We (me, Aunt Barbara, and all four boys) left for Houston Monday morning. We had a fairly easy drive, and I dropped Barbara off at her mother-in-law's home in Katy. We all trooped in to use the facilities and stretch our legs, but hurried out as soon as possible. I've never seen so many lovely, breakable things in one home in my life (nothing was broken, BTW.)
We arrived in Spring around lunch, and Kristina had things ready for us. We got settled, unpacked, and got the babies down for naps without too much trouble. Her home is stunning, and we had fun exploring everywhere. The kids played, we visited, and that evening Troy (Kristina's patient husband) cooked out. We enjoyed hamburgers outside and got the big boys to bed fairly easily. That first night Reid, Luke and Owen slept on a pallet in Owen's room, but after that they commandeered Owen's bed for themselves and Owen slept downstairs with his mama.
She had snuck out of Kristina's bed, climbed the stairs, gone into her room (shutting the door behind her), pulled a chair over to Cole's pack-n-play, helped him climb out, and they were happily playing with her dolls in the dark. She's not even THREE. And after they were all put back into bed? She did it again. Have I mentioned how much she loves her Coleybear? Only the next morning did I discover that after I had gone to my room, they were a caught a third time. Kristina and I used to joke that it was going to be a perfect arranged marriage between those two, but obviously we're going to have to keep them apart until they are 30. Then they can get married.
On Tuesday, we stayed home and played (Star Wars, trampoline, trains, Star Wars, dinosaurs, trampoline, hotwheels, etc, etc, etc.) After naptime, we took the kids to the pool just down the street, and the outing was uneventful. Except that I let the lifeguard take a picture of all of us, realizing only later that I had allowed someone to document me in a bathing suit. And now I'm going to post it on the internet, just to completely push my own boundries of decency.
On Wednesday, Kristina took Owen, Reid and Luke (along with two other family friends) to the Houston Children's museum. I stayed home with Cole, MG and Gray. How hard could that be? Anyway, the boys LOVED the museum, but didn't get to see near enough of it. A perfect excuse to visit again soon! We did our usual crazy dance with dinner, baths and bedtime, and everyone went to sleep happy.
All in all, it was a fabulous trip, and we are so grateful for the Pierce's hospitality. Kristina and I finally got to finish a conversation (something never accomplished when she lived in Austin and took care of the boys for me - somehow we were distracted by 47 children at our feet), and the boys had so much fun with Owen and McKenzie Grace.
A final note on a previous post: my mom commented on Sarah and I needing to have the house clean before we leave town. She claims full responsibility for this personality trait, and explained that is the exact reason she is always late to our house when she comes to visit. Duly noted. She also mentioned that when she was in ACTIVE LABOR, about to have a baby any nanosecond, she took the time to carefully make her bed before leaving for the hospital. Classic.
So, on behalf of the Fite women:
2......4......6.......8.....
Who do we appreciate?
OCD! OCD! OCD!