It ain't just about the pictures

As I was lying down to read some books with Emily and Jackson tonight, it dawned on me that our lack of posting to this blog is not acceptable.  Somehow with the allure of FaceBook, I have been kidding myself into thinking that sharing photos is enough.  Pictures are worth a thousand words, but there is no substitute for the context behind all of those wonderful images.

Jackson can read... really well.  I constantly try to find things to stump him with because he can read just about anything.  Whether it is a book to Emily or pronunciation of "El Jarrito", J-Man rarely encounters a word he can't pick out.  T-Ball is the latest craze and Jackson loves playing with Davis, Connor, Walker, and the rest of his team.  Yousef and Nadu are his buds at school, and Emerson is almost literally the girl next door.

Emily is growing up to be quite a little princess.  As much as she loves pink and playing dress-up, she doesn't take any guff from Jackson or anyone else for that matter.  Ballet is teaching her coordination, and she loves having fun with her friends Jenna and Tinsley at school.  That cute little 2-year old smile continues to melt Daddy's heart and every day she amazes me with her wonderful spirit.

As a family, we have been quite busy lately.  We try to save up our energy during the week as the weekends seem to be the most hectic.  Recent fun has included Easter egg hunts, crawfish boils, T-Ball games, bike rides, playing golf in our "front yard", and other spring time activities.  Last weekend Nana came to town and we had a great fun-filled weekend.

Speaking of the grandparents, I got to see my Pops a few weeks ago when attending some conferences in Palm Springs and San Diego.  We're also planning to take part in Fiesta activities this year in San Antonio which we haven't been very active in the past few years with the kids being so young.

There are so many memories swirling around in my head that I can't capture them all, but I felt the need to capture at least a few.  Each day, these kids are growing up so ridiculously fast, and no digital collection of pixels can accurately capture this amazing experience.

2008 Ocean B-Day Party Cruise

The 2nd year of the combined birthday party weekend went extremely well.  As you may know, Jackson and Emily share the same birthday: May 23rd.  So for Emily's 2nd and Jackson's 4th birthdays this year we wanted to do another dual party.  Last year it was Jackson on Saturday and Emily on Sunday, but this year we combined the entire set of festivities into one awesome boat ride out into the Gulf of Mexico.  Partly this was because the themes complimented each other (Jackson wanted a pirate birthday and Emily wanted a mermaid birthday - that works, right).  The other major reason was that every day in late May was precious as we had to be out of our Spur Branch house on May 30th!

We met at the Endeavor Marina early Saturday morning to shove off for our voyage.  Don't believe anyone who tells you I was late.  It was 9:26 when I pulled in, 4 minutes early -- long story :(. 

Anyhew, we were really grateful that so many of our friends and family were able to make the trip as the Marina is up to an hour from many people's homes.  The boat tour took us past the Kemah Boardwalk, and just barely out into Galveston Bay. 

After the cruise we had lunch and opened presents on the boat in the marina.  There was also some swashbuckling mayhem once we gave out the pirate sword party favors.  The girls were much more civilized with their sea animal stamp pads.

It was the first time on a boat for many of these young pirates and mermaids, and we hope it will be a memory that they all carry with them for years to come.  Thanks again to our friends and family that helped make this year's birthday a boatload of fun :)

 

 

To see all pictures from the event, check out our album on SnapFish:

 

For those geographically inclined individuals, here is a virtual earth bird's eye view of the marina.

All aboard from Endeavor marina on Clear Lake

Shamu! Shamu!

This past weekend we followed Angel's school choir to Sea World in San Antonio to watch them perform and have a fun day at the park.  The kids had a blast, although Jackson was upset he wasn't tall enough to go on the Steel Eel with Daddy :)

   

Jackson and Emily were grinning ear to ear as we went from the penguins, to see the sharks and dolphins.

   

The dolphin pool let the kids get up close and personal with some friendly porpoises.

   

And of course, what Sea World trip would be complete without a Shamu show!

   

No other album from Sea World.  These were most of the good pictures we got so I went ahead and just posted them all up here on the blog.

Why Can't Emily Sleep In!?!

So it is 8:30am on Saturday morning and Emily and I have been kickin' it for about 2 hours now. She has a habit of waking up at around 6 or 6:30am on the weekends, and that means either Angel or I is up entertaining her for a couple of hours before the world starts their day. Usually it is Angel, but since I am proud of my pre-dawn accomplishment I thought I would blog about it.

No pictures today, just anecdotes and stories. I realize that in the furvor to post the latest and best pictures, I have neglected to include some important details about our growing family. Like the fact that Emily endearingly refers to Jackson as "Bubba". Like the fact that Jackson is reading much better than just being able to identify a Bank of America logo. Like the fact that Emily and Jackson are not at the same day care anymore.

Let's start with Emily. As I have mentioned before, she is very much enamored with Jackson and wants to be just like him. She will copy just about everything he does whether it is laughing, climbing on the furniture, pouting, asking for milk, or hugging and kissing Mama. Of course, none of this should imply that Emily is on board with all of Mom and Dad's decisions. When we change her diaper or give her a bath, for example, it is hit or miss whether or not she is going to decide to let it happen. She is very independent and has strong convictions if she isn't in the mood for something. This strong personality seems to translate into her day care class as we have been told that she is a natural leader for the other kids. They all look up to her and help clean up whenever she is on board, etc. She loves brushing her teeth, and gives the best hugs, kisses, and especially nosies.

Jackson calls out "I just need to get my shirt, OK. I'll be right back" as he darts off to get ready to go to the store. Today is a big day because we are going to the store to get T-Shirts. We need to have just the right colors to iron on our matching Yo Gabba Gabba iron ons. Jackson has a great imagination, and has tagged each of the family members as one of the cast of YGG. Even though I wanted to be Muno, that is the dancing alien persona that Jackson has claimed. He informed us that Emily is Foofa, the bright-eyed flower picking one. Mom is Toodee, and Dad is Plex. Since there are 5 YGG cast members (excluding DJ lance), and only 4 Texas Batemans, we asked who should be Brobee? "Um.... Grandpa Orren", Jackson replies with a look of satisfaction on his face like he just completed organizing the last colorful square of a rubik's cube.

            

So, we are finishing up breakfast now, and are about to head out for some errands. "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."