Harvey...

Wow, what a mess! The hurricane was predicted to come right through the Houston area, and as always we prepared a little bit. We got some water, extra food, and our generator working. Nobody really expected it to be as bad at is was. The rains came, and they never left. It just kept raining and raining and raining. We were so incredibly lucky throughout the whole situation. We never lost electricity. The waters ended up flooding houses only about 3/4 mile away from us. We were watching high water rescues happening all over town. People were using boats and kayaks to rescue people all over town. It was so scary. I never really panicked except for one night when there were people all over our neighborhood app asking for immediate rescue! It was scary because you never just knew what was going to happen. Houses were fine one minute, and then had water creeping in the next! In the end, we had quite a few friends houses that flooded, the girls' school flooded, and our YMCA flooded. Even though things in our lives changed a little bit, I am so grateful that our house was fine. After the flood waters receded, people were all over the neighborhood helping others and doing what they could. One night, I went down to the Red Cross shelter down at George R. Brown. It was so heartbreaking! There were so many families down there that had made their own little "homes" out of the cots and blankets they were given. There were people with their pets and older people all alone. It was so sad to see how hopeless their situations seemed.

The First Day of School That Never Was...

Well, as excited as we were for school to start, we had to wait. Hurricane Harvey came in as expected, and threw a wrench in EVERYthing! It started to rain and rain and rain and it didn't stop! We have been through hurricanes and bad rain storms before, but this one was pretty crazy. The hurricane made landfall, and it just didn't leave. Luckily, all of our family and most of our friends were safe, but it got really scary there for a couple days! People in the neighborhood were posting on our neighborhood for high water rescues. There were boats and jet skis that were being launched about 1/2 mile from the house to go and help people. The news was showing all kinds of crazy rescues and rising water everywhere. We were stuck in our neighborhood for a couple days because almost every way out was flooded in. The girls and I went for a short walk to see how high the water was, and we just went one block down before we couldn't go anymore. The water was still so high in the street! It was crazy!

Meet the Teacher

The girls were so excited to meet their teachers for the year! Adilyn already knew her homeroom teacher because she was a 4th grade teacher last year. Kacy already knew her homeroom teacher because Adilyn had her in 3rd grade. Brooke was the only one that had a new face, and we loved her, too! The girls switch teachers seem great as well. I have a feeling it's going to be a great year! Kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th grade - let's do this!!!

Last Week of Summerpalooza!!!

The week before school starts I always like to do some extra fun things before they all go back to the real world. An Astros game is always on the agenda, and this year was no different. The girls finally got to play in the little play area there! We have tried about 5 different times, and it is always closed. This time, they finally got in! They had fun running around the climbing area and playing the little games. They really do enjoy the games, (and the peanuts, and the ice cream).
The other thing we did was go to IT'z with the Hrobars. We bowled and the played video games for a couple hours. It was a great way to finish up another amazing summer!

Solar Eclipse "Excitement"

Everyone made such a huge deal about the solar eclipse! People were sending out warnings about not looking at the sun. Others were frantically searching for eclipse glasses. Some even kept their kids home from school because they were scared that they were going to look at the sun and go blind. I found it odd because you can go blind any day if you look at the sun, but whatever :) We stayed home, and made a few eclipse viewers out of boxes and used Cory's welding mask to peek at the sun every few minutes. The girls were less than impressed, but when I explained that when light comes through a hole it should always be a circle, but it wasn't during the eclipse they kind of got it. They were still pretty "meh" about the whole thing, but I understand. It wasn't all that exciting, but we experienced it safely ;) Will they remember it forever? Probably not, but they will if they read this. If nothing else, they all looked adorable in the welding mask!

Nammie's Birthday at Our Place

One last stop in Fort Worth! Mom's birthday was on Monday, so we decided to have a birthday breakfast with her at our favorite breakfast spot, Our Place. We even got her a balloon birthday crown to celebrate! Happy Birthday to the best mom (and grandma) in the whole world, pretty much without a doubt. So glad we could give her an extra special breakfast!

Sleepover at the Griffins!

Since we were up in Fort Worth we thought about having a quick little weekend getaway with the Griffins, but as it got closer we thought it would be just as much fun to have a sleepover at their house. Sonja and I took the kids to the waterpark during the day, and we had so much fun. It started raining while we were there, but we kept on playing! I mean, we were already wet, what difference did it make? Adilyn, Isaac, and Kacy had a lot of fun on all the big waterslides. Isaac and Kacy got stuck on one of the rides and the lifeguard had to go down and "save" them. They were a little weary for a bit after that, but they got over it. The little ones were pretty chilly with the rain and lack of sun, so we finally decided to head home. It was a really fun day! We spent the rest of evening hanging out and playing. The kids were really cute at night, bunking up in each other's rooms. We love the Griffins like family :)

The last thing we did together was go camper shopping. It was crazy hot, but all the kids had a great time playing "family" in all the different campers. They wanted them all! (So did I!)

Fort Worth Summer Fun

After Maren's party, we stayed in Fort Worth to hang out for a few days. I had to do my work meetings up there later that week, so we decided to have a little fun before that. We found a fun little waterpark to go for an afternoon. We met my friend, Lindsay there so it was fun to hang out with her. It was pretty small, but it was perfect for Brooke! She loved going down the slides alone and playing in the shallow water. The big girls also liked it because they could go off on their own and be independent.

Playroom Redo

We have always hated the color of the walls in the playroom, but we have never gotten around to painting them. I got inspired this summer, and we decided to go for it! We painted them turquoise and purple, and I absolutely love it. We got rid of some toys, and rearranged a few things. The girls were a little disappointed that they didn't get their "teenager" room like they wanted, but I told them that will come when they actually become teenagers :) I am not sure what they were envisioning, but I think it was like a cool hang out room. What they don't realize is that they all still play with the toys, and poor little Brooke is still only 5. She has many years to play with Barbies and ponies! The teenager room will come one day down the road...

I gave the girls a little money for decorations, and this is what happened when they wanted to fill the cart with stuff and themselves :)

Brooke and Kacy wanted to have a playroom sleepover so badly, but they couldn't fall asleep. Kacy said, "I just don't understand why that didn't work!" It was super cute while it lasted.

New School Clothes

Last year, all the girls wore were t-shirts and tights all year long. I bought them all kinds of new clothes, and they sat in their closet...unworn! This year, I told them that we could go get a few things for them to start school with. Miraculously, we went to a few stores, and they all found a few things quickly. I am not a fan of shopping alone, let alone with 3 girls, so I was sure happy! They had to do a fashion show for Cory when we got home, so here are their favorite outfits. They sure have that hip pop pose down! :)

Maren's Sweet 16

My niece turned 16, and she had a big, fancy party. The girls had been excited since they heard about it. We had to shop for fancy dresses and new shoes, and they were counting down the days! It finally arrived, and it was just as much fun as they hoped it would be. There was a DJ with really fun dancing music and cool lights. The girls were in heaven dancing and being silly. We all had a great time, and we were so happy that we could be there to celebrate with Maren. She looked so beautiful and grown up!

Pool Party

When we first moved over here from Cypress, I joined the Mom's Club that Dana was in. It was so much fun to have some moms to do things with. Luckily, the moms have stayed in touch and although our kids are grown up, we have still stayed close. I thought it would be fun to get everyone together for a pool party. It was so great to see all the kids together all grown up! Everyone had a great time, and I was glad we could get so many together in one place.

The Dreaded Drive Home

Nobody likes driving home from vacation. Everyone is tired, the excitement of the vacation is not there, and you are just heading home to your boring normal life. Normally, the kids do pretty well with the drive, and they keep themselves busy between movies. Every now and then they will whine and complain about various things, but I can't complain too much for the most part. This trip was a bit different :) Kacy was extra grumpy, and she really wanted to be alone. I mean, I understand but here we are in the car with lots of people, so deal with it. She decided to make her own little area in the car, and then Brooke thought it would be fun. So, they rode like this for at least an hour.

Gulf Shores Love

I love the beach. Literally, I love everything about it, but one of my favorite things to to walk down the beach at sunset. We had some gorgeous views and sunsets this year. It really makes my heart happy! These are some of my favorite shots. It was so awesome to be so secluded this year. The whole area next to our house was a wildlife preserve right next to use. It made for some much nicer views!