July 30 - You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me

Some fun Jillian comments recenty:

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" - several times a day

"Let me tell you something." 

"Mom, my tummy hurts. So I'm just going to stay home today, sit on the couch adn watch TV all day, okay." - spoken with hand on the hip and full on sass. 

Love our little ham!

July 27 - Fort Walton Beach

What does a family do when all summer camps are cancelled, parks are closed and children aren't allowed to socialize with friends? I wish I could say the kids regimen of reading, writing, DuoLingo and copious amounts of Netflix and YouTube were enough..but alas, everyone is trying not to kill each other around here. We thought about a trip to the mountains or beach and decided on the beach. Now, some of you may be thinking "Wow Christine, you are a stupid idiot" (and I was told that several times by a family member) but we took every measure possible to reduce risk.

We decided on Fort Walton Beach, which is only 8.5h from Houston. We are seasoned road trippers for that is a one stop trip for us. I packed pb&j sandwiches and we stopped once to use the bathroom. We all wore masks, washed hands and sanitized hands upon entering and exiting the bathroom. We chose a condo on the ground level so there was no need to use an elevator or condo stairwell, and our unit had a gate off the balcony that took us directly to the beach. I wiped down the condo with Chlorox wipes when we arrived, ran the dishwasher (just in case the housekeeper left corona germs) and after I took a quick trip to the grocery store (I'm the only person in the family that has been in the grocery store since March), we were all set!! In case you are now thinking "But...Florida?!"

Yes, Florida. No, not south Florida where their cases are out of control. But you know what other area is out of control? Harris County, Texas, where we live. Fort Walton Beach is much safer than Houston in terms of active cases. 

Anyhoo, JD thought there were too many people at the beach when we arrived Sunday so he wouldn't let the kids go to the beach. Once people cleared out, the kids and I headed out and took a long walk on the beach.

It was so relaxing and beautiful. Our schedule for the week was basically beach from 9am-11.30am, lunch and relax in the condo, and then back out in the late afternoon. The beach was pretty empty the entire week and we ate all our meals in the condo. The kids had a blast riding boogie boards, building sand castles and swimming. The craziest moment of the week was when Luke was stung by a jelly fish! Luckily, he rubbed it with sand and soaked it in hot water for 40min and he was good to go. 

The waves were very rough the last 2 days and we couldn't go in the water, but we had fun looking at a few surfers out there. Great week!

I packed up pb&j sandwiches for the ride back and..now we are back home. 

Enjoy these pics!

They fight all the time but got along great at the beach

Love my girls

Cuties

Sandcastle time

We even took a walk alone!

July 13 - The Many Faces of Jillian

Our little blondie is almost 4 and she is becoming more expressive and fun by the day. We recently repurposed one of our old tablets (she adorably calls it her "Ipad"). Even though it has one game on there, she thinks she is super cool. However, she was not happy when I took it away from her the other evening. 

In other Jillian news, she started complaining her ear hurt last week and after a trip to the pediatrician, swimmer's ear was confirmed. Luckily, after 3 days of ear drops she is feeling better. But she has discovered she loves wearing a mask!

Here is our little sprite wearing her 'witch hat' and being super silly.

And this morning, super excited for a new week!

July 6 - vanilla BEAN!

Pre COVID-19: I was at HEB (our local grocery store, the best grocery store ever) almost daily. Meal planning was never one of my strong suits. We also ate out quite often, especially on the weekend. 

COVID-19: I plan our meals and go to HEB on Saturdays only. While the grocery bill is high (my kids eat A LOT) we are actually saving money by not eating out. I always ask everyone what they want from the store before I go.

Vanilla Ice Cream
You might be thinking "Wow, are you heading this section vanilla ice cream in error?" Nope, not at all. JD and Luke are huge ice cream fans. They eat it almost nightly. HEB has three different vanilla ice creams: 1905 vanilla, homemade vanilla and vanilla bean. Luke's favorite is vanilla and I rotate the type I buy. Two weeks ago I asked Luke what he wanted from HEB and he forgot to ask for ice cream. No problem-I know he loves vanilla and grabbed a carton of 1905. That evening Luke realizes I bought 1905 and was adamant-ADAMANT-that he told me to buy vanilla bean. I told him he did not. Not one to back down (Luke loves an argument), he kept going "I told you vanilla bean. Vanilla BEAN!" After 25min, he finally mumbled under his breath "Okay, I didn't even ask for ice cream." Haha! I felt vindicated. Now we joke about 'vanilla BEAN.'