Kicking off Summer

As the summer was underway, Connor immediately jumped right back into school mode by taking an online course to meet his fine art requirement for high school graduation. We didn't know it at the time, but AP Art History would soon become his worst enemy and the primary reason Connor didn't get to experience much of any summer fun at all. Poor kid! Pictured below, his last day of junior year in happier times, HA!

During some of his rare periods of down time in the summer, Connor took advantage of meeting up with a special friend. One of his favorite people from his junior year of high school was a precious kiddo named Lachlan. Connor and Lachlan were assigned as buddies through the Peer Assistance & Leadership (PALs) program, Connor's all-time favorite experience throughout high school where juniors and seniors provide mentorship to kids at neighborhood elementary schools. Connor immediately connected with Lachlan during their weekly sessions and was happy to meet Lachlan's family and have some fun hangouts during the summer. So sweet!

In other random summer news, Jeff decided to give golf another chance earlier this year and started joining his buddy Bob in Cypress regularly for golf outings. The more he golfed, Jeff continued to improve and began envisioning himself spending a lot more time on the course with Bob's big golf group. It was always up and down, but he set a goal for himself and kept chipping away at his score week after week.

Sometime in late spring, Connor became obsessed with little rubber duckies and began collecting them for various friends. Before we knew it, Kaitlynn was into the little ducks too and in the summer I continued to find little rubber ducks everywhere. Kids are just weird sometimes!

As Kaitlynn approached her summer birthday, she continued to grow and mature in all-things-teenage-girl. She was suddenly into makeup, skincare, clothes, and hair products and wanting to build her collection of lotions and potions like all her friends. Jeff was always an easy target to take her shopping to find just the right product or scent.

Another activity that kept Kaitlynn busy during the summer was the volunteer work for our National Charity League (NCL) chapter. Each summer we try to get in as many volunteer hours as possible to avoid the chaos during the busy school year. Our favorite activity is helping out at the Cinco Ranch library by working at the summer reading desk helping patrons with prizes and crafts. She even roped in her friend Allison to help us a time or two.

Kaitlynn's tumbling and cheer classes and activities also kept her busy during the summer. As she attended workouts and tryouts for her next season of competitive cheer, Kaitlynn set a goal for herself to improve her jumps and began working on her stretching and jumping everyday. She made tremendous progress and her coaches noticed the difference within a matter of weeks. We felt so proud of her dedication!

As Kaitlynn prepared for an upcoming week of summer camp, we made the trip to White Oak to stay with MeMe and GrandDaddy. We tried to help them load some new furniture in their living room but it turned into quite the fiasco with nausea, injuries, and furniture parts all over the floor. Luckily it all worked out in the end, but I doubt they'll be asking for our "help" again anytime soon, ha!

As for me, I kept busy during the summer with regular household activities along with my usual workload. In honor of the huge vaccine rollout project I worked on in 2020-2021, I was invited with my colleagues to stay at our owner's new lake house in East Texas for a weekend of relaxation and reminiscing on our successful work. It was a nice time with some ladies I really love! From there, I drove to Dallas to spend some time in our office and hang out with my favorite work besties for a new tradition of dinner and catching up. I feel so lucky to work with such wonderful women who have become precious friends!

When I returned from my Dallas trip, Jeff took off for California to reconnect with his Mom and Dave at their place for a long weekend. He was so happy to see them after a long absence and even help out around their home with various projects. They enjoyed the visit as well as some great meals during his stay.

And finally, what better way to kick off our 2023 summer than with America's favorite pastime - baseball! Of course, most of America might turn up their noses at our hometown Astros team (haha) but our family loves the Astros and the rare opportunity to see a game in person at Minute Maid Park. We bought tickets for a game with a fun Alex Bregman World Series ring giveaway - so cool! We had a great time and Connor was even able to get a photo with his favorite local "insta-lebrity" called Sexy Marco. So fun!

You Win: Disney Edition!

As we approached the end of the kids' school year, Jeff and I were both floored at their successes both inside and outside of the classroom. Connor was finishing his strongest academic year yet while receiving high praise and recognition from all his teachers AND juggling his very first job as a math instructor at Mathnasium. Kaitlynn was wrapping up her busiest year to date alongside her highest grades ever, all while managing multiple seasons of sports and cheer - two of which were brand new to her. We felt SO PROUD of these kids and their drive and hard work, so it felt appropriate to reward them with another edition of their favorite game - YOU WIN! 

We let them choose where they wanted to eat a celebratory lunch, and they were both happy to agree on our favorite fajitas at Lupe Tortilla. But in a twist from the usual You Win game format, Jeff and I explained that this year's game would be quite different. It would be their biggest You Win decision yet...

In a shocking reveal, their biggest You Win decision was.... Disney or Universal Studios! That's right, we had booked flights to Orlando and let the kids decide which theme park they preferred to spend their long Memorial Day weekend. They were both stunned and very happy with the big surprise, and they both agreed that Disney would be the best choice! Since Kaitlynn and I had so much fun at Disney earlier in the month, I thought it would be fun to visit again with the 4 of us as a reward for their excellent year. Luckily my friend Katherine (Disney planner extraordinaire) had booked us the amazing trip and all the kids had to do was pack their bags. So exciting!

Thank goodness the kids hadn't made any important plans, because we were off to the airport the next day for our big weekend at Disney. Connor had no idea what to expect; Kaitlynn was excited to revisit the fun from our trip earlier in the month; and Jeff was just being a good sport and along for the ride! We were staying at one of the Disney resorts with a Cars-themed hotel suite, and it was really fun to arrive and see Connor's former favorite childhood movie come to life. 

Armed with tips from Katherine and my experience from our trip earlier in the month, we were up early the next morning and off to Epcot to ride some of our favorites. It was Memorial Day weekend, so the lines were long, but our attitudes and energy were high for the fun day ahead. We ended up riding the biggest and most favorite rides at Epcot, and then later in the day we park-hopped over to Animal Kingdom to enjoy some rides there. It was a super fun and full first day at Disney!

The next morning, we were up early and ready to tackle Day 2, this time starting our morning at Disney's Magic Kingdom and all the fun rides there. We rode all the big rides that Kaitlynn and I enjoyed during our visit, and Jeff was such a good sport on the roller coasters despite his dislike for them. Our favorite ride BY FAR was the newest ride, Tron, where you ride a coaster like a motorcycle. It's so fast and intense, and we all loved it!

Later in the day, we relaxed and enjoyed our hotel and then ventured over to Hollywood Studios for a few more rides. We were all starting to feel super worn out from the go-go-go nature of this Disney vacation. By Day 3, we were simply POOPED OUT and didn't feel the need to do much else. We enjoyed a little more of Animal Kingdom and then called an audible to peace out on the Disney parks. They were fun, but oh boy, the crowds and the heat started to catch up on us. Luckily, we managed to sneak in a dinner with Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Jerry, which was just what we needed to wrap up our whirlwind You Win vacation. 

We felt so fortunate to sneak in this last minute family trip and soak in so much Disney fun as a reward for the kids' awesome school years. It was a great time and we made so many memories together. My favorite part of looking back through the photos was seeing the funny expressions from the many rides and roller coasters we rode together. Jeff had us all worried on that Tower of Terror, but it sure serves the laughs! Thanks for the fun, Disney!