Ikes Tat

We thought now that Isaac is walking, he could walk himself down to the local tattoo parlor and get inked.....or it was the work of older sisters :)

Ike's First Birthday!

How did my baby turn one? I remember when I found out we were having a boy, I was not disappointed by any means, but after two girl I thought, “What am I going to do with a boy?” I soon found out that I would cuddle with him and love on him and completely spoil him. This little guy is so sweet (and very handsome I might add) and it totally a mama’s boy. His has a huge smile for such a little guy and is very even tempered. Isaac has truly been a blessing to our family and it been fun to watch him develop over the past year.

Ike started walking a couple of months ago but every time he took a step we heard” Look! Ikey’s walking”….PUSH! So he decided enough with that - took a break and decided in early July to take another shot at it.

Jared’s parents and his brother were down for his birthday and his sisters baked him a cake, which he devoured hand and fist. He got lost of “manly toys”, abacus from Erinhis favorite by far was a helicopter from Grandma Linda – like father, like son!

The Great EasTex Canoe Trip

Jared’s parents came to town for a week and offered to take our kids for a couple of days so Jared and I could take a much needed vacation. We have never had the night away from the kids in 5 ½ years so needless to say we were very thankful for the offer.

I have been eyeing kayaks for sometime and saving my money and Jared pitched in the last little bit as my birthday present…and some kayak paddles and life jackets. We ended up buying a Sevylor Inflatable Colorado two-person Canoe. After doing some research we decided on paddling Village Creek up in Big Thicket National Preserve. Big Thicket is known for its ecological diversity. It’s the cross roads of the several different eco systems and houses four out of five carnivorous plants native to the US.

There are no camping facilities in Big Thicket; however it’s free to apply for a National Park Service Backcountry camping pass, which allows you to camp on most sandbars on the river within the preserve. We decide the first night we would camp on the river and the second we could stay at Village Creek State Park.

The day before we were to port out Alex paid northern Mexico a lovely visit dumping rain on most of East Texas. The forecast was not in our favor (try 80% chance of rain all three days) but we were hell bent on canoeing and so we headed off ignoring the forecast (and packing lots of food because I can be wet but wet and hungry is just miserable).

We used a local outfitter, Piney Woods Canoe Outfitters to drop us off and pick us up. The guy was great, gave us lots of good info about the area and was reasonably priced. He told us that they lost 50% of their canopy trees during hurricane Rita and Ike. I thought that was a lot, but after we got on the river, it became apparent that we were in a eco system called Sandylands and these towering pines and hardwood were rooted solely in sand.

The first day we paddled around 10 miles and we had a rough start. Jared jumped in the river for our first portage and forgot his cell phone was in his pocket and swamped it. We had a little inner tube to pull behind us that carried our tent, cook stove, clothing, water, cooler and pretty much all of our supplies. They lasted a whole 20 minutes before catching on a tree branch and popping. So we stopped and managed to pack everything on the back of our boat. And then around the three mile mark Jared snapped his paddle and it started to pour.

The first day was an exhausting day of paddling, there were at least 30 trees to cross and scores more to dodge (and dodge well since we have an inflatable canoe). There was lots of “LEFT! LEFT! NO YOUR OTHER LEFT”! Amazing we didn’t fight and we found the canoe tracks wonderfully, almost like a kayak. After five hours of paddling and porting we found a beautiful secluded sand bar. I guess the nice thing around canoeing in the rain is no one else is on the river.

It stopped raining enough to set up camp before it opened up again and poured. We cooked dinner in the rain and finally set off to bed. The only people we saw in two days passed by us that night around 10pm.

The next morning we set off for the last 14 miles. This day was much easier as the park let the outfitter come in and cut trees to make passable channels for paddlers. The day ended up being overcast without any rain – the weather was beautiful and the river was amazing. Lots of cypress trees with rows of knees and moss handing from their low branches. It was amazing; the only thing missing from the picture were alligators (thankfully).

We completed our journey for 24 miles after another 6 ½ hours of paddling at Village Creek State Park. As we got out of the river it started raining again. Realizing that our equipment was all wet from the night before we decided to cut it short and head home.

But not before heading to Goings BBQ, the local restaurant in Lumberton, Tx. It was the best BBQ I have eaten and came with a live country western band in the corner equipped with appliqué Texas blazers from the 1970’s. A perfect end to an EasTex outing.

Eliza's 3rd Birthday!

Eliza turned three on June 27^th! Where has the time gone? It just seems like yesterday Jared and I were sitting a Clear Lake Regional L&D room laughing at the morning saga as the color slowly came back to Jared’s face. She was born with a spark in her eyes and I knew from the first time I held her she would make life full and vibrant. From that day life would never be the same as our family grew to four.

Eliza is my rough-and-tough girl. She takes on the role of the Alpha child in any play group (for better or worse) and is extremely competitive. And with the flip of a coin she can be so sweet and shy. I love her energetic character and her mildly sarcastic sense of humor.

Eliza has learned this year to love bubbles, kitties and playdoh. She is always “helping” in the kitchen (why typically results of me bleaching food coloring out of something). She must have clean hands (even if the rest of her is fifthly), insists on brushing her teeth at least twice a day and has a growing fear of public restrooms. She LOVES Frog and Toad books and when all is silent at night she still asks to be rocked.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Happy Father's Day

We love you Dad!

The New Vessel

This is our new purchase, its either ingenious or completely idiotic...we'll find out in two weeks when the outfitter dumps us deep in Big Thicket National Preserve and say they'll see us two days later 20+ miles down stream.

I have been looking at tandem kayaks for some time and saving my pennies. However with all the uncertainty going on with the Space Program right now we are not sure where we will be come the fall. And the last thing we want to do is drag a 17' alumicraft across the US. Plus we have no basements here so storage is limited.

After doing some research we stumbled on the Sevylor Inflatable Colorado Canoe.
The more we read about the more it met our current needs. Its more of a kayak than a canoe, measuring only 10'6" and 40 pounds, but is built for two people and can carry 500 lbs.

Why an inflatable you ask?
1. Storage (or the lack thereof, our garage is hideous already).
2. You will never see it skidding down Interstate 45 at 60 mph in your rear view mirror becuase someone forgot the last strap.
3. You won't have to explain to your insurance company why your canoe became the new hood ornament on the BMW who was following you on I-45.
4. Its only 40 pounds so you can backpack it in.
5. No one ever got a hernia from attempting to load an inflatable canoe on the top rack of a trailer.

The cons.... Well we assume its not very alligator friendly (but does have multiple air chambers so if a gator does bite it we'll still have half of a boat right?).

So come July 1st is her Christening day. We would buy a bottle of champagne to break on the bow, but then there are just some things that you can't do with an inflatable canoe.

Now to name her, any ideas?

Fire!

We went to the fire station last week for playgroup. Erin pouted the whole time becuase she was too mature for such childish things. However Eliza and Ike had a blast.
Ike is all boy, his favorite things were the tires, I think becuase the hubcaps were shiny. He had to check them out on all four trucks.

Work?

Someone asked why I don't freelance much anymore. I have three kids at home. Attempting to do a conference call can sound like a call from a bunker on Normandy Beach. And attempting to actually get work done...we'll that now looks something like this.... case and point.

Youth Conference 2010

League City Young Women (ages 14-17)

As a YW leader I LOVE Youth Conference. From a planning perspective our stake takes care of almost everything so its pretty relaxing for me. But that's not why I like it (although a great plus). I love how the church has instituted programs like this for the youth. Youth Conference is a three-day opportunity to make new friends from across the Houston SouthEast area, strengthen testimonies and a time for spiritual renewal and reflection on life goals.

Houston South Food Bank Service Project

They had wonderful speakers this year, great workshops, big community service projects and oh ya lots of dancing, dancing and more dancing. I am pretty sure there is some video floating around out there of my lam-o attempt to line dance, lets hope it never surfaces :)

(this was not a workshop, this was my car dying in the sweltering heat at Sonic and our attempt to revive it :)

Our ward also split last fall so it was great to see some of my old girls who are just not in another ward but now in another stake. And it was a good time to bond with the new girls that have moved into our ward. I am so thankful to work with such a wonderful group of Young Women. They are wonderful examples of living Christ-like lives and its been a privilege over the years to work with them.

Stop 3: Nauvoo

We drove four hours to Nauvoo ill arriving Thursday afternoon. The family is getting big enough we forwent the hotel rooms and rented a house on the Mississippi outside of Nauvoo. We stayed at a small house called the Riverside Retreat (which I would recommend to anyone). The place was quaint with a beautiful view of the sunset over the river. The girls were thrilled with the gigantic tree swing in the back yard and Jared was happy for wireless access to work on his school work.

Thursday afternoon we attended a session at the Nauvoo Temple followed by a family cookout. Friday morning we realized we had seven women staying at the house and no hairdryer, not a good situation for the morning of a wedding. Luckily we were all able to improvise thanks to several window ac units.

Heather and Skylar were sealed in the Nauvoo Temple on noon on Friday. Jared is the oldest of seven and so far all five who are married have been in Nauvoo. It’s been great to return time and time again as a family. We wish the new Mr. and Mrs. Huth the best as they begin their journey together.

Our trip was so short this time we didn’t even get to explore Old Nauvoo. We waited to congratulate the new couple and headed off for St. Louis. On our way we stopped with Grandma and Grandpa Fenton to race go-karts before the big drive home.

So in eight days we put on 2600 miles covering seven states full circle….I feel like I need a vacation from vacation.

Stop 2: The Point

My Hills

Erin hiked the deep crevasse of Devil's Backbone today for the first time, a rite of passage in NE Iowa. I remember being Erin’s age and my dad helping me over the giant boulders lodged between the two towering walls of moss-covered limestone and the steep passage from the top of the bluffs to the flats.

This was my playground growing up. I’ve hiked this narrow trail scores of time. For me the breathtaking views from the top of the lofty limestone bluff still bring a feeling of solidity and peace. It seems like each time I visit the park is more deserted as people find less time to enjoy the outdoors. I often wonder what becomes of a society who loses touch with nature. What inspires when we no longer study and reflect on the awe and wonderment of the Creation?

After hiking we grilled in the down pour in one of the old CCC built limestone pavilions. Erin and Eliza spent the two days playing in streams, running through soft grass, exploring Amish country, visiting with family and exploring Lock and Dam #10 on the Mississippi. And Isaac started standing on his own for several seconds.

The Great Whirlwind Vacation - Stop 1: Dallas Center

We managed to drive twenty hours without any auto problems or Erin puking all over the car so we consider our trip up a success. The kids did great on the drive up. We spent our first night in Oklahoma City with Amy and Derek and went out for our tradition dinner at the local Pizzeria. They have a son Noah who is Isaacs age.

We spent the first two days of our trip in Dallas Center at Jared’s parents. The Renshaw geek squad played several games chess, had heated discussions involving the validity of Jared’s dad new perpetual motion machine idea politics, astrophysics, and matrices. Those of us who married into the Renshaw clan bring the much needed normal social gene to the pool.

Between engineering lingo there were lots of laughter and good times with siblings, great grandparents, grandparents and cousins and tons of food. And who could miss participating in an Iowa fashion show? Erin would make a wonderful Dairy Princess.

We spent the first night all sitting on the upper deck of the Renshaw house looking at the stars. Living in the burbs our kids don’t see the stars. Erin was amazed as she watched several shooting stars from the blackened backdrop of the night. We spent the second night enjoying a good Midwest electrical storm. The house Jared’s family built has a lighting observation tower. Its cramp and still unfinished but we were able to take the girls up and watch the summer storm roll by with all it’s splendor.

Help Me!

A few days ago the kids were all playing nicely. The house was completely picked up so I thought I could take 5 minutes to actaully shower before noon. All at once I hear this blood curdling scream from Ike. I jumped out only to find Eliza carrying him up the stairs (more like dragging him up backwards under the arms with really LARGE eyes). She made it almost to the top, which is a feat considering Isaac weighs 18 lbs and Eliza is only 26 lbs.

When I questioned her she was so innocent and said "Isaac wanted to play up stairs with us." Needless to say every time Eliza got around him that afternoon he was very nervous (at least more nervous than usual).

Ike's new pretty close to walking, although we don't see it too often, he likes to stay close to the ground. Eliza may show some tough love but she is so proud of him, I think she will be his cheer squad throughout life.

Let it Pour