I was so brave....you should be proud.

Peer pressure can make you do a lot of crazy things.

I don't think I've given into peer pressure in a very, very long time. But when we were down in Corpus Christi, it got the best of me.

My entire life I've been pretty passionate about my DISLIKE for SEAFOOD of any type. Call me crazy. Yes, I know. I've heard it all, especially from my family. I've also had many people try to convince me otherwise and people who would even offer to pay me money to just take a small taste.  Every now and then I will, and each and every time it's confirmed my DISLIKE.

A few weeks ago, I heard all the same things again, trying to convince me that I should try seafood.

With Corpus Christi being right on the ocean, of course there were TONS of seafood restaurants. I usually don't have a problem going to any of those places. I usually just order something with chicken. However, the peer pressure of everyone convinced me that I needed to try fresh seafood, cooked just the right way. Jane and Josh (Stephen's co-workers) did some research and found a local joint.

They decided that I needed to try a local cajun crawfish boil, which neither Stephen or I had ever been to. I didn't quite know what I was in for. But thought I'd give it a try. I think I shocked the pants off Stephen, when I told them I'd actually do it.  I decided to be brave and not order chicken. A few moments after they took our order, they came out with a big silver bowl and dumped our food right onto our table. Then handed everyone a wooden mallet.

The Before

Do you see that look on my face??? The "what did I do, now I've got to eat this stuff" look....

The Verdict???

Well...I would have to say using that wooden mallet was kind-of fun. The crab meat was actually good. I could eat that again...but it sure was a lot of work for very little meat. The shrimp...not so much. I think it was more psychological about ripping the head off and seeing those black little eyes stare back at me. The crawfish...well, they actually were all out of crawfish that night, so we just got extra of everything else. Guess I'll have to try that another time.

The After

Here's proof to my family that I did in fact eat shrimp and crab.

One Last note......speaking of food. We had so much good food on this trip!
In San Antonio, we decided to try a local place that was seen on the Food Network show Diner's Drive-in & Dives. It was called the Magnolia Pancake Hau. I got this 

 Munchener Apfel Pfannekuchen 

 Can't pronounce it, but all I know was it was pure heaven- an apple cinnamon fritter pancake. I could have put ice cream on the top and called it dessert. So yummy!

Also, one thing I've learned about Texas is they deep fry EVERYTHING! So far I've tried deep fried okra, mushrooms, Texas toothpicks (jalapenos), pickles, cornbread,  zucchini, and macaroni & cheese. Can't wait to go to the Texas State Fair in a few weeks and try some more deep fried goodness!

The Deep fried Mac & Cheese is actually a new favorite.  

Summer can't be over yet?

Even though September is coming to an end. I haven't felt like summer is really over. Maybe it's because I don't have kids in school or I'm not going back to school myself teaching. Maybe it's because we spent the first half of the summer moving and getting settled in our new house. Or maybe it's the fact that we live in Texas now and it really doesn't start to cool off until the end of September. Whatever the reason is, we had to get in one last vacation. We decided to see some of the great state of Texas, drive down eight hours to Corpus Christi, rent a beach house in Port Aransas and most importantly RELAX.

This was a much needed get-a-way for BOTH Stephen and I. We didn't start off on the right foot though, as Stephens car broke down about 3 miles from our house. Oh wait...it actually broke down about 40 miles from our house, but someone was anxious to get home and start his vacation. So he kept driving as far as he could. He almost made it home.  But we still had to wait over an hour for a tow truck, with the other car pack ready to go.

With that minor bump we were ready to leave.

First stop. San Antonio, Texas
We spent the weekend with two of Stephen's co-workers who are in the same rotational  program with AT&T. One of them was transferred to Dallas and drove down with us.  The other has her assignment in San Antonio. Where we met up and she was kind enough to let us crash at her house for a night. Both Josh and Jane were so great to help with Andrew and put up with a cranky baby as he didn't always get his naps.

The first night we drove downtown and did a "Taste of the River Walk" for dinner. The River walk is one of my favorite parts of San Antonio. It really comes to life at night and is a beautiful river that runs underneath the city with a bunch a restaurants and shops that line it. We bought a pass where we had tickets to 12 different restaurants and we could sample a small dish from each. We really got to see the river walk from one end to the other. The only problem was...this place was not "stroller friendly" and there were a TON of stairs! Thanks to Josh for helping us carry the stroller every 10 minutes up and down the stairs.

The next day we decided to head to the San Antonio Zoo. I always love the zoo and seeing the animals. I think this is the 4th time Andrew's been to the zoo and each time he is enthralled with a different animal. This time he loved feeding the fish and seeing them swarm towards the food. It was pretty funny.

After a fun afternoon, we headed down to basically the farthest you can get before hitting Mexico. Port Aransas was on a beautiful island out in the Gulf of Mexico.

We were taking a risk going right during hurricane season. Thankfully no hurricane, but the first morning we did wake up to lightening, thunder and pouring rain. All of the homes and most of the business are built on stilts. It's a pretty awesome sight.

So we took advantage of the weather, took a ferry and went into the city of Corpus Christi. We spent a few hours touring the Lexington Aircraft Carrier. It was in operation from 1942-1993...almost 50 years. It was amazing to see all the different areas and how it operated. Very Interesting. With all the airplanes....Stephen was in heaven.

Since we were right there we walked over and spent the afternoon at the Texas State Aquarium. This was probably my favorite Aquarium of all time. You were able to get up close with so many different animals. It was right on the bay too, so you could see a lot of animals in their natural habitat. My favorite was definitely the dolphin show, where we got soaking wet.

The weather cleared up enough and we were able to get in a few hours at the beach. It was a fun day, but we were certainly ready for bed.


The next day was all about the beach and playing in the ocean. We still didn't have blue sky, but that didn't stop us. We rented a few kayaks and played in the bay most of the morning. I think we would have done it longer, but poor Andrew didn't like wearing a life jacket. I sat in the front and tried to keep him happy most of the time by singing songs and playing games, while Stephen sat in the back and rowed the entire time. Thanks sweetheart! Nonetheless, we enjoyed exploring and seeing the area.

Then off to the beach. The water was warm and we had a blast playing in the waves. Andrew is all about walking. That's all he wants to do these day and it was no different at the beach. Walking and water....his two most favorite things. I think he was in heaven. He walks along by holding your fingers. So we went back and forth and back and forth hundreds of times. I tried to see if he'd maybe get interested in the sand, to give my back a break. But after a few handfuls went into the mouth...it was back to walking. :)

Family Photo :)

That night,  we had a little football party. Watched the USC vs. Stanford and the BYU vs. Utah game. We had quite the set-up.

Headed home early the next morning and was so incredibly grateful that this little guys slept in the car. This is a rare occurrence in our household. He  N.E.V.E.R falls asleep in the car. We wore him out and literally went non-stop for five days.

This last week has still be in the 90's at our house most everyday. I think I'm still in denial that summer has come to an end....and that's okay with me! I'm loving this "fall" weather!

Fun with Cousins

You just can't beat spending time with cousins. We've really been lucky to live just a few hours away from my brother in Houston and have seen his darling family a bunch of times this summer. Andrew has loved playing with his Texas cousins! He'd only met them once before. Right after he'd gotten out of the hospital. They couldn't believe how much he's grown up, yet they still call him "baby Andrew". I love it! He just might have that nickname 'till he goes to school. :)

These two are 8 months apart and are best little buds. They follow each
other around and climb all over each other. It's so darling! 

Once again.....where one is, the other is close by.

Enjoyed the most DE-Lish-OUS snow cones ever on the face of the
earth....trust me. It's becoming a tradition when we visit Houston. We
go out of the way to get us some.

Enjoying a yummy way to cool off!

The Four Texas Dent Cousins!

These two wanted to catch a squirrel and set up a trap outside our window.
Little did we know that peanut butter and Ritz crackers
would also bring the local opossum around. 

Red Solo Cups = Hours of entertainment on the kitchen floor

It always more fun with a friend

I don't know what was more exciting.....making the fort or watching the movie in it.
I love that little guy. 

Like two peas in a pod. They were entertained by the
big kids jumping on the tramp and playing games. 

Vampire Teeth

We've been through the wonderful phase of teething again and some of Andrew's top teeth are starting to poke through. FINALLY.... now that he's almost 18 months old. We have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I was hoping he could start eating more types of food, with only two bottom teeth it sometimes can make things a bit difficult. But alas....not quite yet and this is why.

Need a closer look?

Um, don't be mistaken....I think Andrew didn't quite get the memo. Where are those two middle teeth? It's pretty hard to chew food and take bites without those teeth.

We might have to do some early celebrating of Halloween around our house.

This little smile melts my heart every time! 

Dallas World Aquarium

When you get in the car with Stephen, you never know where you are going to end up. After a few Saturday morning chores around the house a few weeks ago, we decided to do just that. Get in the car and head out. Today's adventure was the Dallas World Aquarium. 

We had a great time! Although being the weekend before school started there were TONS of people and it was pretty crowed. Despite all the people, we saw some pretty amazing animals. All in all we had a fun spontaneous afternoon at the aquarium, followed by some dinner at a delicious local BBQ joint. We have now decided that our next stop needs to be Sea World, since we only live a few hours away. Here's just a few pictures of our last minute get-a-way on a laid-back-nothing-to-do-kind-of-Saturday. These don't happen very often at our house and we had to take advantage. 

Saw some neat animals....more than just fish! 

Andrew and I chillin' with the penguins

Andrew's favorite were the sea otters. He was
able to get right up close and loved
seeing them splash and play in the water. 

Beautiful fish

I loved the color of the flamingos! 

A tired boy ready to crash.