One of the kid’s favorite things to do is feed the ducks and birds in the canal… the ducks we have seen a few times, this one always comes with a mate – then we have a bachelor that has visited us a few times as well. The birds are the birds, but it’s really cool how close they will get to you!
We got up early this past Saturday and went in search of the shrimporee parade in Aransas Pass. Unfortunately, my camera died early on, but I still got a few pictures (the clown is my favorite, they kids like HEBuddy – of course!). We had a great time even thought it was hotter than hot out there. We got a great spot and were able to look at all the floats and fun stuff. Well worth the effort to get there!
I don’t remember if the cow was a mascot or if he was just a cow… the candy we got was ridiculous though… the kids ended up with a huge amount.
Tom and I thought this was one cool dude…
The unicycle guy was there representing the library
There were 3 or 4 fire trucks there. It’s a small town, I wonder if they were all there and what would have happened if a fire broke out?
Thanks, Aransas Pass, for a great memory!
When we went through Aransas Pass to get to Rockport, we kept seeing signs for a “Shrimporee“, so we googled it. It is a festival (61 years and counting) with carnival rides and games, food, shows and fun. We were SO there! I was really hoping for a guy dressed in a shrimp costume, but we didn’t see one. Cassie was still a little sore about the whole “kissing her Daddy” thing, so I thought I could win her back over by bribing her with carnival games. 4 small stuffed animals later, I think she forgives me.
I have some other pictures to share of the parade, but for now, here are some things from the shrimporee grounds:
My niece, Marie, tried the trampoline bungee thing… my kids were too wimpy to do such a thing!
Speaking of Marie… this child had never had a funnel cake. My sister is obviously depriving this child… we got her one and she licked the powdered sugar off the plate when she finished polishing it off…
Cassie wanted to go on the carousel, of course. Tom took the other kids on the Farris wheel. 
But the best part of the day was when I was kicking myself repeatedly for not bringing my big camera. We saw the Pacific Islanders (no fire show because of the winds, I was seriously bummed) and Tom got invited up on stage to have a hula contest. The man can’t move his hips, he looks like a duck, I have video too, just need to get it downloaded and edited. Yes, I will be sharing the fun 
In the mean time…
You got to hand it to him though… my man is a good sport. We got a photo op picture afterwards…
Our friends and housemates last week offered to watch the kids so we could have a date night. I told Cassie that I was going to go on a date with “her Daddy” and she got a little offended. To make matters worse, I informed here that yes, I would kiss her Daddy. She didn’t believe that I would commit such a heinous act, so I took a picture to show her. She got all flustered and a little angry with me. Apparently I’m not allowed to kiss “her Daddy”. Possessive little thing, isn’t she?
We went to this amazing little Italian place called Bellino’s (and I will be writing a review for my review blog soon). But the food was fantastic. If you are ever in Rockport TX, you must check this place out. I had the Pollo Piccata and it was one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever had. And the pasta was done to perfection. So so so good. Plus we had a great time. It was nice that the restaurant was so fabulous, but even if it was horrible, we almost always manage to have a good time. After we went looking for a Starbucks and I looked it up on my phone. It said there was one, but once we got lost trying to find it and ran into it, it was closed down. I think we laughed so hard we got a tummy ache Anyway, check this place out… and don’t kiss “Cassie’s Daddy”… she might get all huffy!
We have been here in Rockport, TX for a week now. Dy and her family are leaving today but we are spending one more week and Tom’s family will join us for the 2nd week. I haven’t taken many photos, but we’ve had a blast, the pool, the beach, the aquarium, hanging around, fishing, and more… this is a photo dump from my cell phone. I hope to have other pictures later on… but we love it here. We are considering making this a yearly thing (or every other year). Heck, honestly, I wish we could get a 2nd home here and rent it out when we aren’t using it… long term goals, right? (shhh, don’t let my CPA see that!). My niece, Marie, is here for the next month still, (obviously she’ll be coming back to Austin with us) 
This is the view down the canal from the house we are staying at from the balcony in the morning. It’s gorgeous. These are the first shots that I have taken with my Palm Pre. It takes amazing photos, really.
Fishing and relaxing… and goofing off…
We took the kids to the Aquarium in Corpus..
We went to Maker Faire this year again. We had a really great time and can’t wait to do it again. It’s such a geeky fun thing to do. Cassie made a kite, they both made penny parachutes and peeps, we saw the Tesla coil rock show, the kids painted pumpkins and rode a teeter totter, we watched a puppet show during lunch, we saw the eepy birds, oh we just did so so so much, that’s just what I got photos of! A full day of fun was had by all.
Seriously, folks, it worth every penny – go the next time it comes. You won’t regret it…
I threw the pictures into a slid eshow – enjoy!
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Tom came home wanting to make Tesla coils and the kids want to “explode the house”. Ummm… help?
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If you read our review blog, you know we thought this place sucked majorly, you can even see in the pictures the kids are underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, they had an okay time, but after 2 hours, we were done and ready to leave. No one wanted to do anything again (well, they wanted to go to the “beach” again, but there were just so many rocks and we’d had enough of stubbed toes and slipping around. Anyway, without further ado…
You’ll see pics of Marie, my 9 year old niece a good bit over the next week or two. She was here early this month and I’m WAY behind on posting pictures…
I’m still getting used to the little P&S water camera we bought, so some of them suck, but oh well. You will all live. Somehow.
Here they are walking from the parking lot, filled with so much hope and desire for fun…
Only to have those hopes dashed…
They did have SOME fun though…
—> I’ve been blogging like crazy this week, so keep going, there’s lots here! <---
So, today was the day we promised the kids we would decorate the tree and house. We also said we’d do outside, but it’s bitterly cold and raining, so they had to get disappointed there – we only have a few things for outside anyway.
So, I (even though I’m sick) take the kids to Target while Tom unpacks the stuff in peace – oh trust me here, if they had been here they would’ve driven him crazy – plus I think I got the better end of that deal. We were on a mission for a tree topper… the kids found one. I thought it was going to be WAY too big. It was. We get home and we were all dying laughing at this thing bending over and swaying back and forth. We don’t have a tiny tree, but that thing was made for a Texas-Sized tree for sure!
So, we decide to ALL go back to the store and the only one we could find is this hideous silver thing, but whatever… it fits. Well… more on that story below with pictures to guide you. *laugh*
So, here’s the pictures to share…
While Tom fussed around with getting the big tree set up, we got the kids busy decorating the little tree..
So, we finally got it… how? Look closely. Yeah. Tom wrapped the top of the tree around it. *laugh*
It was so rainy and yucky for the first week Marie was here, we have been trying to jam in as much as we can (she leaves on Tuesday). So, Wednesday night, very late, we decided to go to Sea World. (Can I just say that I love what I do? Who else can decided at 11pm at night to disappear for the day?).
Anyway, so off we went, we got stuck in traffic on the way there, so we got there around 11:30. We first went to see the 3D Pirates show. Cassie did okay, but after the bees, bats, and spider, she was done and I had to take her out of the theater. She tried though. The older kids thought it was AWESOME.
Then we headed over to feed and pet the dolphins (this is always just too cool – Marie is the queen of dolphin sounds so she thought this was the bee’s knees).
Waiting for the dolphins…
One dolphin does a swim by looking for fish…
Aha! Fish are served!
Humoring me by posting for a couple of pictures on the way to the next thing…
Next up was the Viva! show. This is my favorite show – and at the end of the day, Jamie said this one was his favorite too – he liked the “funny guy”.
Here they are waiting on the show to start cooling off with the fans and watching the funny guy (hehehehe… he looks like he’s peeing in one of those – yeah, I’m 12).
The dolphins…
The beluga whales…
While we were on our way there, my phone rang… a good friend of mine was actually at Sea World, but we didn’t know! Luckily a mutual friend knew and clued us in. They were doing the water park part of it (smart – it was HOT), but we still met up for lunch and this REALLY cheesy show Shamu’s Beach Party – the kids loved it though and it was great to have lunch with friends! Awesome!
The kids had a great time dancing with the actors and having lunch together. The kids were mesmerized because we had ages 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, AND 9 there. Wow, all in a row. It’s a pattern! LOL!
Next up was the Penguins. I had to deal with a few emails, so I gave the camera to Tom – you will notice there are NO penguin pictures. Even Marie looked doubtful of his photographic abilities.
Marie wanted to ride a roller coaster and we didn’t want to have to stand in line at one of the big ones, so she and Tom took a spin on the Shamu Xpress in the kids area.
Then we started walking towards the big one… yes – Believe – the Shamu show. Jamie and Cassie were SO cute. While we were waiting on Tom and Marie to go on their ride, we did the “throw the ball until you win” for $5) and they both got stuffed Shamus. (Marie played the fishing game and got a small stuffed dragon). So, here they are walking – what you can’t see is how they are “swimming” their dolls along. It was so freaking cute!
And then the Shamu show. Marie and Cassie said this was their favorite. Tom, who held Cassie on his lap so she could see well, said she was crying a little and when he asked why she told him “it’s just so pretty”. LOL.
We decided to swing by the Sharks/Coral reef. WAY cool… (and air conditioned!)
… and humoring me some more by posing for pictures on the way out the gate.
