The 4th of July

We spent the 4th of July over at David's grandma's house (and swimming at his aunt's house).  We had extra family in town too. Mary's sister was in from South Carolina, and her brother was in from Oklahoma.

So, before we hit August, here's some pictures of the July holiday!

My contribution to our family dinner.

Playing washers

Washer champions--or at least that's how we felt after some clutch wins!

Sparklers

Galveston

David, Michael, and I took a day trip to Galveston a couple weeks ago. The drive is under two hours, so it's a doable day trip from Port Arthur. 

We got on the ferry around lunch. Michael thought it was pretty cool to park the car on the ferry and then get off to watch for dolphins. We saw five or six jumping around. That was wonderful! 

Once we got off the ferry, we went in search of a lunch place along the seawall. We found a place that advertised po' boys and a kids' menu, so we gave it a try. It was a total disappointment. The bread of the po' boy was hard, they messed up our order, and they messed up our check. I got an order of beignets, and I think that was the part we liked best. Michael's little face was covered with powered sugar! (Side note...Last week, I had a deal for a New Orleans-style place in Beaumont called Zydeco. We ate there, and David and I each got a po' boy. SO MUCH BETTER!)

We took a walk along Galveston's Historic Strand. We stopped at some of the stores along the way, including LaKing's Confectionary. They make old-fashioned malts and had lots of candy to choose. Michael got some fruit gummies, and David and I shared a chocolate malt.

Then we checked out some of the local art scene. After Hurricane Ike, the city of Galveston had a lot of fallen trees. Residents are having some of the fallen trees turned into sculptures. We found a list of the addresses with sculptures and drove around to find some of them. Most of them are in people's yards. While we were looking at one and taking some pics, a gentleman asked if we would like him to take one for us. Turns out, he was the resident of the house. Very friendly. The sculptures don't really have a unified theme, beyond the fact that they are made from trees that fell because of the hurricane. There were instruments, sea creatures, animals, popular characters... 

Michael chose our dinner location (IHOP). Not too fancy...except...looking out the window, we had a fantastic view of the water. We caught a street show outside of the Rainforest Cafe. We kept seeing fire from across the street, and when we went over to check it out, it was a show they put on while people are waiting. We took a walk along the beach before heading home.

On the ferry ride home, it was dark. Michael could see the lights of the island getting further and further away. He put out his hand and had the saddest look on his face. He wasn't ready to leave. 

Car is on the ferry (I think G&G V would've liked that)

Michael took a pic of us sharing our malt

Cute little table...cute little kid!

Tin Man and Toto

Michael will lead the way

Squirrel!

Isn't this great!

Beach

Getting his shoes wet!

Michael's Checkup

Michael had a doctor's appointment today for his four-year checkup.

The basic stats:

Height: 39.5 (He's grown two inches since last year.)
Weight: 35 lbs.

They checked his blood pressure, hearing, and vision. The vision chart is pictures. One of the pictures was a plus sign (+). Michael called it the sign of the cross, and the nurse laughed and said most kids called it a "T." Cute.

He also got his 4-year-old shots. He was not looking forward to them. (Who would?) He held strong for the first one, but the subsequent ones made him cry. He held tight onto the the sucker they gave him before the shots, and he just looked at me with tears in his eyes. He told me afterward, "That made me sad." He got his sucker right away, and we got a smoothie for him on the way home.

Vacation Bible School

Michael went to Vacation Bible School at St. Charles Catholic Church in Nederland last week. (David's aunt Andi and her family attend the church.) David's cousin Emily also attended (with the older kids). Alyssa and Noah volunteered with VBS.

Michael liked seeing his cousins every day during VBS. He learned some songs, played, and learned Bible stories. We think he had fun, but he didn't tell us a whole lot about it. (Although he will sing, "I'm in the Lord's Army...yes sir!" with actions if prompted.

On Friday, they had a program. The older kids--including Emily--MCed the program. Each of the other age groups did a musical number, and for the finale, all the kids took the stage for a song and dance. Can you find Michael? (Up front in red.)

Swim Lessons

Michael completed a sessions of swim lessons at the YMCA in Port Arthur. He's getting more comfortable in the water, although he's still not sure about putting his face in the water!

He really enjoyed the swim lessons. After one session, Michael declared, "That was AWESOME!" He looked forward to going everyday.

He's also been enjoying swimming (and playing) in Marti & Rodney's pool.