October 26 - Adventures Galore

We have had so many adventures since Luke's birthday party, let's jump in. After cleaning up the from the Halloween bash, we headed over to the Radford's for an Oktoberfest celebration (literally 30min or so after the party). We chowed down on delicious German foods, decadent desserts and German beer. There were a lot of kids there and they all had fun playing. We thought Julia and Luke would be tired from the birthday party celebration but they ran around the yard for hours with seemingly unlimited energy. Everyone had a blast!

On Tuesday night, Bryan and Karma came in town. They drove all the way from Santa Maria, CA to visit-over 1.8k miles (one way)!! We all had so much fun. On Wednesday, we went to a local pumpkin patch so Julia could pick out a pumpkin for her classroom at school. She took her job very seriously, evaluating the inventory until she found the 'perfect' pumpkin. For his part, Luke liked grabbing all the little pumpkins and running around with them. 

Thursday, we went to Bay Area Park, which has different play areas for the kids as well as a dog park. We initially all went into the dog park area but a great dane came over to say hello to Luke and scared him. Then, a hyper puppy (maybe 35-40lb) get jumping up to give Julia hugs and she was a tad scared as well. I spent the rest of the time at the playground with the kids while Bryan threw the ball for Amelia and Karma. 

Friday, Bryan and I took the kids to the Kemah Boardwalk. It was a blast! In addition to rides (the kids loved the merry go round, ferris wheel, train ride and an array of others), there was a free concert. In the spirit of Halloween, the band was dressed up as monsters and sang classics like 'Monster Mash. We were walking by the stage at one point and the 'monsters' tried to scare the kids but Julia decided to scare them by hissing at them. It was hilarious and the highlight of her evening!

Our weekend was full of adventures as well!! On Saturday, after gymnastics, we went to a Down Syndrome Buddy Walk in League City (town about 20min away) to support my friend Jamie and her family. After a few laps around the track, the kids played on the playground, a bouncy house and then we went to an awards ceremony. Sunday, we went to a farm outside of Houston (Dewberry Farms). There were pig races, pony rides and hay swings and lots of fun for all. We stayed for 3H but it was pretty hot and we didn't get a chance  to check out the huge pumpkin patch and other activities. Next year, we'll go in November when it will hopefully be cooler. 

Pumpkin Patch

Fun At the Park

Kemah Boardwalk Fun

Dewberry Farms

Best Buddies

Picnic at the Park

Sorry for the onslaught of photos, but I have to include these from cheerleading. Julia finally got her pom poms and she was named 'Cheerleader of the Week' last week. Go Jules!!

Happy Friday everyone!