My parents rented a beach house in Galveston again this year so everyone spent a weekend there. We lucked into some pretty nice weather and enjoyed the house that overlooked the ocean!
We got there Friday evening and headed out to check out the water.
Some little sisters are always trying to bother their big sisters!
Olivia was a little hesitant at first about the sand, so we took turns holding her...
But, by the next day she was more comfortable and discovered her new favorite thing to do - throw the ball for Crosby.
Which is lucky because his favorite thing to do was catch the ball!
Of course Olivia and Crosby had their own cheering section!
Our house had a huge porch outside with 2 hammocks, which allowed for lots of swinging and cuddling:
And a bunch of chairs to enjoy a sunset/sunrise
And Olivia and Crosby formed a surprising friendship - she kept referring to him as her "cousit"
And of course, she was thrilled to have her aunts as a captive audience for games, coloring, playing with the baby dolls, and just general lap-sitting!
We played several games of Zingo and when Olivia and Naz were on a team, Olivia told us it was the "littles" (she and Naz) against the "bigs" (me and Yazzie)!
There was lots of delicious food, including these Watermelon Rice Krispy treats recommended by my friend Bethany that were a huge hit!
After all that sun & playtime, everyone was tired!
On Saturday afternoon Mimi and Grandpa went to take a late afternoon nap and Olivia made everyone else do some coloring
But my favorite part of the trip was when it was time to wake them up, and all the sisters, Olivia and Crosby piled in bed with Mimi and Grandpa!
Some of my favorite people in the world all piled into 1 bed.
We said “goodbye to summer” (let’s face it, this Houston heat isn’t going away any time soon!) with a little staycation to the Woodlands Resort. We changed our plans about 5 times but I’m glad we settled on this one – it was a great few days that didn’t involve a lot of driving and still felt like an escape.
Olivia and I decided we would spend the whole day Friday at the resort for a mommy-daughter day. And, she was so excited about it that she woke up at 4 a.m. and basically couldn’t fall back asleep. So by the time we left our house at 10:00 a.m., she had already been awake 6 hours and snoozed most of the way to the Woodlands.
But as soon as we arrived, she perked right up.
We put our bags in our room and check out our fun view of the pool.
And then we headed straight down for some swimming.
And a pool-side lunch. Grilled cheese for Olivia and a berry pina colada for mamma. Win. Win.
We had the slide all to ourselves basically, so of course we went down it about 1 million times.
And Olivia had very specific opinions of how I should act while she was on the slide. When she got to the top of the slide, after she put on her goggles, she would give me a thumbs up, which meant I was then to say "Ready, Steady, GO!" to give her the go-ahead to go down the slide. Once she made it to the bottom, I had to cheer for her until she reached the side. The first time I did this, I cheered "Go Olivia! Yay! Go! Go!" She got to the side, cocked her head and said "Mom!!! Not like that. Just say 'Go Olivia go! 'Go Olivia go!" So, the next time I did that. But apparently not loud enough. So, on the 3rd time, I finally got it right and as she made it to the side she looked at me and said "I'm like Katie Ledecky, huh mom?" What?!! No kid. You did make it to the side with some combination of "big arms" that we have spent a small fortune on swim lessons for you to learn, doggy paddle, and I think maybe the general movement of the pool, but its a far cry from Katie Ledecky. But, given my previous chastising regarding the proper way to cheer her on, I decided to just say "Oh yes. For sure!" and leave it at that.
I tried to convince Olivia to have a little rest time on the pool chairs and even demonstrated how comfy they were. But she refused.
So we headed upstairs to let the "future Olympian" rest a bit. Matt joined us for the end of naptime.
And once we were all rested, we went back to the pool. They had a DJ with a “kids dance competition” – we had to practically bribe her to even try it out and then she loved it so much that we could barely drag her away. She got picked as a “finalist” and got to go on stage. (don't get too excited, basically every kid got a chance as a finalist).
As you can see, she really has perfected one move (jumping) and she sticks to it!
And then the "audience" picked the winner. Unfortunately, Olivia was not the winner. However, that did not stop her from following the winner over to the treasure chest and picking out a treat.
After dinner, we headed over to the firepit for some s'mores.
And we confirmed she still doesn't like s'mores (I know! We can't understand it either!) - just the marshmallows!
And then Olivia noticed a little 11 year old girl swimming around the pool with a mermaid tail on, and she went into crazy stalker mode. She followed this girl around for about an hour. And finally, all the work paid off because the sweet owner of said tail let Olivia try it on. Talk about a happy little girl!!
And then she settled in with her popcorn to watch the "dive in movie." We lasted through about half before she looked at us and said "Bed! Bed! Bed!"
The next morning she was up and at 'em by 6 am, so we went and got breakfast and explored the Woodlands Farmers Market.
Then we went back to the pool and Olivia made friends with another little girl who shared her love of the slide, the big girl with the mermaid tail, and floating princess dolls.
Since we were in the Woodlands, we invited Casey and Annabelle to come and swim with us and have lunch.
And after naptime, we headed to their house for Annabelle's 4th Birthday party. They had the Fun Bus come and all the kids loved it!
Also throwing all the balloons around the house provided about an hour of entertainment!
We stayed late celebrating Annabelle, so we had breakfast in bed on our last morning there!
Once we were back home on Monday, Olivia woke up from nap and was dying to wash mine and Matt's car (the latest game she learned from her "husband" Harris John McGuire - apparently after our Florida trip Harris just announced to Jennie that he and Olivia got married while we were in Florida. No big deal. I later asked Olivia about this and she just got a huge smile on her face. So now she constantly refers to their wedding and the next time they saw each other it took about 10 minutes before they were "playing married!"). Anyways, she loved "washing" the cars and so did Matt and I. We sat outside in our lawn chairs and had a drink!
And we finished the weekend off with a trip to Sprinkles where we sampled all the goodies - cupcakes, ice cream and a cookie!
While Olivia may not look like me, recent events have caused my parents to recall that her behavior at 4, almost 5 is exactly like mine when I was little.
First, with some of the older kids moving out of daycare and into "real" school, Olivia is now the second oldest kid in her class (and in the school!). Apparently, the oldest kid is the "leader" of the class. And, when Olivia's teacher told me this, she referred to it as the "role Olivia was born to play." She is always ready to help (or kiss up as Mimi would say) and I guess I've been accused of being a kiss-up a time or 2 in my life (mostly by Mimi!). Also, Olivia has been overheard telling the oldest kid in the class that if she can't get her act together (evidentally she has a bit of a listening issue) then Olivia will just do whatever task has been given to her! I know I would never taunt someone into doing what I want. ;)
Olivia has also been "exaggerating" the truth a bit (something I may or may not have done from time to time). It started out as small things...telling her teachers were were traveling out of town when we weren't or telling me that she ate certain things for lunch (donuts or ice cream usually) when I knew she didn't. But, today really took the cake. I came to work to discover this email from her teacher:
Her dad cut his finger, had to have surgery and ride in an ambulance?! Okay, last night Matt did cut his finger while opening a can of tennis balls. We did have to put Neosporin and a bandaid on it. But, that is where the story ends.
This sweet, imaginative and creative girl certainly has a flair for the dramatic!
And...speaking of school, we had a recent and unexpected change where her dear Cate left for a new school. This has been pretty tough on Olivia but I think it will probably be for the best in the long run. And both Cate's mom and I are hoping we can keep the girls in touch! They were able to FaceTime to hear about Cate's first day in her new school and Matt and I loved how "grown up" they were. They carried on an entire conversation and even had their own inside jokes. At one point Olivia told Cate she had chicken nuggets for dinner (again, not true) and then Olivia said "I know what you're going to say Cate." Cate asked what. Olivia responded "Tell the truth Olivia or I won't be your best friend." Cate cracks up and says "I was going to say that!" So even her bff knows that she likes to stretch the truth! Then Cate said some nonsensical word and Olivia repeated the exact word back and they both cracked themselves up. It was a lovely little glance into a world of best friends that awaits us! Having Cate at the school and watching their friendship grow has been one of the very best parts of her experience at Cathedral House. I am so glad that these 2 found each other and learned early what it means to have a best friend.
