Mom got me an egg.  What's an egg?

Good thing I am not a super germ-a-phobe because he put every egg in his mouth, as he does with most other things.

Holy crap this is fun.  Carry me around some more, you look like you could use a good cardio workout.

Little Pope and his Little Cousin.  I think there are about 8 shots trying to get a good pic.  Photographing children is like herding wet cats.

Then the bigger kids joined in the picture fun.

The Bigger Popes.  My vertically-challenged brother-in-law spouted out that maybe Little Pope would get his height from him, to which I responded let's hope not.  I know I am not his favorite and I never try to be anyone I am not, so I figured I would call it like I saw it.

Daddy tell them these are my eggs, even if I can't eat candy yet.

My babies with their Easter baskets on Easter Sunday.  So sweet!

Wanna see what I think of your nicely prepared easter basket Mama?

I guess he felt it was better once everything was on the floor.

The Team Leader partook in her annual egg hunt!

Hurry up Pops and come open the egg for me.

My favorite 2 1/2 foot tall almost mobile troublemaker!

Look Mama, more stuff for you to keep up with.  Just what your OCD self needed.

Hurry up Grandma.  Your blinged-out shoes must be slowing you down.  Normally I do not let my child hang out in a diaper, but NN's grandparents like to keep their house very warm!

Little Pope enjoyed hanging out with his great-grandpa.

And his great-granny, who gets on the floor with him, even at 90 + years old. 

After all the Easter baskets and presents he was most happy with a paper towel roll and some love.  If only it stayed this way!

By popular request I am posting this video from a couple a weeks ago.