Sunny San Diego - Take II

Just before school started we took our summer vacation and went back to San Diego.  No cousins in the area this time but the Hatters joined us and we had a great time! 

You know how we roll...hop off the plane, unpack our stuff and get going! We went straight to the Padres game.  Matt was so excited.  At some point we all almost fell asleep and then caught our second wind in the 5th inning!  The weather was amazing and we actually had to put on our jackets!  Matt got an autograph from the Mets coach and also ended up with a free t-shirt too!

The next day we got up slowly and went to Coronado.  We had lunch, bummed around in the shops and then spent most of the day on the beach. Marlie and Hayden found these BFF necklaces in one of the shops and wanted them right away.  This is just too cute...

I guess I was too busy talking because I didn't get any pictures of Cale's awesome sand castle or the boys playing football! I also didn't get pictures of Marlie and Hayden on the boogie boards which was super cute too!

The next day it was off to LEGOLAND.  It was a great park for the little kids.  Marlie and Livi rode their first roller coasters and they both did great! There were Legos everywhere! At the end of the day the kid's got to pick out Legos from the gift shop.  Matt put his together right when we came back to Houston and I was so impressed that he did it all by himself!

Day 3, the Maziur's headed for Sea World and the Hatter's went to the SD Zoo.  The last time we went to Sea World Marlie talked about Shamu for weeks!  Matt and Dad headed straight for the roller coaster and Marlie headed straight for the stingrays!  As you know from my last post from Great Exuma, Marlie loves stingrays.  Again we stayed with these creatures for a long time, fed them, petted them, loved them, etc. 

We spent a lot of time watching the dolphins too.  After this we went to all the shows but it got very hot and we all sort of petered out at about 3:00pm.  Marlie slept through the last show which she would have loved.  It was a lot of dancing and singing to the Madagascar movie songs.  Oh well!

Then we met the Hatters for dinner at Hodad's.  Hodad's is a surfer hole-in-the-wall at Ocean Beach and they are known for their bacon burgers.  The burgers were awesome!  Neat, funky little place with great food!

Day 4 we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.  It was super hot here too but we managed to find some shade along the way.  The first stop was to see the Gorillas! Doug could have stayed here for hours.  There was a baby which Marlie just loved. 

M&M also enjoyed the Lorikeet's.  They fed them and even let them climb on them!

We did a "behind-the-scenes" tour and the kids asked tons of great questions along the way.  It was really interesting and we realized what an amazing place this really is.  But maybe the highlight of the day was watching the cheetah run! He ran way too fast to take a picture.  The adults and kids loved it!

Day 5 was our final day and we needed a relaxing day on the beach.  We played on Mission Beach, where our condo was, for hours.  The kids made sand castles, played baseball, flew a kite and played in the water.  I was so mad that I did not have my camera to snap photos.  After a little nap we got dressed and Nicole took some family pics for us on the beach.  We managed to get a few cute ones on our camera too.  The kids all looked very cute, sunburned and sort of tired, but mostly cute!

This set of pics of Marlie turned out super cute...

And here's my sweet Matt, making the "Alleluia" sign...

But mostly these are my favorite pictures...I love when they're being silly!

 If I knew anything about photography I would have loved this light!  It's so perfect!

 Thank you Hatters for a wonderful trip!  You're family is too cute... 

and I know the boys enjoyed hanging out and acting like fools for the week! 

 

Happy 8th Birthday Matt!

Matt had a really great birthday yesterday.  We got to be lazy in the morning and sleep in a little which is a big deal for us.  Then Matt opened his gifts from Mom, Dad and Marlie. Marlie bought him batting gloves, football gloves and goalie gloves.  He was pumped!!

Mom and Dad bought Matt a frame that shows all the baseball stadiums.  We knew he would like it but he LOVED it! Dad hung it up right away and Matt put his flags on the 3 stadiums he had already visited: Astros, Brewers and Padres.  He also had a flag to put on the stadium he wants to visit next so he picked both parks in New York! 

Then Matt was in for a big surprise...his Gram, Papa Howie, aunts, uncle and ALL 5 cousins came in from San Antonio.  He was so surprised that he almost looked scared and then for a moment I thought he was going to cry!  It was awesome! 

After a great lunch at our favorite sushi place, we came home to hang out.  We got some great pics of all the kiddos together...

The San Antonio peeps headed home and then we had some boys over for a sleepover.  What was supposed to be 1 or 2 boys coming over to spend the night turned into 4 but it ended up being great.  Matt wanted to eat at CFA and then go bowling so that was the plan.  We had Micah, Caden, Logan and Cole join us to celebrate.  Micah ended up winning or as Logan said "taking us down".  Just for the record, Marlie came in 3rd!

Afterwards we came home for cupcakes and Matt opened his presents.  He was super excited that Micah gave him an RGIII jersey and loved the Mike Trout figure he got from Caden.  He also got a few gift cards and to no surprise has used 1 already to buy a baseball game that he's been saving up for!! 

Matt I'm so glad you had a such a wonderful day with your family and friends.  You are so blessed to be surrounded by such great people.  We love you tons! Wish you could stay 8 forever!! 

First Day of School!

So I'll be flat honest...I'm so tired of Mom's complaining about being with their kids all summer and anxiously awaiting to drop them off at school! How I would love to spend the summer with them exploring new things, teaching them all the things they don't learn in school and should (math!) and just being lazy.  We had 1 summer together a few years ago and it was awesome! 

But I do get very excited about the new school year.  I'm always so anxious to figure out who their teachers are...these people that get to spend more time with my children than I do and get to teach them so many things! Well this year our teachers are awesome and I know it's going to be a great year!

Marlie is in first grade and her teacher is Mrs. Edson.  I can't tell you how many great stories I've heard about her.  I'm so blessed Marlie is in her class.

Doug and I love walking them into their classrooms on the first day and watching their interactions with their teacher and friends. 

What I'm a little worried about is that half of Marlie's soccer team is in her class and she knows quite a few other girls too! Here's a cute pic of Chloe, Marlie and sweet Emma.  We met sweet Emma in Sunday school this summer and she's as quiet as a mouse and cute as a button.  I just loved having her in my class and I'm glad the girls are in class together.  Chloe is a member of the world famous Fairy Ponies! 

Honestly I did not know any of the 2nd grade teachers.  So when we heard that Matt had Mrs. Gommels I didn't really know what to think.  On our way to meet her we ran into the kid's Kinder teacher, Mrs. Grady and she told us that she was awesome!  Well sure enough...we immediately liked her.  She had already heard great things about Matt from Mrs. Hathorn, his 1st grade teacher and that made us proud.  She had a sweet poem for us to read the night before school started which included "magic confetti" to put under your pillow to get a good night's sleep!  Matt said it worked! Too cute!

Matt is that kid that knows everyone.  So he said he knows everyone in his class except 2 new people.  But none of his really good friends are in his class this year and that makes me a little sad.  However, I don't think it phases him much. 

I guess the good thing about all the camps we did this summer is that the kids are used to going to new places and making friends.  So neither were nervous at all this morning.  I think they were happy to be in their classes with familiar faces.  We are really blessed to go to a great school.  We have great teachers, staff and parents too.  Thank you for God for the answered prayer on continuing to surround us with wonderful people! 

Carolina Creek

Matt experienced a wonderful few days last week at Carolina Creek Christian Camp!  I came across this camp at work (yes I have the best job ever) last year and couldn't wait for Matt to go this summer.  It was better than expected. 

We were thrilled that Caden and Evan also signed up for camp and got put into the same cabin.  Then Marlie's friend Garrett (my sweet friend Stephanie's son) also ended up in their cabin.  Garrett is a couple of years younger than MC&E but he kept up with the older boys.  The boys were in the Zebra cabin and their counselors were Alex, Garrett (aka Big G) and Evan #2.  The boys immediately started calling them all "coach" because that's what their used to.  Evan #2 is 13 and is the son of a woman who leads the girls camps.  He was a great kid and the boys LOVED him immediately.  I'm sure they wore him out!

Matt was so excited about camp until the day of.  He wouldn't admit to being nervous but he was crying for no reason so I knew he was.  But as soon as Caden and his family hopped in our car all was good.  There was a little look of fear when we left them but no tears...well except for Marlie.  She cried for 5 minutes solid, hardly breathing because she was going to miss Matt.  By the time we made it back home she was fine and we when told her she could pick out what to eat for dinner she said "lobster" and off we went!  While Matt was gone we did enjoy having Marlie to ourselves and some peace and quiet in the house!

 

Wednesday morning we couldn't wait to go get the boys.  When we got there, they were playing football outside their cabin.  Matt shot me a big smile but kept playing.  When I finally got their full attention I got my hug and snapped this cute picture.  No doubt they were having fun!

They had cabin awards and it was so funny that in just a few days they had figured out these boys.  Garrett got the Endurance Award for working hard to keep up with the older boys in the cabin.  Caden got the Loyalty Award for making friends and being kind to everyone.  Evan got the Wisdom Award which is just SO Evan.  Matt got the I'm Third Award which was very special.  God First, others Second and Yourself Third.  Here's a little video of his award...

The Counselors did a great job and I knew from the moment that I met all 3 of them that I liked them.  They were great role models for the boys. 



Afterwards we went into Noah's Ark for a final worship service.  It was fun to see the songs the boys learned along with all the dance moves.  After a trip to the gift shop and a few more pictures with ALL the kids it was time to head home.  Next year the boys are excited to go for the week and the girls will get to join them!!  Can't wait!!