Game Day!

Blair and I went to Dallas this past weekend to try and attend the Texas vs. OU game.  It was great since we really wanted to visit Mary and Brendan's new pad in Dallas too.  Lydia stayed back in Houston at Nana and Grandpa's, but she still dressed up for the game.  Unfortunately it wasn't a good game at all.  We did enjoy the first 2 minutes though.

Friday morning in Houston:

The weekend started off on Friday morning with Lydia's UT bib and breakfast.

Would you like some peaches?


Lydia is wearing her burnt orange for school - and she wasn't the only one.  Everyone had on their burnt orange.





Saturday morning in Dallas:
Here we are, super excited we found 4 tickets together for the game.  We got up early and walked from Mary and Brendan's apartment for one hour to the stadium and we even had 1.5 hours to spare to meander around the Texas State Fair.


Before the game started, we really had some great seats, watching the band and team practice.

After the half, you can see how the stadium was a little less crowded on the Texas side.

We still really enjoyed experiencing the game.  I haven't been since college and Blair hasn't been in a couple of years either.  I hope we can find tickets next year too.

With 4 minutes left, Mary and I sat.  Is that girl crying behind us?  That's weird.

Here is Huckleberry sporting his burnt orange attire (his fur) and routing on Texas.

Meanwhile, back in Houston at Nana and Grandpa's house, Lydia is crawling through all the bar stools one by one.  She is such a little monkey.

Lydia is so snugly before taking her morning nap with a Bevo pacifier.  Little did she know that she slept through the entire first half of the game.

Even though UT lost, Lydia was happy to be supporting the Longhorns with her attire and smile.  This is my favorite picture, she is so beautiful and looks much older than 11 months.

Later Saturday afternoon, Lydia showed Nana and Grandpa how she can ride the little pony in the house.  She has a determined look on her face - and apparently she was going backwards the entire time.

Chicago!

For Blair's birthday we took a quick weekend trip to Chicago to visit his good friend Charlie and his wife, Lu.  We had the best time and really fell in love with Chicago.  Neither one of us had been there before and we got the best weekend weather to experience it all.  We even got to witness the 100th loss of the Astros at Wrigley Field!

We went to the top of the Hancock Tower and got some amazing views of the city and Lake Michigan.

We took this fabulous Architectural Boat Tour and really learned a lot about the city, the buildings and the history - you'll have to ask Blair about it all as he remembers more than me.

Wrigley Field - Cubs versus Astros.  We lost by 1, but were at a memorable Astros game (and not in a good way - 100th loss).  Wrigley Field was great though and the Vienna hot dog and Bratwurst were pretty good.

Blair and Charlie before the game.  We got there early, but it really got packed once the game started.  The Cubs fans are pretty hard core and they sang this song at the end of the game that was pretty catchy and stuck in our heads until we got home.

Here we are in front of Trump Tower on the river.  Since I'm a little obsessed with Gulianna and Bill Rancic, I was pretty interested to see what Bill built after winning the Apprentice. 

Lydia had a great time staying one night with Grandpa and Nana and one night with Honey and Da.  We sure did miss her and Harley though.  

It was a great relaxing trip and we ate a lot - all in all, 

We Heart Chicago!

Our Very Own Bubble Machine

Lydia surprised us at dinner by putting on a show of blowing bubbles.  She must have been working on it for a long time as she was really good at it.  We were at our vacation house in Austin and eating dinner when she busted out her debut.  Watch closely....

First Day of School

Lydia started school last week at Westminster Day School.  She goes from 9-2:30 on Wednesdays and Fridays.  She did really well on her first week and was the only one who didn't cry - even though she looks nervous in these pictures.  The teachers said she loved playing with all the kids and new toys.  It was a little hard for us to drop her off, but since she wasn't crying, that made it a lot easier.  I'm so excited she's going to school to be around other kids, play with new toys, learn neat things.
I was anxious all day and couldn't wait to pick her up to see how her day went.  She really enjoys school!
Her cousin, Charlotte, is in her class too and they've become best buddies.

Annual Family Vacation Time

Each year we go on an annual family vacation with my side of the family.  This year we went to Lake Travis in Austin and rented a wonderful house on the lake with a pool.  We all had a great time despite the over 100 degree weather.

 Lydia loved the pool and playing with Uncle Brendan

Harley loved the big backyard even though she had to share it with Huckleberry

Here's Sam making ice cream with Nana and Grandpa

Huckles was trying to get in to making ice cream too

Mary and Huckles hug so sweetly

Lydia and Huckles got along really well

Sam showed Lydia his games and shared really well with her

Each morning and right before dinner we would get in the pool - Lydia loved Sam's sunglasses and playing with Uncle Paul in the pool

Just chilling on the back porch in her UT Longhorn attire

First Ferris Wheel Ride...

We went to The Aquarium downtown with Blair's parents and nieces last weekend.  It was so much fun and we think this was the first time for Lydia to see fish.  Dinner was pretty good and Lydia had her first hamburger (well, a couple of bites of Blair's burger).  She liked it too, so no vegetarian for this girl.
After dinner we walked around the carnival games and rides outside.  We took a ferris wheel ride and Lydia, Charlotte and Caroline had a great time and none of them were scared at all of the height.  We were above the freeway and it was very entertaining for them.
Even though Lydia's face doesn't look like she was having fun in the pictures, I promise she was smiling most of the time...just not for picture time.

Charlotte and Lydia eating dinner

I was telling Blair how handsome he is and Lydia gave me this look like - "gosh Mom, just take the picture already". 

Honey loves being with her grand-girls.  You can see we are above 45 here.  The girls are watching Caroline as she is entertaining all of us.

Caroline really wanted to hold Lydia.  Sure, why not while we are 100 feet up in the air.  Charlotte just wanted to watch the cars on the freeway.  All these girls are fearless!!

Last picture of the night in front of the carousel.  Lydia is super tired and ready to go, but had so much fun with her cousins!

July/August with Lydia

In late July...

Lydia got to go to her first birthday party where she was invited as a friend, not as the baby of Lisa and Blair.  The swim party was fantastic and Lydia even got a party favor (the pink chair), which she is in love with.  She sits in it every day and is now trying to stand up in it.

In early August...

On August 5th, Lydia was 9 months old.  We went to the Dr. for our 9 month check up.  We in the waiting room and her face says it all about the experience...not a fan.

She is in the 87th percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight at 21 lbs.  She is so tall that she can now reach our locks on the doors.  Good thing she can't turn them or we would have an escapee on our hands.

I'm not really sure what to say about this picture.  Lydia's "mad" face makes me crack up.  She sticks her bottom lip out and her cheeks just get bigger.  As Aunt Mary says "How can you take her serious when she's so darn cute?"