Yachting and a Visit

Last semester my mom was watching Will for us a few times a week while we were in school. It was a pretty hard goodbye for both of them when we had to pack up and go to Texas this summer. 14 weeks is a really long time in baby-years. We were all so excited when grandma said she couldn't take it any more and was going to come out to see us. When we picked her up from the airport there was not doubt whether will recognized her or not.

  

 

We haven't found a lot of touristy things to do in the area. One of the things we love to do is go to Galveston. We always make sure to ride the ferry to Bolivar and watch for dolphins. So naturally we took my mom along with us. We rode the ferry, went shopping on the Strand, and then took a look at some trees that had been carved into statues after being damaged by hurricanes.

 

Lucky for us grandma loves taking pictures, unfortunately for you...we don't have any of them yet. But we will try and post some more of grandma's visit later. We also visited the Kemah Boardwalk, did some shopping, and hung out in Houston a little. It was so nice to have her come down and spend time with us. We get pretty homesick being away from family and it gives us an extra boost when we have visitors.

 

One exciting development in the last few weeks has been Will's new teeth. It didn't take him long to learn to use them well. He gnaws on anything he can get a hold of including table legs. He is up to four solid teeth and working on a few more.

 

While grandma was here she was nice enough to watch Will while we went to a yacht dinner party for my work. We sailed out of League City close to Kemah and cruised out to the middle of Galveston Bay. We watched the sunset over the Kemah Boardwalk and had a great dinner. We also got to see a different wilder side of my co-workers. Free booze makes for an interesting boat ride.

Hippies in Austin

Adam had a couple days off over the 4th of July weekend, so we decided we should do something other than just sit around at home. So we went to Austin. 

Our first stop was the state capitol, which is actually bigger than the nation's capitol in D.C., so that was pretty cool to see. 

One of the highlights of our trip was watching the bats come out from under this bridge. There are millions of Mexican bats that all live under one bridge, and at dusk they all swarm out. There are so many bats that it takes hours for all of them to come out, and they turn into a stream of bats flying around the city. It's hard to see in the videos, but it was pretty cool.

Another thing we enjoyed about Austin was the food. They have a ton of food carts there, so we had a lot of fun finding the different carts and trying new things. Our favorites were a cuban sandwich and some gourmet doughnuts. Yum!

 A little while before we went to Austin, I had started researching cloth diapers. When I first heard of people using cloth diapers again (a couple years ago), I thought they were crazy! Haven't we evolved and come out with new technology to make diapering easier? But it turns out new technology has made cloth diapers better too! And so cute! So we went to check some out at a baby boutique while we were in Austin, and we decided to go for it!

The main reason we decided to switch (so you don't think we're crazy people who care about the planet or something...) is because of the cost difference. For future children, diapering will be practically free!

There are some cons of course. The up-front cost is higher, and they do make his bum bigger. They also have to be changed a little more often because Will is a very heavy wetter. But the laundry isn't bad, and the dirty diapers actually smell better because we flush the poo! And they really are so much cuter! So far cloth diapering is going great!

Daytripping and the Fourth of July

Turns out there's not as much to see in Texas as there is in New England... go figure. There are some fun things to do nearby though, so we've taken a few days to see what's around. 

When we were in Louisiana last fall, we accidentally took a ferry to Galveston. It was so much fun, that we decided to to go again. You can just ride across the bay and back as passengers, and it was really fun because there are dolphins all over. We love just hanging out on deck and watching for them. 

I didn't get any pictures, but we also went on a tree tour and to some cute shops while we were there.

We also took a day to go to the zoo. It was way too hot to be there, but Will just hung out in the stroller and chilled.

I wish someone would just push me around so I could lounge like that! lol

Adam, being the guy that he is, couldn't let us leave Texas without going to at least one sporting event, so we went to see the Astros play the Angels.

Will loved watching the game (until he got tired that is), and they play in an air conditioned dome so it was really cool and comfortable.

We decided to stick around the day of the fourth and avoid the holiday crowds. We did a little shopping, and then celebrated America with some Mexican food!

After dinner we went to see the fireworks in town. We weren't really sure where people watch them, so we ended up at Sonic, but it was a perfect view! Happy Fourth!