tx In REviEW

while alex worked and studied and studied and worked, the kids and i spent the past few weeks in texas. as i mentioned before, we came right after ike hit, so the first week and a half were spent with sean and tara in college station while waiting for power to be restored in lake jackson. they welcomed our brood open-armed and ready to entertain, and we love them to bits for it. tara captures it all quite creatively here. it was so wonderful to spend time with sean and tara since we don't get to see them as often as we'd like.
lake jackson greeted us with easy, breezy, cloudless days. our schedule involved lots of time outside, cocktails on the porch in the afternoon, and plenty of exploration time for hutch. between my parents' huge yard, shrimp boats, the zoo and mini-train, and the envoys of utility trucks in town, the kid had the best day of his life every day. it only would have been better if daddy were there.
now that we're back, hutch is seriously missing all of the attention he received in the weeks after elsa's birth from both sides of the family. he'll do roll call of every name he knows and constantly asks where everyone is. he has two adaptations of names that are the best and most appropriate i've heard in awhile. in trying to call my mom 'grandmommy', he says "McMomma," and our dog burt is officially "Burp." he's even been bringing me the camera and requesting the person he'd like to see a picture of. the kid's a people-person.
sweet elsa began smiling while we were gone and really hasn't stopped whenever she's awake. she's sleeping through the night, bless her soul, and continues to think her car seat is a torture device.
we had a great, great trip, and it was a huge chance for alex to focus on his test, which takes place in two weeks time--hey-o!