Trip to the Hottest Place on Earth, Purdy style

This year for Memorial Day weekend we visited San Antonio with my parents, sisters, brother-in-laws and kiddos, and we had a ball. My parents take this motley crew on vacation every other summer and this year we thought San Antonio would be a great place for the kids. They had never been to the Riverwalk, or Sea World and we girls love La Cantera Mall so off we headed to the Hottest place on Earth for a fun-filled family vacation! Things started out great. We checked into the Wyndham Riverwalk hotel and went to dinner.

Here's me an my sweet Lila, our honorary third child.

Honey and her granddaughters (the three C's were left at home for this trip so we just had 5 kids with us.)

After a 10 mile walk in the heat (really just 1.5 miles but seriously the hottest I've been in a while) we made it to Mi Tierra and had a great Mexican feast.

The five older, wilder cousins. This picture pretty much sums up all of their personalities!

After dinner we made the smartest decision ever to ride on an air-conditioned trolley to go see the Alamo.

The middle 3 cousins---don't let these smiles fool ya:).

And the older two BFFs

Ahhh the Alamo. Ryan loved reading all about the battle and had a million and one questions about the war, who won, why they lost, etc. It's getting harder to answer his very thoughtful questions these days. Thankful for iphone Google!

After walking in the heat, having dinner at Mi Tierra, riding a Trolley and visiting the Alamo we should have gone home but...we decided to stand in the Riverboat line. This was not such a great idea and after a long wait Honey got us rainchecks, and we promtly headed home and went to bed. The next morning was the perfect time to ride the boat on the Riverwalk. A lot less people, at least 20 degrees cooler and we could see ducks, which was the best thing to three of our 13!

Ally and her sidekick Lila

My boys

This was my favorite day. We walked around the Riverwalk, then the girls headed to La Cantera! This would not have been possible or fun at all with the kids. The daddies blessed us by taking the kids swimming and then to see Kung Fu Panda 2. This was a unexpected gift and gave us the entire day to relax, shop and finish sentences and thoughts without interruptions. Thank you Mark, Stacey, Josh and GP!!

We met one of Kacey's best friends Kelly at the Kona Grill for lunch and had a wonderful time catching up with her and her firstborn daughter. Kelly was always at our house growing up and then she went to TTU also so I feel like we helped raise this beautiful girl.

After a long day of shopping we met the rest of the gang at Chama Gaucha and Mark's brother Mike for a wonderful dinner. This is Ryan's favorite steakhouse--he ate more meat than I've ever seen him eat.

Day 3 was SEA WORLD!

These guys were very excited

Sea World is something else. It started off fine. We got there wearing our suits because the heat is unbearable unless you're a little wet. And took these pics:

Don't worry I bought squinty Ryan a pair of sunglasses immediately! The kids had a great day at Sea World but this momma did not enjoy it. A couple of things that would have been nice to know prior to this place.

The shows are good but not great.

Never go to any sort of theme park on a holiday weekend.

Make sure all the kids know the plan ya know just in case someone gets lost (Side note: We lost Wyatt for 30 minutes...he was completely fine and fortunately Caryn missed the drama but my nerves were shot after that!)

Make sure you stay hydrated because have I mentioned it's hot!!!

Eat before you get hungry because the lines are insane.

Buy the refillable drink bottle and drink all the gross Pepsi you can.

Take your camera.

Any child under 7 needs a stroller.

Skip the Shamu show.

The waterpark is not worth it.

Remember that you paid good money for this kind of fun:)!

In all honesty, my children had a blast a Sea World and would go back right now if we told them they could. And I had a wonderful time with my family. Thank you very much mom and dad for this fun trip! Even when it's blazing hot and I'm on the verge of a breakdown I can still laugh at all the planking pics that came from this trip:). I am so fortunate that my sisters and I are SO close and enjoy spending vacations together. LOVE Y'ALL!!

I Heart FWCS and I can't Believe it's summer!

I have LOVED every single second of Ryan and Ally's school year at FWCS. I feel like this school is such a blessing in our lives and I am astonished at everything my children have learned. Not everything has been roses this year for the Woods but school has been a constant source of wonderfulness! Ryan had field day this year (back in April) and his momma got to lead a zumba station which was very enjoyable. Then my boy dominated the relays and tug-of war! Field day brings back such great memories of childhood and I'm thankful that my kids get to participate in the fun each year.




Ally had the most fantastic two women this year also. Mrs. Thompson and Mrs. Conner blessed my socks off in their commitment to these three and four year olds. Thank you guys SO much for loving our Ally girl the way you did.



And Mrs. Herbert, the same goes to you. Thank you for spending time on your knees for your first graders! You have also been an enormous blessing to our family.


OK now this is the part of this post that maked me tear up. My Ryan, my firstborn wonderful young man received N-I-N-E awards this year at FWCS. As a mother, there's nothing like having others see your child the way you do!!! As I was scanning these into my computer I was flooded with emotion and praise. Ryan is such an amazing son! Thank you Lord for trusting me with him.

(If you click on this you can see Ryan's favorite award---the mileage club award. Ryan ran 62 miles this year in P.E. Can you believe that? So impressed!



Congrats buddy!



We are so proud of our bubba!





After the awards ceremony it was time to sign their annuals.



Here's Ryan's official first grade picture. :)



I cannot believe that I now have SECOND grader...what?!??? I am thrilled that it's summer time and we are enjoying this season in our lives very much!

For your viewing pleasure

Here's a few pictures to brighten your day. I found this series on my iPhone and laughed at my sweet silly 4 year old, and her many faces!

Love love love you Ally Anderson Wood!

Ryan meeting Coach Briles

My amazing seven year old son has been obsessed with several things in his life but, sports has been a constant to him since he was old enough to hold a ball. I vividly remember Ryan and Mark rolling a ball across my coffee table before he could even walk! He has also been a fan of Baylor football (back before they were good at all) since he was 2 years old. This was a little irritating to this TTU momma but since we've been back in Waco I must admit that I am also a BU fan. Being such a fan of BU football, you can imagine how cool it was for him to meet Art Briles at dinner one evening. Here's how it went down:

We were hanging out at Ninfa's for Uncle Frank's birthday when Mark spotted Coach Briles behind us. Ryan immediately argued that that was not coach Briles since he wasn't wearing his BU cap. Mark prevailed and even asked the coach for a quick picture with his #1 fan. Here it is!!

Coach Briles was just about the coolest man we've ever met (probably because he graduated from TTU also:-)). He bent down and talked to Ryan on his level and told him to come see him in a few years :). He was impressed with Ryan's height for a 7 year old and said it was GREAT that he has a September birthday for maturity in sports. The whole conversation lasted about 3 minutes but it was one that Ryan and I will never forget. Thank you Coach Briles for making Ryan's day. I am so impressed with your character and hope you have a wonderful 2012 season!
Go BEARS!

Oh my...when did Ally turn 15??

Hello Bloggity blog blog...it's been a while. So sorry I got busy and neglected you. I LOVE reading friends's blogs and I am ready to start re-documenting out little life here in the Wack. I'd like to blame the no camera situation, or the business or the laziness or whatever but bottom line is I write this for my family and I want to keep it going seester! I am on my lazy summer time schedule and watch out 'cause I'm baaaaaaack!

Ok when I look back at this year there are certain things that will always stand out. One is how easy my kids are right now. I don't mean life is a breeze around here but this parenting stage is by far the simplest one yet. I used to feel rather guilty that my kids would fend for themselves for breakfast but then I realize...HELLO, it's a gift. They know what they can and can't eat and they are just perfectly fine letting momma wake up v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Honestly it's awesome.

Another thing that will stand out to me is just how old my BABY is beginning to look. Honestly I look at her an forget she's just 4. Maybe it's the teenage attitude, independence and opinions lately. (Oh man, this raising daughters thing is crazy!!)

Case in point: Ally made her own haircut appointment with my super sweet friend Michelle. She walked up to her one day after Zumba and said, "I want you to cut my hair like you cut Hailey and Aubrey's (two of Ally's friends). "Please...Is that OK?" Michelle was very calm and responded that we'd need to check with your mommy but honestly what could I do???!!! I called her and made an official appointment for the following week. Here's my 4 year old in her element!

Before with Michelle at Salon 19

Look at all the cushions she stacked to make sweet pea comfortable! She really is amazing at her job.

I wish you could feel Ally's excitement. She loved every single second of this haircut experience

I'm sorry can you please bring back my baby, this girl looks far too old to be mine :).

Ally was VERY specific in how she wanted this side braid---weird have NO idea where that came from:)

Ally's SHINE performance at MCC

I have posted several times about the Teams Of Tomorrow (TOT) program. Ally absolutely loves basketball and has enjoyed every minute of this great program. At the end of the year they put on a performance of everything they've learned all year. It was wonderful to watch our baby out there show her stuff!

She did SOOOO good!

Her favorite part of this day was that she received a trophy just like brother! She was SUPER excited about this gift from Mrs. Michelle.

Ryan was also really proud of his little sister

And of course so were we,

and Grandma,

and Honey and GP!

Thank you Michelle for putting on a wonderful program. We will miss TOT next year!

The sweetest class ever!