Thanks to Boo and Pops

A HUGE thank you to Boo and Pops for an incredible weekend. We all had an amazing time and the vacation definitely is one of the best in memory. We can never repay you for all you did for us this weekend. Thank you, thank you.

Boo and Pops enjoy the sun and surf.

The parting family photo.

Modified Moby Dick

We substituted a shark for a whale and Jaxson for the ship's crew.

Jaxson Meets The Gulf of Mexico

First encounter of the water and Jaxson.

Lounging beach side with a cold drink.

Waving good-bye to the waves for the day. (Credit to Robyn for this photo).

Sand, Surf, Shopping, and Bingo??

Sunday was the first chance we had to explore the island, wonder through the local tourist traps (souvenir shops), enjoy the beaches, and to let the kids be kids and the adults be bigger kids.

After a day of shopping and swimming, we met up with the Barron family for a cook-out that would have made kings jealous. Grilled lobster and shrimp, homemade tamales, fresh pico and guacamole, brauts, and grilled corn-on-the-cob; not a bad dinner to have on a Sunday night with the sunsetting and the waves lapping against the shores.

After dinner, the games began. Since my mother and JR are game junkies, they had to get their fix. With some bingo, hula-hoop contest, and the inevitable egg toss. (which Robyn and I should have won but we "let" the kids win)

A photographer for the suites stopped by while we were all enjoying the evening and snapped a few shots of the families to be in their next brochure, so we will hopefully get a copy of those when they are published.

Coastal Bound

Rested and rejuvenated, we re-packed the car and continued our journey south towards Port-A. With less than two hours of drive-time ahead of us, the anticipation of burying our feet in the sand and letting the sun tingle our skin was growing.

With a few slight "detours" on the way, we made it to Port-A just after three o'clock. With pizza by the pool, we got a chance to relax and reflect on the day before the boys headed out to our overnight blue-water fishing trip on the fishing catamaran named the Scat-Cat.

Isn't this a wonderful sight......

Miles and Miles of Texas

With the bags packed, a supply of diapers and formula for a small army, flip-flops and beach towels in tow and everyone loaded up; the Wheat's headed south towards the Texas coastal town of Port Aransas to enjoy a family vacation with Boo, Pops, Chad, Jen, Booger (Jaycee), and Cody-Man (Cody).

With a long drive ahead of us, we decided to make a mini-vacation out of the road trip and spend Friday night in Shiner, Texas. I have always heard that Shiner is a interesting small town, and I also heard that they make a good Texas beer there......

We could not have asked for a better stopping point for the road trip. We grabbed a room at the Shiner Motel Inn, had dinner at Werner's, and then woke up Saturday morning and had kolaches, donuts, and coffee. We met some great locals and then spent a few hours in the town's central park swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides, having a quick photo shoot at the town's bandstand, and finally just enjoying a morning that was more like a Norman Rockwell painting.

Drum Roll Please.....

After much anticipation and beggin from all seven of my blog readers, the final and best reason to be at the beach this summer is upon us.

#1 Reason To Be At The Beach: The People.

The beach brings out the kid in everyone. At a beach, you will see big burly men picking up sea shells and building sand castles. You will see boys throwing the football and making diving catches. Frisbees are tossed around at will. Runners, strollers, and bikers are strewn about like ants on an ant hill.

No other place in the world can so many different activities be happening at the same time with such a wide variety of people. Everyone is in a joyful mood and stress takes a back seat to beach towels and island time.

Next time you hit the beach, take a second to relax and watch what is going on around you.

Enjoy life's moments like they should be enjoyed.

Countdown Continues...

#2 Best Reason To Be At The Beach: Views.

As simple as it sounds, one of the true joys of being at the beach is simply just taking in what is around you. Sitting on the sand, feet buried in the cool sand, a slight breeze coming in off the water, and the slightest taste of salt on your lips - that is one of life's true peaceful and joyful moments.

Having Jaxson with us this year will make moments like this much sweeter. With him moments away from crawling and standing, maybe the beach will be his inspiration and he will be moving and shaking up the beaches of "Port-A." To go along with all the just mentioned items, watching him eat sand and enjoy the gentle splash of the waves rolling in will be special and will be high on my memories list.

The Countdown Begins

We can almost taste the salt on out lips at this point. The entire family is headed down to Port Aransas this weekend for a long weekend get-a-way. This will be Bambino's first trip to a beach, so you know we gotta do a blog post.

I thought the best way to celebrate the event was to do a countdown of the top three reasons to be at the beach, one per day starting today and ending Thursday. (we will be on the road most of the day Friday, so a post may be hard to come by)

#3 Best Reason To Be At The Beach: Sandcastles. They are timeless and ageless. No matter your age, a sandcastle is inevitable when you hit the sand and surf. Sandcastles can be simplistic and consist of one tower and a moat, you can simply bury your feet and call that a castle, or you can go all out and built and entire sand city or even go one step further and build objects that would be way to hard in any other medium besides sand.

So, sit back, think about your younger days and the castles you built.....

Kinda Like A Bar Mitzvah, But Not Really.

A bar mitzvah recognizes a Jewish boy as an adult who can make their own decisions and participate within the Jewish community. Jaxson had an event tonight that is not so recognizable or monumental, but he is now one step closer to becoming a man. With so much to do in a man's life, where does he go for answers....

LOWE'S!!!

Tonight after dinner, daddy had to make a pit stop at Lowe's to let Jaxson explore the wonderful world of power tools, fertilizer, bar-b-que grills, and John Deere tractors.

And yes, just about everything a man would ever need lies within the big box that we call Lowe's.

Who's Bringing the Bibs and Butter?

Jaxson must have thought we were headed out to dinner to enjoy some crab..sorry buddy, just burgers this time around.

Sawyer Pulls Up A Chair.

Having a kid is a monumental change in lifestyle, everyone tells you that but you never really understand until you are a parent. So, it is nice to have dinner with friends that are in the same boat as you. Talk always turns to "When did your son do this, or that?" or the infamous BM talks (you will probably only understand this is you have kids).

Thanks to Jennifer, Sean, and Sawyer (5-Months old) for joining us for dinner tonight (Robyn and Jennifer were good friends back in the day in high school and have reconnected with the addition to children to each of their lives.)

Sawyer is definitely a bundle of joy. I have never seen a kid recognize and enjoy themselves as much as he did when he was looking in the mirrors.

Hopefully this won't be the first and last time for dinner for the six of us, we had a great time and would love to connect with them again in the near future.

Pictures From The Market

Exploration of the playground equipment begins.
Reminds me of a goldfish in a fishbowl.

Intently watching the other kids.

The treadmill work-out begins.

The Rain Gods Take A Day Off

With that bright shiny round thing that we call the sun creeping through the clouds, it was an absolute perfect evening to listen to some good live music, hang out with the Long's, and let the kids be kids.

After 45 straight days of some sort of rain fall in the DFW area, the rain gods held off finally and let us enjoy a beautiful evening. We met Beckett and his mom and dad at Central Market for some cold drinks, good food, and great music.

The setting is perfect. You can go inside, grab your preference of beer/wine and then bring it out to the patio and then just sit back and relax. With a small playground area next to the stage, the kiddos are able to entertain themselves while the adults relax. With the only catch being that you have to show up early to find a table, it is not a bad way to spend a Friday evening.

Jaxson enjoyed the music with his occasional rendition of the "Tootsie-Roll" and Beckett is more than happy to keep you entertained with his impersonation of a drunken sailor.

One of the better parts of the evening had to be when all the boys headed to the playground to stretch our legs and find some new friends. Beckett's attempts to climb the slide proved to be just that, attempts. It was basically a built in treadmill for babies, except I think he actually thought he was headed somewhere. Jaxson maintained his typical laid back approached and just let the world pass by. As soon as Jaxson learns to stand and move like Beckett, I see some future all boys trips to the local parks for some dirt-eating and mud-slinging.

Profile.

Reflections in Time

People always say that they can see the parents in the children. This may be too literal of an example, but with Jaxson waiting at the door or daddy to get home, I couldn't help but take a few snapshots.

A Long Dinner

A HUGE thank you to Christian and Karla for an incredible dinner on Tuesday night. Karla did an excellent job of cooking (inside and outside) while simultaneously feeding Beckett; would have been cooler if she could have done it with one hand tied behind her back and blind-folded, but we can only ask for so much as guest.

The two families have shared some great times over the past 10-months watching the little guys "grow" up together. When the two kiddos get together, you can sense that they know each other and they have an absolute blast playing together. Beckett is a mover and shaker with his Spider-Man like qualities of scurrying from one side of the room to the other, while Jax just sites back and enjoys the show and giggles at the doggies.

The big-boys ended the night by catching a late showing of Transformers, not a bad way to end a great evening with some very close and dear friends. One day the little-boys can join us and we can catch a late showing of He-Man vs. G.I. Joe or Barney Goes to Walley World...the possibilities are endless.

Stars and Stripes

Bambino had a busy first 4th of July. Started off the morning in downtown Arlington for the annual parade with Mimi, Boo and Pops and 1,000 of our closest friends. I can't think of a better way to spend Independence Day then paying our respects to the men and women that fought and are still fighting for our freedom. Without them, this day would not be possible.

A few highlights from the parade include Jaxson's fixations with the John Deere tractors, the local high school drum lines, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders - in no particular order. Not sure what it was about the tractors that grabbed his attention, but that was by far the best part for him. His dad liked the cheerleaders best.

After a long nap, we finished up the day by meeting Boo and Pops for dinner. With a view of the river and the Fort Worth skyline in the background, we were treating to a nice dinner with a good live band good family. We tried to stick around for the big fireworks that were going to happen across the river in the Botanical Gardens, but the mosquitos and sleepiness drove us away.

If you close your eyes really tight, you will see the same "fireworks" that Jaxson saw on his first 4th of July. Sorry buddy, we tried to keep you up, maybe we will have better luck next year.

To all the veterans and troops, God bless you and please come home safe.

Rude Awakening

Burgers, Diner Style

I am always a huge fan of hitting some local small mom-and-pop style eateries around town, and this afternoon we found a good one. Jaxson's overalls and white t-shirt 50's flashback outfit blended well with the glass block partition walls, teal tile and cushions, and the stainless steel sit down bar at Tom's Grill & Burgers off of I-30 and Cooper St.

Bambino's eyes had that "deer in a head light look" when the server brought out the onion rings (some of the best I have ever had) and the big burger, too bad he had to stick with the chicken and tater tots.

The kids knack for ladies became apparent once again as the lady behind the counter took a liking to the little guy pretty quickly, even though she did call Jaxson a SHE......

Not only was the food great, but they also had some local beer which is always a nice addition to a good burger.