Guess I'm lucky I didn't forget my kids...

Happy 4th Birthday, Brendan!!!

I let Brendan pick out his birthday cake this year...he was very adamant about having the army tank...and as it turns out, it's a transformer--two gifts in one!!!...Way to go, B!!!

We went on our family vacation recently...I left early with the kiddos and headed down to Round Rock...we got there at 8pm on Monday May 28th...and by 11pm, Brendan was running 103+ fever...the fever lasted 2 or 3 days (it's all a blur to me)...after the fever he was very lethargic and whiny (I can say that, right??...I'm his mom!?!).

Our original plan was to have Kelly drive his truck down down on either Friday or Saturday (so that we could haul some rocks back from my parents' house...a story all in itself)...while we were gone, he was working on our shower that we destroyed (not really, just took it apart all the way to the studs) in Feb 2006...he was planning to lay the rest of the tile and grout...well, to make a long story short, the truck broke down...as in wouldn't start AT ALL!!!...lucky for him & us, it only broke down about a block & a half away from our house...and with the help of some friendly neighbors, the truck was pushed back to the house... He was able to secure a rental vehicle and with the one-way fee, it only cost us about $65...the truck, on the other hand, still hasn't moved...but I'll tell you more about why not in a minute.

So, let's see... Kelly gets to RRock Friday sometime...then on Saturday, we had lunch with Kelly's mom, aunt Melissa (who flew in from Pennsylvania), and his grandpa from San Antonio...then Sunday after church we had Brendan's b-day party...by this time, he's feeling better...the party was absolutely great!!!...especially b/c all I really had to do was provide the cake! Thanks, Grannie & Pappie for hosting & for Grandma T & Thomas for providing the protein!! We had a great turn out: my sister, Aunt Britani, and her husband, Uncle Brian showed up (from TN), my little sister, Opal, and her daughter, "Cousin Kayla" or "Kayna" as the boys say it, Grannie & Pappie (my parents), Grandma T (Kelly's mom), Papa (Kelly's dad), Uncle BJ (Kelly's brother, Brian), Grandma Margaret & Grandpa Dale, and Uncle Jeff... I have to be honest and say that it was SOOO hot & humid...we were all so sweaty & gross...except for the kiddos... they stayed cool by playing in the pool. I had bought a cool motorcycle pinata for B....Sorry, Aunt Holly Weckwerth, I think it looks like a Harley, but can't guarantee it!! :) Brendan got all sorts of cool things...and I'd LOVE to post pictures, but as it turns out, I've left my camera cable at my mom's house...it wasn't the only thing that I left there that I feel is VERY important...I also left my cell phone charger cable...so....I haven't had a cell phone in a couple of days...I feel SOOOO disconnected!!!...is that pathetic or what??? The good news is that I didn't' forget to bring the boys home with me!! Ha, ha!!

Ok, back to my story...about the time that B was feeling better on Sunday, Corbin came down with a fever...same thing as Brendan...same symptoms & duration...the only problem was this: Kelly left Sunday afternoon with my Dad, sister Britani, and her husband, Brian, to go deep sea fishing...they returned on Monday night...the next day (while Corbin was still sick), we (us & the boys, Brit & Brian) went to Schlitterbahn (I know, I'm a bad mom...but we had already bought the tickets and couldn't refund them, was on vacation...yada yada yada...you know how it goes)...anywho, it turned out to be an amazing time!!! We mainly stayed in the kiddie area...which was perfect for me...for those who don't know me, it turns out that the older I get the more motion sick I get...and I mean BAD motion sick...so I pretty much couldn't do anything that moved in any other direction except straight forward... I can honestly say that I still had a blast!!!

We spent the night that night in TLF on Lackland AFB and the next day we went to Sea World (military gets in for free)...and boy were we thankful that it was free...it was SOOO HOT and we were past exhaustion... and I failed to mention earlier that when B got sick, I also got a really bad chest cold (that STILL hasn't gone away!!)...so I was hacking & hacking & hacking some more, the boys were cranky, I was more than irritable, and Kelly was doing what he does best...trying to hold us all together... Needless to say, Sea World was a short day...we stayed about 3 hours...long enough to see Shamu...Brendan wailed (I'm not exaggerating) when we left Shamu...he was soooo disappointed (combined with being exhausted) that he couldn't stand the let-down. Meanwhile, I noticed that Corbin was getting pink eye (this is only his 3rd time to have it...I'm turning into an expert at early detection...ha, ha!).

So...as we were fixing to head out into rush hour S.A. traffic, I got a message on my cell from my sister...she and her husband had been upgraded to a super fancy suite in the hotel they were staying in (FOR FREE) on the Riverwalk...and did we want to join them???.....YES!!!!...although we were dying to go home, anything sounded better than sitting in S.A. traffic for hours!!! The hotel was amazing and it was a perfect end to what seemed like a possibly imperfect vacation.

We drove back to RRock the next morning and Kelly helped his mother with her A/C unit...and I made the split decision to drive on home to Abilene...we got home around 11pm-ish. It was a long day, but definitely worth coming on home.

For some reason, I woke up on Friday raring to go...I started a gazillion tasks and finished a few. Sunday we went to church and then lunch with the Waterhouse's as John was scheduled to deploy the next day...we went to small group that night and left a little early b/c the boys were obviously still tired from the vacation. I went to bed early with the boys and Kelly woke up around 11pm with a horrible stomach bug--diarrhea, vomiting, fever...yuck!!! Today is Thursday and though he is still weak, I think he's finally over it!

I know I've rambled and I hate that I don't have many pictures to post (unless I can sneak some off my sister's website--hee hee!!)...but I wanted to share with you how fun our vacation was and what we've been up to the last few weeks.
Love & Hugs, Candace
P.S...we still don't have a date yet, but do know that it's only about a month until Kelly deploys...

Here's Brendan trying to hit the pinata
(Uncle Brian is the one in the back trying to
frustrate him...hee, hee!)

Here's Brendan, Corbin, & Cousin Kayla in the pool...

Here's Cousin Kayla while still having fun in the pool...
she was the only one that would wear the goggles!!

And here's Cousin Kayla after swimming in the
pool...isn't she tooo cute???

Here's me thieving this precious picture of my
adorable neice, Kayla, off my sister's website---
they were just too cute not to share with yall!!