Captain Dude!

For those of you that know me, and my long-standing fear of water, you may be surprised to know that I suggested a harbour tour instead of the beach today (Wednesday). The idea of seeing dolphins apparently overrode any other thoughts. So we packed up for downtown (a much easier task) and bypassed a very windy beach for the day. Our tour didn't leave until 4pm, so we had a leisurely day exploring the Strand and all of its offerings. A nice quiet day that may have left me more sunkissed than I would have liked....and Caleb hyped up on a little too much sugar (but what else are vacations for?)!

Our little explorer! At this point he was enjoying the effects of pez followed by a peppermint.

We were so excited to find this large chess board! It was so much fun!

Thank you God for my family! I love them to pieces!

And now the ice-cream cone. He was wired after this!

He actually sat still for 30 seconds!

He didn't want Pop to leave without him. Both he and Pop loved his little joyride...so did everyone else at La King's (our favourite ice-cream shop downtown)!

Caleb showed no fear at the start of his first boat adventure! Good looking boys eh?!?!

Like I said, no fear!

I did a pretty good job not letting on when I was nervous...and I did enjoy the ride most of the time! Caleb hunkered down when it got too windy and popped up when it suited him.

Captain Dude!

p.s. no dolphins! Booo!

xoxoxoxoxoLove to you all!xoxoxxoxoxo

A Caleb's View of Galveston

Caleb's Aunty Cara-Lee and Uncle Brandon gave him a camera for his second birthday. He always loved using it, even though his little fingers couldn't reach around to the button on the front...so he would use it backwards and take lots of pictures of his nose and eyeball. However, his little fingers are a bit bigger now and he is becoming quite the photographer. Here are a few pictures that show Galveston through his eyes!



Tellicans!

Yes. I said Tellicans. Caleb has informed us that the big-billed birds out in the gulf are not pelicans, but tellicans. So there you are. We have been told.

Happy Birthday Grammy! I won't tell everyone how old you are...but lets just say that 60 got a little closer...love ya Mom! We had a very leisurely morning before packing up another picnic and heading out to the beach. We went to a different spot on the seawall today and enjoyed a few hours out in the sun and the sand. There was alot more wind today, so we were unable to put up an umbrella...so Grammy and Pop ended up hunkering down in a shelter that they supposedly bought for Chai....and no, I didn't get a picture. I will be sure to make that a priority next time!

We didn't build a sandcastle today. I was wondering why we build sandcastles? Why not houses? So our project today was a nice little sandhouse with a rather large shark scultpure on top. We were quite pleased. Brian built a large driveway down to the water that they had a lot of fun filling with water. Again. No picture. I failed. Oh...and Caleb may have disappeared for a short time....perhaps he was buried? Maybe?

We packed up a bit earlier today and after getting cleaned up we went shopping at Murdoch's (our fave Galveston souvenir hotspot) and scored a little ice-cream. We cooked in the condo tonight and if I can say so myself (since I made it), it was delicious. Now for the drumroll...Caleb chose TINKERBELL for Grammy's birthday theme. What a good boy! He also decorated the cake himself with icing in his favourite colour! Yeah for Yellow!

Thank goodness Brian and I are feeling much better now. And I am very happy to report that I am on day two of no pain in almost two months. Perhaps we have a date night coming up! Love to you all! xoxo

Sea Gulls, Snails, Puppies and Ketchup

Marvelous Monday! Okay...so technically it is Tuesday, but we were so blissfully tired last night that I forgot to blog until we were headed off to bed and I didn't feel like it at that point. So I am sitting here at the breakfast table with a view of the gulf while Caleb enjoys Jake and the Neverland Pirates (he is in heaven since we lost the Disney channel a few months ago and it is one of his favourite shows!).

Yesterday was a lot of fun! It really was a marvelous Monday. Since last weekend was so crazy, we had decided to postpone Mother's Day until yesterday. It was much better to celebrate it on vacation! Plus I got to celebrate with my Mom, so even better! We had a leisurely morning and headed off to the beach with picnic lunches and every sand toy imaginable! We were "those" people walking from the car to our spot of choice....every adult carting at least three or four things! But we were comfortable for our entire five hours at the beach, so no complaints! We consider the trek to and from our car the daily workout!

Caleb immediatly discovered the seagulls! He would demand them to come over to him and told me that he wanted us to stop so that they would come and land on him. The fascination never wore off and he spent the day chasing after them and trying to be their friends. Since shrimp abounded in the surf, they stayed close all day! He LOVES the sand. We got out of the car (the parking lot is in the sand) and he didn't even pause before lying down in it and wiggling around! Anytime we had to make the pilgrimage to the bathrooms, he would tell us that he was a snail and get on his belly to squirm his way there. Yes. He was very sandy at the end of the day. Very. Very.

After building sandcastles and chasing birds, we started treasure hunting in the surf. At about 2pm the waves starting bringing in some really big shells. I found Caleb a very large crab claw and Brian caught for him a baby shrimp and some crabs. The treasures we didn't give back to the sea are proudly displayed in Caleb's treasure bucket, hopefully to be joined by new friends today.

Our dude's energy completely amazes us. Despite a loss of sleep (his new air mattress and spiderman sheets did not whisk him off to a quick dreamland our first night) he never stopped moving all day! Dr Guetersloh has always told us that Caleb won't gain much weight because he just burns it off with all of his energy! After we got back to our condo, we were getting ready for dinner and he was just motoring at 200%! He decided that he was a puppy, attached Chai's leash to his shorts and proceeded to walk like a puppy the whole way to the car! This child must have abs of steel!

And our final anecdote of the day. Ketchup. We were eating our delicious seafood (a favourite for all of us, including the dude) when we all failed to notice that Caleb had gotten quiet...and the ketchup bottle was missing. Then we heard the ominous blurp and looked down to find Caleb covered in ketchup (around his eyes, on his shirt, on mommy...you get the idea). He just sat down with the bottle between his legs and squeezed. Aren't three year olds fun! We think so!

Love to you all! I am going to make pancakes and my Mom's birthday cake now! Caleb decided on her party theme too....so check back later!

xoxoxoxoxo

Caleb wanted to get buried in the sand first thing! And Daddy obliged. Mommy wasn't allowed to help.

Grammy and Pop chillaxing!

Chai loved the sand...but NOT the water!

Trying to catch them a seagull!

Filling the moat of our masterpiece! Mostly Brian's masterpiece....

Caleb loved the water this year! Just runs right in!

WAHOO!!!!!!

WE'RE HERE!!!

Oh Galveston! You are magnificent! We are weary from a week of preschooler fevers, a mommy and daddy with strep throat, and a too long roadtrip with drivers not at their best....and Galveston...you look so good!

We arrived a little after 5pm and found Grammy and Pop in our fabulous condo with little surprises for Caleb placed all around our new home! A nice stroll down the seawall (yes, we are beachfront!) to a wonderful deli for dinner and then down to the beach so that Caleb could be reunited with his best friend....sand!

We are so glad to be here! We can't wait to head down to the beach tomorrow with sand toys and beach chairs in tow. Caleb's obessession with sand is alive and well, so we anticipate many hours of castle building and digging!

Can't you sense the excitement! God bless you all! I will do my best to update every night!

xoxox The Alfords on Vacay!

Happy Birthday Spider-Daddy!

Okay, so in order to understand today's theme, we have to rewind about oh, a year. Caleb got a kid's meal with a spiderman action figure as the toy...his first introduction to said superhero. He liked spidey, put him on his window (with his suction cup hands) and we thought that was the end of it. A few months later Caleb started noticing Spidey everywhere and would get very excited. Cute. We thought that was it. Fast forward to a few months ago, and we noticed that our dude is REALLY into Spiderman. Case in point, see photo above. We were at the Arboretum and our dude did not hestitate to declare what he wanted for his first face paint adventure! So, with that said...you can now understand why Caleb decided that Daddy needed a Spiderman party!

Our little dude totally gets birthdays now! And this one was great because Daddy turned 33! That means that Caleb and Daddy are both all 3s! Very exciting! He helped make the cake yesterday and was really into helping put out the spiderman tablecloth and napkins and whatnot...he was not, however, as thrilled about my borrowing a few of his action figures to decorate the cake....he got over it because he got to eat the cake. And if you don't know Brian, he loves chess. We don't get to play much anymore, but I jumped at the chance to buy some chocolate molds to make a 3d chess set. Nobody talked me out of it, so I found myself wondering this afternoon why I thought it was a good idea. It didn't turn out too bad for a first go....

As you can see, Spiderman is facing down Sandman before they begin their harrowing game!

So all of that aside....HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN! You are an amazing husband and father and we are so blessed to have you in our lives! Thank you for all that you do! We love you with all of our hearts! I want to gush some more, but it is late, you are taking out the trash, and I know that we need to get some sleep before our dude wakes up for his 2am potty break...followed by his 6am potty break.

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!BRIAN!

xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Swim and Such

Brian and I are not the parents that lament the fact that our little dude is indeed getting older. We love every new phase and welcome the new adventures that another calendar year brings! With this said, it has been so much fun watching him get involved in new sports and activities! He just finished up a full year of gymnastics at WOGA which was amazing! It was the best outlet for his NEVERENDING energy and he was really good at it. He had private swimming lessons last year that did wonders for his confidence in the water and then he did a month of Soccer in February. He loved every minute of all of it! He has been asking for months about when he gets to play soccer again (he is signed up for the summer) and if he can swim at the big pool (Athletic Center). So yesterday he started swim lessons again and jumped right into it without any hestitation. He has a definite athletic streak that we can't wait to see develop! He says that he is practicing for the beach (a week and a half and counting!)!

Of course it wouldn't do to go off to swimming lessons without a best bud playdate first! Trevor and Caleb have begun to talk to each other on the phone too. Their conversations usually go something like this:

"Trevor?" "Caleb?" "HI!" "Do you want to come over?" "Yes!" "Okay!"

Adorable right! I tried to get it on video today, but they did not cooperate. Caleb is quite the conversationalist on the phone. If you know how expressive he is while he talks, you would understand why I usually spend that time in stitches listening to him!

And finally, Caleb's little ladies, Leah and Emily, came over a while this morning. Caleb has always been obessessed with babies and loves interacting with them! He is so gentle and would have been a great big brother! He was very intent on making sure that Emily was happy and would give her toys and hold the mirror so that she could see in it! Emily rewarded him with some coos and adorable smiles that he positively ate up!

Stay tuned: while Brian had no opinion on how to celebrate his birthday tomorrow, Caleb did! Which is why Brian will ring in his 33rd year with a Spiderman party!