sweet home college station

In case you hadn't gathered, we left our home Friday afternoon (after much Royal Wedding viewing) for College Station, TX.

Zach was attending a Feline Medicine Symposium at A&M's Vet School, and Liam and I tagged along. I was much more relaxed going along on THIS CE, as opposed to Port A last year, because I'm super-duper comfortable running and gunning by myself in CS. I lived there for a long time. 

We arrived and checked in at our hotel (which was pretty nice!) and then headed straight to Northgate for lunch/dinner. We spent many, many, many an hour at La Bodega when we were residents of the CSTX, and we miss it so much! Despite the fact that it wasn't even 5 o'clock, we both ordered MexMarts, and enjoyed ourselves completely. 

We parted ways at Bodega, Zach headed to the school for the first 3 hours of the Symposium and Liam and I ran around. We went to Toys R Us (the CS TRU is still laid out like they were when we were kids- you know, the big long parallel aisles, and it's just a great store), where Liam spent the rest of a gift card he had on a Perry the Platypus eye-bugger. Then we headed over to Post Oak Mall for some shopping at Aggieland Outfitters, where I was shocked to have to purchase a YOUTH sized hat for my Toddler... he's got a big 'ole head.

We drove by our old house so Liam could see... sadly, the little yellow shack (yeah, it's not that nice) looked uninhabited, but the roses my FIL and I planted were still in the front yard!

Since I'd gotten up at 4:30 and was beyond exhausted, we headed back to the hotel, and got ready for bed early.

Liam decided NOT to sleep that night, finally passing out in the bed with us at 4:45 in the morning. It was horrendous. We were all so tired when morning rolled around.

Zach had to be back at the Vet School at 8, so Liam and I were lazy in the hotel. We finally left so the maids could clean. We ran by our credit union's main branch, strolled around Target and just meandered through CS. We headed back to Northgate to meet Zach for lunch at the "original" Freebirds. 

Details: The Santa Barbara location is technically the 'first' Freebirds, but they didn't start out selling burritos in the style Freebirds is now known for. When the location on NG opened, they started the burrito building, and Santa Barbara followed. So technically, the first Freebirds as Freebirds IS, is the location on NG. 

While we were waiting for Zach, Liam discovered Bottle Cap Alley, and fell in love. I really do think this was his favorite thing we did all weekend. We walked up and down that strip of alley more times on Saturday than I ever did when I was living in CS. That was hard work so we had to stop for a cookie and water break on the back patio before Zach was able to meet us. Liam was a happy little bugger.

After lunch, I thought about where to take Liam and what to do. I didn't really want to take him onto campus because finals are next week, and I didn't want him running around and screaming when the students are probably (hopefully) getting ready for finals insanity. 

So, we headed out to the George Bush Library. 

I'd never actually been before (except to take an exam at the School of Government building) and a very nice guy at the counter gave Liam and I free tickets to go through the museum. 

(people are nice like that in College Station.)

Liam wasn't thrilled I insisted on taking his picture in front of the Horse/Berlin Wall statue, but I couldn't resist. I just love it. 

After running around outside, we headed out to Maggie Moo's on Rock Prairie for some ice cream to take back to the hotel room. I was hoping for a nap for both mommy and babe, but instead we sat on the couch and watched TV greatness and enjoyed our ice cream:

Dinner was special and fun that night. We met Zach's Aunt and Uncle (Uncle Norm is a professor/Ph.D student at A&M in Industrial Distribution) at Fish Daddy's for dinner. Norm is my FIL's older brother and is an A&M graduate a few times over himself. Liam had too much fun with his Aunt Loueva afterwards, running around outside and having her chase him.

(it was also BHS prom night & Ring Dance night. SO many ladies in lovely/skanky dresses!)

We got back to the room around 9:45 and Liam and I were in bed by 10:15. Thank Lord he actually fell right asleep and slept all night, until 8:30!!

After a good night's sleep... 

Zach had ONE MORE morning of lectures, and after he got back at 11, we packed up and headed to lunch.

We decided to try Chuy's. Neither Zach nor I had ever been before, and we figured we'd give it a try in CS where the crowds weren't going to be OUTRAGEOUS so that we knew whether or not it'd be worth it to fight for a table in Katy when that location eventually opens. 

It was a big, big, big hit with all 3 of us. Liam actually ate ALL of his lunch. Not a speck of his burrito was left.

We had a wonderful time in College Station, and are really looking forward to spending a lot of time up there this football season (hellooooooo season tickets!!).

recapping the recapable

Well, hello.
We're still alive here, even though my complete and total lack of interesting in blogging right now might lead you to think otherwise. Part of it is that I've been really, really bad about taking photos lately, so I don't feel like I can blog. Why blog if you have no photos to share? Exactly.

This past weekend, the darling Easter Bunny stopped at our house with a few fun goodies for a very sweet little boy. I'm going to let YOU guess who insisted on the large foam mace. Yeah, not me. We had a lot of fun shopping for the basket this year, but always tend to buy toys that are "too old" for our little almost 2 year-old. Remind me to discuss that later in the post. Thanks. Liam was pretty pleased with the Kinder Surprise that I stuck in there. If you are not lucky enough to know the greatness of a Kinder Egg (yes, that's what I call them still) I'm very sorry. It's a thin shell of milk chocolate on the outside, and white chocolate on the inside and the egg contains a plastic capsule with a small toy of some sort. My brother and I were introduced to them when we moved to Norway (like, right off the bat someone showed us. While we were still in our rental. REALLY early.) and loved them for the 5 years we were there, and then reconnected with them in Australia. Sadly, they're not legal in the States because the capsule and toy don't meet safety standards. Yes, America, you are missing out. My dad has been bringing Kinder Eggs back for me, my brother and now Liam since he moved over to Qatar 3.5 years ago. Great treat for an Easter basket.

I digress.

When we went shopping for the basket, we took along Liam's Christmas present from my Uncle and we added to his collection of Playskool's Wheel Pals. He is so obsessed with these toys. We've got so many animals, I have a hard time keeping track of whether or not I've found them all at the end of the day. I have stopped putting them away because they're one of the first things he drags out in the morning. They now reside under the coffee table and Liam is thrilled with the arrangement. The little blue egg was a special one for Easter and he's completely attached to it. The egg goes in the shower with us, and goes to bed with Liam every single night.

I digress. Again.

Easter Sunday was wonderful. How could it not be? We headed to the 11 o'clock service at church. It's not my favorite, I prefer the 8:30, but we didn't feel like rushing that morning since Liam would have a basket to open and I was a little intimidated at having a whole new head of hair to figure out how to style. More on that later too. Liam looked very handsome in his Janie & Jack outfit his Grandpa Roger bought him. I used his white and green get-up as a jumping off point for the rest of the family. Zach was not amused, but we had numerous people tell us how cute we were in our matching white and green outfits. I am completely bonkers for my Easter dress, so you can expect to see it on this blog numerous times in the future. Of course, my handsome little bugger got dressed Easter morning in his WHITE sweater and then promptly went and laid all over Jethro. Jethro, who is big and black and sheds on anything just by looking at it. Oh well. Boys will be boys. They were so cute, anyway. Poor Jebbers has done a lot of laying around lately because his poor bubba feet have been bothering him. Giving Liam ample opportunity to wallow all over his big, pathetic self. What do you do?

After the 11 o'clock service, we met up with my mom and brother and Zach's mom and dad at P.F. Chang's in Sugar Land. Yeah. I know. Chinese on Easter Sunday is not exactly the first thing I'd think of, but it was hard to get reservations around the area, and my FIL was in the mood for it now that he's able to taste more of his food. We were happy to oblige with a trip to one of our favorite places-- one that DOESN'T have a horrendously unhealthy menu. Thank you.

After lunch we headed home and did baskets with Grandma and Grandpa Clark. Liam discovered the chocolate truffle eggs from Williams Sonoma that his Great Grandmother Kennedy put in his basket and it's been love ever since. He's a big chocaholic. It's probably going to be a problem in the future. You can bet this kid didn't take a nap on Sunday, nor did he go to bed at a reasonable hour. Way, way, way too much sugar in his little body.
But it's not very often, so it's okay, right?

Liam has changed a lot lately, he's becoming very kid-like. He finds all sorts of new and crazy ways to entertain himself and using his Anywhere Chair from PBKids is just the beginning of it. He cracks me up! Also, Auntie Ashley! I love this shirt to bits and pieces, and not because of what it says, but because of the back! Too cute. He wears it all. the. time.

He has become very enthusiastic about "his corner" of the living room. I never show many pictures from inside our house, and not because I'm ashamed, or I haven't decorated... I just don't. But. I thought it'd be fun to share Liam's little corner and when I asked him to show me his toys, this was the result. Kid cracks me up. 

That's what's been going on here lately. I'm going to get in gear and write another post tomorrow, hopefully, recapping LENT (thank heavens for making me DO something!) and Liam's upcoming birthday, but right now? I'm tired. I also have the WONDERFUL people from our WONDERFUL HOA coming out tomorrow to GENEROUSLY assess the severity of our issues with our cable company who they so INTELLIGENTLY forced us into a contract with. I'm so THRILLED to have to deal with this, I cannot even tell you. SO. Yes. It'll be... special. Keep your fingers crossed they actually are CONSIDERATE and listen to their residents. I know. I'm not holding my breath either.

pack it in.

So.
Sunday we went over to the Clark's house to sort through a 30 pound bag of gravel in search of sapphires. Beside the point.

While we were there, Jenn (<--the blonde!) came to pick up her daughter, who'd spent the night with Rog and Steph. We starte talking and decided to throw an impromptu, surprise quasi-baby shower...

the next day.

We managed to get all the ladies in the immediate family to a restaurant, with baby gifts for our darling, wonderful, sweet expecting cousin Valerie. We LURVE this girl, and are so excited about Baby Kennedy.

Monday, Steph and I ran around Houston, getting cupcakes (Monday was also Jenn's birthday! Had to have cake!), presents, cards... it was pretty fun, actually. We shocked the pants off of Valerie and she got some great stuff. She's leaving for CA to meet Bo in a couple of weeks, we wanted her to have some things to take out with her to help them start getting their house out there ready for baby. (can we please just pretend that I don't look like c-r-a-p in that picture? kthanksbye)


Tuesday we went back to the Zoo. Rather, Liam and I went back. Zach and Steph came with us. Kidding- We were thrilled to go back. This time, we took the little red Radio Flyer wagon. Liam wasn't very well behaved with the stroller, so I figured he couldn't really be any worse in any other mode of transportation.

Lo! He was a DREAM in the wagon. He was perfectly happy to sit and be pulled around- he had his cup of cereal, his Tommy Tippee (best ever!) water cup and was happy as a little clam. I loved the view from the back. I thought it was precious. 

We tried to snap a picture of Liam in the huts in the little village at the African Forest... Daddy even went in with him. 

The best Steph and I could do was a running shot- Zach laughed in the hut thingy, his voice reverberated off the sides and freaked Liam out. It was so funny.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,

Merry, merry king of the bush is he,

Laugh, Kookaburra, Laugh, Kookaburra,

Gay your life must be. 

I LOVE Kookaburras. Of all the things I miss from Australia, these are the tippity, tippity, tippity top of that list. My school (I wanna say OUR because of Miss Lauren! Hi Lauren! Hope your arm is cast-free soon!!) in Perth, SMAGS, had two Kookaburras who made their nest in the bell tower of our chapel. It was FANTASTIC hearing them when we were in chapel. 

I love them with a fiery, burning passion.

After a busy beginning to the week, Liam and I have done a whole lot of nothing for the last couple of days and it has been glorious. 

My silly monkey has really enjoyed himself, can't you tell?

rewind

We had a very *good* week around here!

Monday, of course, was Valentine's Day. Zach and I had 9:30 reservations at P.F. Chang's in Sugar Land, and it was kind of nice, actually. We missed all the mooning high school kids, and while it was still busy, it wasn't like there were mobs of people everywhere.

I hesitated about posting the picture, though, because the neckline on my dress is messed up-- it's a square neck, the lining was folded out and I didn't notice. Boo. But we rarely take nice pictures of the two of us. And by rarely I mean practically never.

We spent the rest of the week being pretty lazy-- my mom and dad both worked Tuesday, Zach was off so we just hung around. Wednesday was more of the same. We spent the day in pajamas and played around the house. Liam loves nothing more than an afternoon spent with all of his cars, and I enjoy getting down on the floor and playing with him.  Thursday, my parents and I took Liam up to the Premium Outlets for the day and enjoyed being outside and out of the house.

Friday was busy and FUN, except for the very beginning. We had Liam's 18 month (1 month late) checkup at 8:30 in the morning. L is a big boy: he's 34.5 inches tall (99th percentile) and 30 pounds (90th percentile). Dr. Shaya was incredibly impressed by how strong he is, and he demonstrated by kicking the nurse in the gut with his thunder thighs when she gave him his shots. I felt bad, but it was her responsibility to hold his legs, after all. After we left the doctor, we headed to the mall to check out the City Flats at the Gap. My lady friends had all been raving, so I went to see what I could find. Due to the President's Day sale, I only paid $6.27 per pair! Considering they were $39.99 regular price, I was puh-leased. Then we headed to the park for our park playdate with Haley & Owen, Jacci & Scarlett, Taylor & Grayson & Gracie, and Haley & Haden. The kiddos had so much fun and it was nice to spend the afternoon outside.

Saturday, we spent the day at my parent's house. Liam got into his swim gear and played in the sprinkler. The kid loves water, y'all. He played with his Cozy Coupe, he played with his pushy Mater toy, he threw the balls for the dogs... My mom bought L a towel that pulls over his head- an anticipatory action for when my dad *finally* pulls the trigger on putting in his pool he wants. After we stripped him of his wet swim clothes, he ran around in his towel/cape for a while and loved every minute.

L also has a thing for getting IN dogs beds when they're in them. Not so much when the dog is elsewhere, but once a dog is in a dog bed, it's like moth to a flame. He cannot help himself. Cooper and Tucker BOTH got to experience this.

Playing 1-2-3 with Grandpa Ed.

Liam has been slowly, but surely, coming around to his ImagiNext toys-- Spike the dinosaur and Big Foot. Saturday night, I turned on Big Foot, gave L the remote and went to get my face cleaned up for bedtime. When I came out, L was feeding Big Foot. While he was on. Usually, he won't get within 10 feet of these toys when they're on. It was too cute. We then proceeded to play ball with Big Foot for about 20 minutes. Thank goodness these toys are finally getting some (little boy) playtime.

And THAT was our exciting week(end)-- hope you all had good ones too!