Kirchy's go to the beach

 I was pretty determined to get to the beach this summer... we had made plans to go on an anniversary trip to the beach, but things just didn't work out. So, when Aubree made State and we learned it was being held in College Station, we decided to made the extra 2ish hour trip to Galveston for the weekend. We were over 1/2 way there, so why not!

We got in late the night before, but the kids were up nice and early the next day, ready to go!

We headed out to find a sunny spot on a beach somewhere.

Of course we drove past the Pier and they wanted to stay there all day...

The water is always super cold at first. But that didn't deter them for long.... soon enough they were swimming way out, much farther than my mommy heart could take!

The kids spent a good amount of time working on sand castles. 

My phone takes panorama pictures! 

I'm a sit-on-the-beach kind of beach lover.... I've never been big on swimming in anything but a pool. Too many scary movies, maybe? The creature from the black lagoon is surely going to grab my foot and pull me under. So, working on my tan and reading my book was bliss.

Bald guys don't fare so well in the sun... that beautiful noggin was quite burnt by the end of the day!

Aubree goes to State

This summer, Aubree qualified to go to a Regional A swim meet. At that meet, she swam 3 events. Out of those 3 events, she was DQ'd (not Dairy Queened...tho that would be nice... disqualified) for 2 of them because of a kick issue... but she qualified in her 50 free to move on to STATE.

So, we drove down to the State games in College Station. What a fun experience for our lil Aube!

It was overcast, thank goodness... if the sun would have been out, we would have been toast!

College Station is just a few hours drive... Grandma and Grandpa joined us for Aube's big day.

And San Antonio was only a few hours drive, so Emily, Jed & Ollie came to see her swim, too!!

It's crazy awesome having family so close!

Since she was only swimming one event (there she is in the green suit, right in the middle!) we were there for maybe an hour! And her swim time was less that 40 seconds! But hey, we were so proud of her, we would have been there to watch her swim for 1 second.

You could tell she was nervous... but she did such a great job.
Her final standing was 22 out of 45.

She's the 22nd fastest girl in the state of Texas. How cool is that??

Especially since this is the girl who didn't want to be on swim team. Go Aubree, go!

Afterwards, we spent some time exploring a nearby park. Uncle Jed disappeared for a good chunk of time and came back with this beautiful flower crown for Aube. So sweet!

After the kids played for a bit, we found a fun little pizza place that had all different kinds of pizza and was super yummy!

Then we said goodbye to family... and kept driving south to Galveston Island.
We got to our hotel on the beach after dark.... just in time to see some fireworks in the distance.

Fitz & the Tantrums



James has a weird (but awesome) knack of winning things. Over the years of our marriage, he's won random things, including Cowboys tickets and concert tickets. This summer, on July 24th, we headed to the House of Blues in Dallas to enjoy a concert with tickets he had won.

We went early to get some dinner at the restaurant part of House of Blues.

The waiter suggested we try this shrimp diablo yumminess from heaven. It was truly divine. The picture, as always, doesn't do it justice.

Since we were so early, we were able to take our time and enjoy our meal. It's always nice to have time to just hang out with your spouse.

I had only vaguely heard of Fitz & the Tantrums. A few days before the concert, I downloaded an album of theirs so I'd be familiar with their music.

Well.

I love that album. It's catchy, fun music... not the regular ole stuff you hear on the radio. If you want something upbeat and fun to listen to ....go take a listen to More Than Just a Dream.

You're welcome.

 

Our tickets allowed us to line up early and get a good spot. They were general admission... which meant we stood the ENTIRE night. I'm a little too old for that, but the music was so great that it was worth it! We stood RIGHT in front tho.... like at the barrier in front of the stage.

There's something magical about being so close to the artists at a concert... seeing their facial expressions, their mannerisms.... their sweat, holy gross. It makes it so fun and so real.

The opening act was Matt (or Max?? idk) Stone.
He was showing off some mad skills... playing 2 guitars at a time.

Fitz did not disappoint. I didn't know what exactly to expect going into this concert. But I don't know when I've had so much fun. It wasn't just good music and the lights and whatever... it was FUN. Seriously... their music is so upbeat....Fitz & Noelle, the leads, put on a fantastic, high-energy show.
It's safe to say this was, by far, my most favorite concert I've been to.

Fitz....Michael Fitzpatrick is the lead... he's just fantastic with that white stripe in his hair and his hipster jeans. He started the band in 2008....at 38 years old. For some reason this is so crazy to me.... in my mind, bands are started by teenagers in their garage. But this dude was older than James when he purchased an old electronic organ and wrote a song, then formed a band. What luck, right? Made me think that our "dream" to have a family band isn't so far-fetched because we're so "old". heh.

Such a fun, memorable night. So so glad James won these tickets!

Now I'll forever be singing in my head....

Give me a sledgehammer and give me strength

Watch the world come crumbling down

Cut me loose I seek the truth

I bet the freedom, the freedom will carry me

Hey! Break the walls!!!

Rangers game

James' work provides us with some seriously sweet seats. When they're available, we make sure to take advantage and sometimes bring some friends. The seats are behind home plate and maybe 4 rows back. 

 

  Sometimes we get lucky and have celebrity sightings. One game we saw Pudge Rodriguez. Luckily, Danielle was with us that game, too, and let us know who he was! 
This game, the Band Perry sat in front of us. They're my favorite and have been from the very beginning. I was definitely fan-girling. The sister is married to a Ranger, which is why they were in attendance.

Since I'm a big fan....I thought it would be awesome to get an autograph. I've never gotten an autograph before, I've never actually met a celebrity, so this was nerve-wracking. Especially when FRED came at my with his hand out like that, making me feel like I was going to attack them. Like, no dude...I just wanted to say hi. Fred isn't my favorite anyways - he always seems to ignore my family when we go to games. But the three of them didn't mind and signed my random piece of paper. 

Grammy and Papa visit.

When Aubree made Regionals, Papa and Grammy booked a flight to come see her (and possibly Bella) swim. They said they invited themselves... but of course we were SO happy to have them come spend time with us! It had been awhile since we had seen them, and we were all SO excited! Since the girls are in school, swim, and so many other things.... we don't make it up to Minnesota as often as we have in the past.

We all still fit in one car!

The night they arrived, we went to dinner at Benihana....seems to be a tradition (nice and expensive tradition, ahem). We went there the last time they visited.
On the way home, someone noticed this place of business.....CHIN hair design (not just year regular ole hair design!!!) I've driven this road hundreds of times.... and have never seen it, tho you know it's been there for ages!
Hilarious.



On Saturday, we all got up super early.... some earlier than others ;). And went to watch Aubrey swim in McKinney. She was in the very first session.... started at 8am and so she was done by 1130! It's custom for the swimmer who shaves the most time off her swim to pick the place to eat. But either way... both of our swimmers ALWAYS pick Golden Corral. I keep hoping they move on to somewhere like Olive Garden or Texas Roadhouse.... or even Chili's! Ha! Buffet's are great.... but then not so great at the same time. Swimmer's choice, tho..... James says if I beat them in a race, I can pick the food.... so since that will never happen..... Golden Corral it is!
Later that day, we went to see Maleficent. Daddy, Grammy & Papa hadn't seen it, and the girls & I were more than happy to see it for a 2nd time. We love that movie!
Jax, however, either had too much excitement that day.... or just doesn't think Angelina Jolie all that interesting. Or maybe Papa's lap is just that comfortable!

We spent Sunday afternoon/evening playing games... the kids joined in this time, which is a first. It's odd having older kids who can actually COUNT and keep up with the game. The girls just love being included, too. I hope we can instill our love for games in our children and that they'll pass on their love to their kids!
Jax joined in on our Yahtzee game.... he had a blast throwing those dice! Or maybe it was the "YAY!!!!" he got after each roll. heh.

We played a grueling game of Racko (my fave game.... tho I always lose!)
The competitive crew:

Monday..... Grammy & Papa's flight didn't leave till later that day... so we decided to take advantage of a discount ticket day and take them to Six Flags.
Probably not the best idea to take 1 Minnesotans out on a humid, hot Texas day! They melt!! (I kid, y'all were great troopers.... tho I did think you might die a few times, just pass out right there!)
The weekend before had been SO NICE. The weather had definitely shifted by Monday tho.... hot with a kickin' side of humid.
But we made the best of it...

A morning routine....I may have brought out my ittybitty surface just to take this picture. I mean.... do "work" like them. James' face totally looks like he's "working". I don't see any stapling going on, m'dear!

After Six Flags, we made a quick stop at our favorite Sno Cone place....Steph's Chillville. When I say favorite, I mean FAVORITE (the other day we were looking around some neighborhoods in Aledo- 45 mins away from home- and I tried to convince the girls we should stop at this other sno cone place, and they refused! Wanted to wait for our favorite one! Crazy kids....I digress....)
The kids wanted to show Grammy & Papa their fave place.

The morning after Grammy & Papa left, Jax brought me the photo book with Papa on the back corner.... he had already asked 5 times if we were driving to their house that day.
Then he says to me: Papa has to wear floaties like me, that's ok, he can swim with me.

His little voice gave away that he was a little sad they weren't here anymore.... it's hard to not have everyone you love around you at all times.... it's so hard to understand WHY that can't happen.

At times like these, even tho there's only 16 hours separating us.... it's good to know we are a forever family. Such a small moment, made eternal with the knowledge we have and covenants we've made.