Summer 2010

We had loads of fun this summer. Our summer started out by a visit from our niece, Brianna. She flew down from Utah to stay with us for a week and then rode with us to Utah. We did a lot of fun things while Brianna was here.

We went on a tour of the Galveston Bay. We rode in a boat that had two decks. Even though the day was really hot, you could not feel it because there was always a breeze. The weather was really nice once you got out into the bay.

While on the tour we passed the Del Monte boat. The captain of our tour boat told us that this ship comes in every Monday from Central America with a full load of freshly picked bananas. We could definitely smell them as we passed the boat. We were able to see those huge cranes lift out huge crates of bananas. Brisa had fun looking through her binoculars to find the dolphins. You really didn't need the binoculars, the dolphins were popping up all over the place. Some came really close to the boat.

Here's a video of a family of dolphins we found.



We also found some shrimp boats. We saw one coming in from the ocean being chased by seagulls. Later that week we went to visit downtown Houston. We went to the JP Morgan Chase tower which is the tallest building in Houston. You can up to the 60th floor which has an observation lobby. On the way up you can ride this lovely elevator and have fun with your reflection on the elevator doors.
The view was gorgeous! We were able to see all of downtown Houston. We could see so many building and freeways. We could see for many miles.

We were also able to take a picture of the downtown aquarium, which was our next destination.

We went into the aquarium which had many beautiful exhibits. I thought it was interesting that the aquarium had a Bengal Tiger exhibit. I guess their just trying to help these beautiful creatures. The exhibit was beautiful, there was only a pane of glass separating you from the tiger and the tiger kept walking by. We were able to see it up close.

They have 4 tigers but only one of them was interested in Brisa.

Kody was having fun fighting with this tiger.

Right outside the aquarium you can find some fun rides and games. We rode the ferris wheel which is next to I-45. When you go up you are next to the free way.

We were able to see the cars drive next to us.

There is also a train ride at the aquarium. It was really fun, especially when this huge shark jumped out of a little pond. We were not expecting this nice recreation of "Jaws." We got splashed with water at the same time. It was really fun.

After a long day in Houston we played in the water fountains at the aquarium. It felt really good since the day was really hot. Even Ayva got a chance to play with the fountains. She kept trying to catch the water.
Well, we went to Utah for the month of July but you will notice that there are no pictures of this trip. Well, I guess I would be at fault for no pictures. I ended up getting pneumonia in Utah so we ended up staying home. I was basically quarantined to the basement by my lovely husband because he did not want me to get anyone else sick. So no pretty Utah pics this time.

On our road trip back home I took this funny picture of Ayva watching Dora and drinking her bottle. We hung the DVD player from the car seats handle. This didn't last long because she kept trying to grab the characters on the screen which caused the DVD player to slide off the handle. There have been many changes this summer with our little girls.

Ayva has finally found her knees. She kept doing push ups, like so. She would go up on her little does but now she pulls up her knees and rocks back and forth. She still hasn't figured out how to crawl. Instead she pushes herself back with her arms.

Ayva has also started eating better. She likes her foods and doesn't fight us much anymore.
Brisa has also grown. We went shopping for shoes and found that her foot grew 2 shoe sizes over the summer. In May her foot size was a 10, she is now wearing size 12. What happened to 11?

And in these last 10 days Brisa has managed to lose 3 teeth. The tooth fairy is getting tired of visiting us. We also realized that the tooth fairy accidentally gave Brisa $5 for her last tooth. We were surprised to see the $5 the next morning. Oh well, the tooth fairy will be a little short on money for grocery shopping.

Poor Brisa, she has a hard time eating foods. It will be nice once they all come back. She is currently missing 4 teeth in the front and has lost a total of 7 teeth 3 of which have grown in completely and 1 still working on coming out.

Well, that was our summer. I hope everyone else had fun as well.