March 29 - Ninja Warrior 2.0

Ninja Warrios!

The kids ninja warrior competition was rescheduled for last Sunday, the 25th. JD had to work all-day Saturday and had a lot of yard work to do, so it was me with the kiddos. I contemplated driving up Sunday morning and making a long day of it, but decided that would be too much with the baby. So we drove up Saturday afternoon and stayed at the Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, Texas (just outside Austin, only 20min from the competition site). I've driven by the entrance to this hotel many times but had never been to the actual hotel. Wow! After turning at the sign we drove 3 miles down a winding road. The hotel has a golf course, ponds, pool with a lazy river and waterslide, hiking trails, horses and lots of open spaces for the kids to run around. They also had s'mores at an outdoor firepit, which Julia and Luke loved! 

S'mores!

After a quick night at Lost Pines (we will definitely go back for a long weekend at some point) it was time to head to the competition. We had no idea what tot expect and after parking in a field, we took a path to the courses. There were different courses for every age group and kids were signed up alphabetically. This was a bummer as both Julia and Luke were last and their courses were close to 1/4 mile apart from each other with no line of sight between them. Luke was in the 5-7 age group and Julia in the 8-10. They both had approx. 40 competitors listed (combined boys and girls, just like the tv show). After lugging Jillian back and forth multiple times, I found a parent on Julia's course who had a child competing in the spot in front of her. She agreed to text me when her daughter was going. I spent most of the time watching the 5-7's compete while Jillian played around...in the mud (there was no way to avoid mud there and she LOVED it.

Jillian watched Frozen and loved it!

I've never been so muddy in my life). There were 6 kids in front of Luke when I got the text "Your daughter in on-deck." I hightailed it back to Julia's course with Jillian (who wanted no part of leaving her mud pit and was limp noodle and crying) only to find they added 10+ competitors in front of Julia that were not on the posted list. I then hightailed it back just in time to see Luke. He did fantastic!! He made it through the course without penalty and was very proud of himself. We then ran once again back to Julia's course (no joke, I must have walked 6 miles between courses) and made it in the nick of time to see her compete. She was the last competitor and only 4 kids completed the course without penalty all day, she was one of the 4 with the fastest time. Great job!!

Ninja Luke

Ninja Julia

March 28 - Temper Tantrums Already?!

I really love this pool

 We were outside playing the other day when Jillian discovered my neighbor's pool. She shuffled up their driveway, put her hands on the gate and stared at the pool intently. I eventually made her leave-she managed to wiggle out of my arms and shimmy back up the driveway to stare at the pool. Once again, I removed her from their driveway and she then gingerly laid herself on the ground and started to to have a little tantrum. Complete with leg stomping! People, she's only 18months old!

Speaking of our little 18mon old, she has the activity level of Julia (on the go) with the climbing skills of Luke (little monkey). She's getting good about using her toys, chairs, etc to get what she wants. We have to watch her like a hawk! 

I do not want to leave the pool!

Trouble maker for me

Snuggler for daddy

March 27 - Kemah Boardwalk

Best attempt at a pic of the kids

 We did take one short trip during spring break to Kemah Boardwalk (for a few hours). The boardwalk opens at 10am and it's normally pretty quiet until closer to dinnertime. We got there at 10.30am and it was packed! We luckily found street parking and bought ticket quickly. Luke and Julia walked around together riding rides while I was with the wiggly little beast known as Jillian. We did the merry-go-round several times. At first, she wasn't sure what to think of it, but once we started moving she did not want to get off. In fact, she threw a fit every time I pulled her off the horse (or dolphin..whatever she was riding). We also did the Ferris wheel, which proved challenging as she kept trying to climb out the entire time, so I had to have her in a super tight grip which made her scream (sorry for anyone near us). She loved the train though and just running around Kemah in general. She'll love it when she's taller and can go on more rides. Fantastic spring break!

I'm not sure what this is, but I think I like it

Don't touch me-this is MY horse!

Love these two cuties

March 26 - Spring Break

For the first time in 6 years, we stayed home for spring break and did pretty much nothing all week. I took the week off and we just relaxed and played. The weather was absolutely perfect for outdoor fun and we made the most of it! 

Park Fun

Water table...she loved to to climb in and out

Jillian loved the sprinkler!

Let's take a ride

Fun with neighbors

March 19 - Ninja Warrior

Ella, Luke, Julia & Logan

Back in the fall, I signed the kids up for a ninja warrior competition at an outdoor venue in Austin. Rain or shine, the event was happening (according to every communication they sent in the last few months). The competition was on a Sunday and I considered doing a long day driving there and back (about 3.5h each way) but JD suggested we stay overnight and make a mini-trip out of it. Our friends Ben and Dana offered for us to stay with them and we drove up on Saturday. After playing outside on bikes, mini-go karts and other vehicles, the girls put on their swim suits and were swimming and hanging out in the hot tub. I'm not exaggerating when I say they were outside for at least 5 hours straight. The boys played video games and had a great time together. We ordered in Texas bbq for dinner (delish), had a good night sleep and then packed up the next day for the ninja competition. 

"Where is the entrance?" JD asked me as we were driving down a random road near the Austin airport. I was looking at the pin they dropped showing us the parking location and we saw no one there. JD asked me to verify the event was happening and I said it was supposed to be on 'rain or shine' but I checked and ...lo and behold, they had cancelled due to rain (it was barely misting) at 10pm the night before. Arg! No worries though. We headed back to Ben and Dana's and everyone (except Jillian and I) went out on dune buggies to go mudding. It was a great weekend!

Ella wants a baby sister now