STOMP!

Originally uploaded by Lexy L.

A couple of weeks ago, Bill took Rhys downtown to see Stomp give a sneak peek performance in front of the Paramount. They were both in awe of the talent and energy of the performers. We all wished we could have seen one of the full performances, but it would have required the sale of a vital organ or two. So the (free) sneak peek was a good compromise!

After the show, Rhys got to meet the performers. He was also photographed for the newspaper and was visible in the crowd shot that appeared on the front of the Metro & State section of the paper. He was quite proud of his five minutes of fame!

Griffin's ER adventure

Griffin had his inaugural ER trip on Friday night. I'm sure it will be the first of many with our little daredevil! He and Rhys were in the bathtub and he leaned over the side and flipped over, landing on his chin on the tile. I was out picking up Avery from gymnastics, and when I came home (about an hour after it happened), it was still bleeding a bit. I was on the fence about whether or not he'd need stitches, but I decided I'd rather be safe than sorry, since it's on his face.

The ER visit was pretty uneventful, and they ended up just using Dermabond to close it since it wasn't very deep. He certainly wasn't happy about it. They swaddled him in a sheet so his arms were trapped and I held his body and the nurse held his head still. As soon as they wrapped him up, he started yelling, "Help! Heeeelp! Heeeeeeeeeeelp!" It was so sad...and maybe a little funny. ;-) They numbed it with lidocane ahead of time, so I don't think it hurt -- he just didn't want to be trapped! This really nice sherriff that I had been chatting with earlier came in when he started yelling, and was trying to rub his feet and calm him down. The whole thing lasted about two minutes. I hope all of his injuries are that easy!

Meanwhile, poor Rhys was at home feeling really guilty because apparently they had been playing some game where they leaned over the tub as far as they could. So he felt like it was his fault. But, after talking to him a bit, and after him seeing that Griffin is just fine, I think he's let himself off the hook. He has been busy telling everyone about Griffin's "ER adventure".

Never a dull moment!

Florida vacation

**For more pictures, click for my Florida Flickr album.**

Originally uploaded by Lexy L.

We just returned today from a week-long vacation in Destin, Florida. It was our first long road trip (12 hours), and it went better than we ever hoped.

We left last Monday night, and arrived in Destin at about 10 in the morning on Tuesday. We couldn't check into our condo until 3, so we killed time at Baytowne Wharf at the Sandestin Resort. We wandered around, ate, and window shopped. Later, we were able to check into our condo and visit the beach.

Most of the rest of our vacation was spent either at the beach or at one of the resort's swimming pools. The beaches in Destin are just beautiful. The water is a crystal clear blue-green color, and the sand really does look like sugar! Avery and Rhys were content to spend every minute of every day there at the beach. The had a great time "surfing" with their boogie-boards, swimming, and playing in the sand. Griffin, on the other hand, was less than thrilled with the beach. Although he loves the sandbox at home, he was quickly bored with the sand at the beach. And he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the surf. He was terrified of the waves coming onto the shore. His fear made the beach trip a little more complicated. We had no idea he'd be afraid! When we were in Galveston last September, he loved it. Oh, well...hopefully he'll be back to enjoying the beach next year. He did love the swimming pools, so it wasn't all a miss for Griffin.

We did take a break one morning for an outing to Seaside. Seaside is the most picturesque little town. It is small and designed to be pedestrian and bike friendly, and cars are only allowed on certain streets. The houses are all painted in cheerful beach colors, and the lush foliage-filled yards are bordered with quaint picket fences. There is a really neat art district and great little shops. We were really taken with the character of this little town. We hope to go back for a future vacation.

We left Destin on Sunday morning, and drove to Pensacola Beach, where we met some friends that happened to be vacationing in Florida at the same time that we were! It was quite a treat to be able to visit with friends on vacation! We visited with them for a while, watched some fishing on the Gulf's longest fishing pier, and ate lunch on the beach. After lunch, we left our friends and drove to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. Rhys had fallen asleep in the car and was quite grouchy at first to be woken up. But he changed his tune quickly when he saw all the planes! It was really impressive, and all three kids had a great time there.

After the museum, we hit the road. We drove 5 hours from Pensacola to Lafayette, Louisiana, with one short stop for dinner in Alabama. We arrived at our hotel at close to midnight, but the kids easily moved from sleeping in their carseats to sleeping in the hotel room. Unfortunately, it was a short night, as Griffin woke everyone up at 5, when he decided it was morning. So, after a quick breakfast, we were back on the road and we made it home in early afternoon. We are sorry that our vacation is over, but we were glad to pick up Jasper (our doggie). We all missed him and the cats tons!