V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N. (part 1)

Before we begin let me start by saying this is a vacation post.. which equals a TON of pictures. Remember a few years back (he was SO little and I was still very rusty on my blogging skills)?? Or even last year (where I was smart enough to break it apart into two blogs) part 1 and part 2?? There you go, that is your warning.. This may take a while. :)
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We thought about a lot of things to do for our vacation.. We thought about the beach--but decided against it due to the preggo and heat. We talked about Disney -- but decided we would wait until the boy was older and I was not pregnant. We talked about a lot of different options but it all came down to a few things.. 1) RELAX. I didn't want to need another vacation after my vacation 2) little to no schedule. I know it is hard for those that know me (and my dad) to even think this was part of the plan, but it was. Again, relax)

So, we landed on this.. Yep, this beast was our ride for the next week. We decided to head down through Grapevine and to San Antonio, TX. We had a few things we wanted to do along the way....Shop, nap, eat good TexMex (my husband has never really had GOOD TexMex) Sea world, Riverwalk and Schlitterbaun--and anything else that we may find to do.

Chaz was beside himself with excitement. He loves riding in the motor home and he loves hanging out with his Gaga and Papa.

Before Chaz left for vacation his teacher gave him "Flat Stanley" I had never heard of this until then and even after that I had no idea that it was a "well known" thing.. OR that it had an official website (or 10) Flat Stanley (or Fat Albert as my father called him... and Chaz quickly corrected him every.single.time) went on our trip with us and had his picture taken many times in many different places. I then took the pictures and put them in the teacher's book with the story to go along with the pictures. It was actually pretty fun. We may need to make our own Flat Stanley book. You will see him throughout the trip :)

First photo op... on the front of the Motor home. Chaz insisted

Before the trip I decided I was going to be MUCH more relaxed than usual about nap time, bedtime, snacks, etc. It was vacation and the point is to have fun. I do believe it is better for everyone if the boy naps but I wasn't as strict as usual. SO, nap times happened when and where nap times happened.. He reminds me of an old man asleep in his recliner. I missed the Oklahoma sign but I did get a shot of us going into Texas. This kinda makes me laugh as it isn't like we entered Europe but I decided I needed a picture. I spent the majority of my childhood summers in Texas and we go there often but for the nostalgia of a road trip, this was a necessary shot.
Once the boy was up he wanted in the action. I know this is probably not the safest thing and most likely it is boarder-line illegal but he wanted to see what was going on. Notice the sunglasses. Before we left for our trip we stopped into Academy Sports to grab some water shoes. After we checked out we noticed an end cap with kid sunglasses on them. Chaz had a bazillion pairs of sunglasses BUT there were some sweet RayBan-like ones that Ryan really wanted him to get. Nope. He picked these. Circa de 1980 lake glasses (the lenses are MUCH bluer in person) he refers to as his "Too cools" Yes, buddy. You are too cool! We stayed at the campgrounds in Grapevine. It wrapped around a lake and was absolutely beautiful and very peaceful. Mom and Dad stayed in the motor home and the three of us stayed in a cabin next door. It was quite a nice setup. As soon as we got there we unpacked the Baggo, a must.
and built a campfire. Another must.
We were very close to the airport. Chaz loved watching the airplanes fly over.
Random. No, this is not a force of punishment but simply one of the joys of having a three year-old. "Momma, will dis hurt?" Um, probably not.. go ahead.We had a golf cart to tool around the grounds. I honestly think this was probably to keep my ADD husband entertained above any other purpose. It worked. And the boy liked it too!!
After dinner we had to stop by Target for a few things. Mom and Dad made the mistake of letting Ryan and I go in by ourselves. Not two seconds into the store and we spotted an AWESOME pink flamingo in the $1 aisle. We knew dad would hate it so... we bought it! What goes better with a motor home than a plastic pink flamingo?? Absolutely nothing.

Yes, that would be Flat Stanley riding the 'bamingo" I had to have my own version of a frosty beverage. (note for all you preggos out there what are craving a frosty beverage. As odd as it sounds Busch NA is the best Non Alcoholic beer there is.. trust me)

While enjoying my frosty beverage, I look over to see this. What is this you may ask? Well it is a "solar system viewer" my Meme gave Chaz. Somehow he managed to stash it in the bin under the motor home without anyone seeing him pack it up AND then convince Gaga to partake in solar viewing with him. Such the trooper she is!!

When the sun went down I decided to breakout the glowing bracelets, and breakout I did. I literally snapped one in half as I was "cracking" it to light up. It sprayed everywhere, including directly in my eye. I couldn't see anything and swear it felt like my contact lens was melting into my eyeball. After a few moments of panic, the pain subsided and the bracelets were retired to the flamingo's neck. Ugh. The campgrounds had a wonderful fireworks show so we all loaded up in the golf cart and headed to the water. About 2 minutes into it Chaz said he was done. What a party pooper. When we got back to the motor home he figured out a good way to draw at night.. all you need is a little camping light.

The next morning we were up early. It was beautiful outside!! I didn't get a picture of Chaz riding his bike (I know, bad momma) but I did get this cute shot of a little bitty bike next to a big ol' motor home wheel.

Chaz just loved hanging out and playing cars. Unlike most kids he would rather play on the concrete instead of the dirt. But that is ok with me!

Chaz really wanted to head down to the water. He wanted to see if there were fish. So, mom and I decided to take him down to the little dock. Chaz wasted no time.

At one point Chaz booked it back to the side of the road. Mom and I couldn't figure out what he was doing.. He quickly returned with some rocks to "toss at the fish." Good thing there weren't any fish.

A little silly time with momma.

My sweet little boy picked us flowers.

My dad tried his best to teach Chaz the "proper" way to throw a football. I have to say, he did pretty good!

Then it was time. Time for the "event" Chaz had been waiting for.... FISHING!!! He had talked for months about how he was going on "bacation" with Papa and they were going to go fishing. He had diligently practiced his casting in the pool. Papa began looking for all the fishing gear and Chaz was right there in the mix. Of course he had his little fishing pole and tackle box. Papa was nice enough to give Chaz some of his worms. Chaz quickly organized them amoungst his other worms. The boys is very OCD about his worms.

Then we were off to the dock. I'm tellin' you he was beside himself with excitement about catching a fish. I was just crossing my fingers --and toes and hair and anything else I could find -- that it actually happened.

"Hey Momma, why you takin' my picture?!?!"

Summer baby feet =happy me!

He did it! He caught a fish. He was determined to reel this thing in all.by.himself. He was so very excited. "I did it!! Look at my fish"He was so, so proud of himself. And that he should be!

Gaga was a little grossed out.. it may have been that the fish started peeing when Ryan was trying to get it off the hook. Chaz thought it was hilarious!

I was SHOCKED that Chaz actually touched the fish, with zero hesitation. He asked if "it would hurt him" but as soon as we said no, he was all for it. Again, shocked. This kid doesn't really go for things he doesn't know unless they involve jumping or climbing.

"Papa, do we get to do it again?? Do you think that is a good idea??"
And they just kept going and going and going...one fish after the next. One of them got caught next to the eye and we had to toss him far... you know so he could "swim with his brothers" (aka. he wasn't going to make it) Chaz was none the wiser.
Again, shocked. He is actually HOLDING a fish!! A LIVE fish! I tell ya, Papa can convince him to do anything.Fishing wore.him.out. So it was back to the motor home for nap time.....with Flat Stanley, of course. And his weirdo daddy..

After nap time we decided to head down to the lake. Ryan wanted to kayak and we decided to go watch. I mean you never know what will happen with Ryan and a boat. It could be well worth the watch!At the launch the instructors give you a crash course in kayaking. It was boarder-line comical to watch my husband answer the questions and follow the instructions

"How much do you know about kayaking?" What kind of answer is this??
He was annoyed at my picture taking. I was laughing at the ill fitting life-jacket.
Not sure what kind of instruction this was....except for funny and another excellent look at the ill fitting life-jacket.
This is his "man pose"
Notice all the small kiddos looking at him. He was wonderful and made sure the little ones were taken care of and not scared. Not that I expect anything less. He is wonderful with kiddos
Ready to go!
and we have liftoff!
The surroundings were gorgeous! Very calm and quite. I could have just sat there for hours.
I didn't even think to bring the little guy a swimsuit but after MUCH negotiating he decided to get in the water. I know, it is odd that I had to tell my little guy it was ok to swim in his clothes. I guess he knows it isn't really normal so he was trying to be the good kid.
There was a little sand beach next to the lake. It was really nice to have a beach entry. Chaz loved it and loved running back and forth to take the sand back to the water.
At one point he came over to me and asked if he could take off his shorts. "Momma, remember we don't swim in our shorts" I am not sure why he was so annoyed at the swimming in the shorts thing but he was even more irritated that I wouldn't let him swim in his skivies. The lady next to me found our conversation --ending in "Honey, not everyone wants to see your Star Wars drawers" --very amusing.

My mom... Ahhhhh, my mom. She is an angel, I tell ya! She will (and does) do anything for Chaz, me, Ryan, Dad and really anyone else she comes in contact with. It is extra wonderful now that I am preggers with #2 and can't do everything I wish I could. Chaz is usually none the wiser as long as Gaga is involved. Perfect example below. He wanted someone to play in the water with him...and in goes mom. Again, no swimsuits were taken so she is fully clothed. She only intended to get wet up to the knees but after much splash time I think she was a little wetter than intended...Love her!!Chaz was so happy just to run out to her... about 1,728,274,957,656,389,302 times.

and then the inevitable happened.. Chaz found a friend, a girl at that. Lindsey. He was smitten from the moment he saw her.. "Hey, can you do dis??" "How 'bout dis" It went on and on and on.....

Then they decided to race. Mom, of course, was the ref/finish-line.

Then they came up with a game called "I'm not tired' Classic three year-0ld game, in my opinion. They would run up to the shore, lay down on their backs, scream "I'M NOT TIRED" and then jump up and run out to my mom. Classic, I say! They had such a good time. Chaz still talks about her and how he is going to go play with her "again tomorrow" So, so cute.

The next morning Ryan decided to take Chaz on a little adventure. Chaz was so excited to go on the kayak like his daddy.He also got to go down to the water to feed the ducks with Papa. He wasn't quite sure about the ducks. But once he figured out he could throw things at-- I mean to-- the ducks he was very happy.

Ahhhhh Grapevine, I love you!! Seriously, I could have spent another week there. It was wonderful, fun and relaxing. We also managed to squeeze in some shopping, Rainforest Cafe (which Chaz LOVES--however, please note they have stopped the Volcano dessert that used to light on fire.. it now has lame-O plastic tinsel.. Boooooo!) and ate at a wonderful TexMex place called Baja. It was fantastic! I will be going back.

**Part 2 to come. Stay tuned**