Beach, Shopping and the ZOO!

This morning MiB hit the water EARLY, I joined him a bit later and then the Bud and LilBlue showed up...it was awesome on the beach this morning!

MiB SUPing

Body Surfing

Then we headed into Houston for a little shopping... we had to hit several stores before we finally scored a few shirts. But it was the looking and the people watching that was fun as well.

 Soooome shoes...and NO we did not buy them!

But I was glad when we were ready to head to the Houston Zoo. That was F U N even if it was H O T!

 Welcome to the Houston Zoo :)

Aquarium with piranha's in it and MiB as well! He's soooo brave.

 

Zoo map reading 101

 Keeping cool at the zoo and making kid noises in the fan!

 Those are some REALLY BIG horns!

 Yes, I can play the bongo's!

 Aurora the baby orangutan w/her surrogate mom Kelly enjoying a frozen apple juice block!

Awesome day even if Houston traffic is insane! We finally made it back to the room and enjoyed a snackfest and visiting and laid our plans for tomorrow, think it will be horseback riding for most and beach of course and then mostly chillaxin' in the G-Town!

Night all it's been a good day and we are all beat! I know MiB and I will hit the beach early while the rest of the troops sleep in, however, there is a rumor that there will be a KrispyKreme donut run! NOT what I need...we'll see how it goes, I am trying to eat as good as one can while on vaca :)

G-Town

This morning we headed to G-Town!

We had sort of planned our day, heading out first to ride the ferry and do a little dolphin watching when on our way we met our first unplanned adventure. Thankfully, a nice guy told us our back left rear tire seemed a little low...so we pull over to check it out and you can hear the air coming out. GREAT not the way we had planned to start our day...

 The "low left rear tire"

Yeah, low is a relative term, by the time we got pulled over to a relative safe spot it was obvious we were going to need a tire repair place. Keep in mind the TPS (tire pressure monitoring system) had alerted us to a low tire pressure issue when we left the hotel this morning. However, we had this happen on Friday and it was just a tire needing air (right front) so we thought something was off but had no idea it was this pressing!

Unloading the back to get to the spare! Fun, and even more fun with the surf board and SUP on top!

 More excitement!

 

Oh yes, the local boys stopped by to see if they could help and make sure we were all okay and being safe! Gotta love the boys who fight the fires!

 They looked on and made sure they offered words of encouragement!

 Group shot!

Once we were on our way we headed to the local tire store and $162 dollars and some change later we were back on the road. We made our way to the ferry terminal and rode to Fort Bolivar. We made the smart choice and just rode over without taking our vehicle, which was definitely the super smart way with no waiting! We saw dolphins both coming and going! However, I did not get a picture :(

 MiB and I on the ferry!

 Glad we did not need to be "pushed" off the ferry like this car did!

After our ferry ride we were able to check into our hotel for our stay on the seawall. It's definitely good to be near the water and we are ready for a great relaxing week! Nice digs even if the pool is a bit smaller then it looked on line it is still a good place!

Then we headed down the seawall to meet up with another set of friends, RRRs, for a late lunch. Our original chosen lunch place was way too crowded so we went on down the way and found Gaido's. Hmmm, it was okay food and great service! I had fish tacos, the lime chipotle sauce was nice. Anastasia, our waitress, from the Ukraine was so awesome, sweet and very attentive. She was exceptional in making sure we had what we wanted and needed, she was a real gem! I wish I would have taken her picture but I did not :(

 RRRs

 The one who prefers NO photos, was photographed :)

 They love the photo's...well at least they tolerate them!!!

After lunch we went straight to the pool to cool off and chillax, it was good! We even hot tubbed for a bit before returning to the room and taking a stroll to the beach. 

 The Bud's first time on the beach!

 It was a bit warm still but we strolled and enjoyed the scenery with the exception of the dead fish. WHY are the dead fish??? LilBlue finally asked the lifeguard and it started yesterday and is due to the heat and lack of oxygen.

 Dead fish ALL over the beach, it was a bit stinky too!

Close up of the dead fish...YUCK!

Back in the room and tired and ready for bed. MiB is planning to do a dawn patrol in the a.m. I may go to just enjoy the early quiet morning or maybe I will sleep in...tempting, guess I'll just wait and see how it goes! Not sure what tomorrow's plans are just playing it loose and there are lots of options so no worries for lack of things to do that's for sure! NIGHT!

Houston they have landed!!!!

Bud and LilBlue have arrived in Houston!

Welcome to Houston :)

We made it our hotel for tonight and met up with the Curtis Clan for dinner.

 

 CC arrival, they number 10 but were minus one!

We really, really like LaBrisa in Texas City. They have the VERY best margarita's ever, seriously, they do! And their bacon wrapped shrimp is to the most yummy, too!
 

 We left with very full bellies!

LilBlue was the only one who had a take home box, hope she shares with me tomorrow! :) YUMMERS, seriously some really good food and great conversations, always nice to see friends from way back when!

Little J the youngest YouTube fan I have ever known!

Thursday Thoughts

I got'em no doubt about that but I ain't gonna share them...this I will say, REALLY? I mean seriously, what a pass, I am nearly speechless.

I have a few thoughts I can share though like there was any doubt about that! :O)

• BEACH...I'm headed your way :)
• Rain, love the rain we have had :D
• I prefer no rain at the beach though...

I think that's good, short and sweet and I am not in any trouble, so that's really good!

Looking forward to seeing LilBlue and the Bud and having sand between my toes! Looks like we will also be seeing neighbors from our Aviano days :) which will be an added bonus and more then likely we will see the Curtis Clan as well! Life is good :)

I might be afraid!

So I have an iPhone, I do like it and for the most part I know how to use it...I still learn new things on it ALL the time and I do really love it's capabilities. I do NOT like updating the iOS. Every single time I have done that there's been a glitch. Usually I nearly having a coronary and we end up spending way too much time trying to get it figured out. Thank goodness for my tech savvy MIB. There are other things I very much dislike about my phone! I do not like having to pay for a data plan AND a texting plan, I think that's a rip off but I like both features so I pay it every single month. Grrr

So why might I be afraid? Well you see, I have been getting this message on my phone about an expiration date...

I have of course googled it cause google IS the CIA you know! LOL Anyway this message may be an issue and I may or may not have a serious problem. I love the ambiguity! Boards, forums and yahoo answers are wonderful aren't they? So while we are off to the beach next week, I may or may not need to make a stop at the Apple store! In addition, IF we HAVE to make that trip to the Apple place do not fret for not all will be lost as SPRINKLES is just down the road  :) I will not be able to be that close and NOT go,. I am fearful as there could be s'mores cupcake in my future, or a lemon coconut, or pumpkin or carrot, oh geez, do you see how this could be bad? Very bad, just sayin'

It's hump day and the we are having couples night in the neighborhood, looking forward to it! Not to mention we are meeting up for the movies on Friday :) Maybe even have dinner first, these ENA (Eastside Neighborhood Association) folks are awesome!

Pass Over Dinner = Veggie Enchiladas

I bought quite a bit of produce last week and have eaten a lot, however, since we are going to be gone next week I am trying to clean out the fridge. I made a big pot of veggie soup on Friday. MiB loved that and we ate it Saturday and Sunday. I also made a big pan of roasted veggies that we ate on over the weekend as well. Then today I roasted another pan of veggies and made vegetarian enchilada's with homemade enchilada sauce. Before you think I am all that, I didn't realize until AFTER I was home that I did not have a can of enchilada sauce in the pantry. Soooo since I live in the boonies AND it's Monday and the commissary is closed I decided I would just have to make my own sauce. I've done that before so it wasn't that big of a stretch. But I didn't know where that recipe was, I sort of remembered what was in it and I googled it to refresh my memory and it was all good. It turned out yummy.

 My enchilada sauce...it turned out such a beautiful color and my oh my did it taste fabulous!

Vegetarian enchilada filling...tasty!

I wasn't  really planning for dinner to be anything more then dinner, but after some news late this afternoon, we decided to have a "pass over" dinner. Won't go into details but take it for what it's worth, once again we have been passed over, it is what it is. Honestly it is just making the decision to pick a date for the BIG R that much easier to do. Though I try to bear in mind, it's not about us...but sometimes it seems very personal. We shall see. Back to the enchiladas! They were tasty, though MiB says leave out the broccoli next time!

Right before they were popped in the oven, they looked so pretty!

They were filling and yummy and even though I would have preferred using corn tortilla's I did not because MiB prefers the flour. I hope to start using the whole grain flour ones but they aren't quite there on taste but they have come a long way from when we first tried them for sure.

 There were some leftovers which may be a tasty breakfast!

Hope your Monday was all it could be. I did get lots accomplished today which is good since tomorrow is a gone all day type a day, even part of the evening. I have to get packed for the beach and tie up some loose ends before we take off. Off to enjoy a little Olympics this evening! Go Team USA~

Decisions made...

Oh my, this whole wedding planning thing is hard, especially because I am here and she is there...gonna be a long year. But I am thrilled for cell phones with unlimited minutes along with cameras on our phones; that has been our saving grace so far!

We now have a reception venue reserved, color scheme chosen, though honestly, that may be tweaked the further down the road we get, but don't tell LilBlue I said that... We are waiting on ceremony location confirmation but think that is pretty solid. So it's moving along! LilBlue met with the alterations lady already too. Oh and obviously we have a date which is how and why we are moving forward with the decisions we have so far! Working on the guest list too! I love small and so does she so that's making it a little easier. In fact ceremony guest list is done and we are just going through the reception list now. It will be awesome to see her next week and talk in person about some of these things!

You know what hit me this week though? Not only is she getting married and we get to plan and do all that. She is also going to be graduating from college in May. I know, I know! I'm going to be solid gray before this year is over! I am just praying to get through it with my sanity in tact. I am finding it VERY DIFFICULT to be soooooooooooooo far away...but what the reality is for me is that I will be in the BigO in May and get to do some hands on and looking around much closer to wedding time; that makes me happier.

Glad to have MiB home again, he arrived safely back yesterday afternoon, we came home dropped his bags and went straight to the pool! HOT is what it was but we enjoyed it. Then home for dinner and a relaxing evening of Olympics though I was nodding off by 7 p.m.

Today I think we are thinking movie, MiB is just back from SUPing and we are thinking lunch and then off to catch the movie Total Recall! May do a bit of window shopping afterwards since we will be at the Louisiana Boardwalk, depends on the heat. I did hear potential for rain which hopefully will mean some cooler temps! That would be wonderful but otherwise we will most likely hit the pool again this afternoon!

Have a great Saturday!