About me...

Never done a meme before, but here goes....

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Scott and I were still in our first year of marriage and had just moved back to Mesquite from Houston. I was about to start teaching World Geography in the old metal shop at Mesquite High School!

Favorite Snacks:
Iced Green Tea from Starbucks
Cheetos
Pretzels dipped in cream cheese
Strawberry Sour Punch Straws

To Do List:
I love lists....I have several at one time. My summer list still has two items on it:
Make homeade ice cream with the kids and scrapbook summer trip


Jobs I Have Had:
Billing clerk at Eastern Hills Country Club (first job)
High School Social Studies Teacher (favorite job)

Places I Have Lived:
TEXAS!
To quote a country and western song... "I will live and die somewhere between the Red and the Rio Grande!"

Bad Habits:
worrying too much
impatience
Eating too much fast food...I love the drive thru!


5 Random Things People May Not Know

1. I still have my wisdom teeth because I am terrified of the dentist.
2. When I graduated college I was going to give teaching 2 years and if I didn't like it I was going to take the U.S. Treasury test and go to work for Customs or Secret Service.
3. I met my husband in the teacher's lounge at North Mesquite High School.
4. I like to shoot. Yes, guns. I'm fairly good at it and I find it quite the stress reliever! Hey, I'm the daughter of a cop..what can I say?!!
5. I can still perform the opening kick routine from my years as a Yankee Doodle Sweetheart...my high school drill team!

CDs I would want if stranded on an island:
CD's??? I'd most definately need my iPod! Which has everything from 80's to Christian to Country!!
Now, if the question were, "What CD's could you live without when stranded in your own house with 3 kids on summer vacation?" The answer would be: Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers!

What I’d Do if I Were a Billionaire:
1. Buy a house in Kenneybunkport, Maine and an apartment in Manhatten.
2. Start my own education lobby group and shake up the way Austin thinks about educators.
3. TRAVEL!! I'd take my kids all over the world.
4. Give, Give, Give...to people/kids in need.

Blessings,
Leslie

Last day at the beach...

I can't believe the week is over! It seems like we just got here. I'm always amazed at how quickly the week goes by. Being that this is our 6th summer here at the Marisol condo, it is familiar and feels like home. I'm always sad when we leave knowing that the next time we return another year will have passed. Yet every summer when we arrive, things are exactly the same. Very comforting for a gal who loves consistency!!

The kids have had a ball! They've played so hard they've just about passed out every night from exhaustion.

This year's highlights include:

*The Braddock's! We were all a little sad when we learned that none of our usual beach bunch was able to come with us this year. The kids were very concerned about who they would play with for an entire week. We were thrilled when our friends the Braddocks said they'd like to come with us. The kids have all played really well together and it's been such a blessing to share this time with friends.

*The discovery of the Ghost Shrimp Extractor/Creature Catcher/Shrimp Sucker. Our first day at the beach we noticed a guy using one of these contraptions to catch something and put it in a bait bucket. Scott inquired and got the scoop. Thursday I finally headed to the bait shop/seafood market/gift shop (another story) for one of our own. The kids (and I!) had a great time using it to find Ghost Shrimp. They are kinda creepy looking and are a cross between a shrimp and a crawfish. I can suck them out of their holes, but the kids have to pick them up!

One that we pulled up looked like this on the underside...I couldn't figure out what it was until Thomas starting yelling,"It's her eggs mom!" He remembered from our lobster cruise that the eggs are stored underneath. He adamantly insisted that we put her back immediately, "It's the law." I honestly don't know if there is a law concerning pregnant ghost shrimp, but if there is we've done our law abiding duty and returned her to her natural habitat to have her babies in peace!

*The skim board. The kids all had fun giving this a try!

*Dirty Al's. Scott new buddy, Robert...(Some guy from Saginaw that owns 2 Mr. Jim's who's been here the last couple of years...Scott gets everyone's life story!)told Scott that the best seafood on the island is at Dirty Al's. We tried to go on Monday night, but they'd had a fire and were closed. The fire damage must have been minimal because we went Friday night and all was well. I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera, but it was super fresh and fantastic. I had fried shrimp, fish and oysters served with french fries in a paper basket!

*Kaitlyn. As some of you know, the Braddocks have a daughter in college, and we were lucky enough to have her join us at the beach. All the kids, but Mandy especially, adore her. In fact, we all think she's pretty awesome! Mandy's been pretty much stuck to her like glue for the last week!

*Having the tent stolen. Every night we take our tent and carry it up to the base of the dunes and leave it till the next morning. We have NEVER had a problem. Friday morning when the guys went out to move it to our spot it was gone, along with another family's tent. Long story short...the South Padre Island police were called and a very nice officer came out to take our complaint!

Jethro builds a sandcastle!

Watching the fireworks from Andy's truck.

We've been blessed with another wonderful week at the beach and are already looking forward to next year's visit!!

Enjoying the blessings of summer,

Leslie

Tooth Fairy and Schlitterbahn!

Grace lost her first tooth...........finally!!!! All of Grace's friends have been losing teeth since school started last year and Grace still hadn't so much as a loose one. Then, last week before we left for the beach she finally had a loose one! She worked and wiggled it enough that it fell out!

Is there anything better than sharing such an exciting milestone with one of your best friends?! The tooth fairy even found her way to the beach! I'm sure she'll find something great to spend her $$ on here in one of the souvinir shops.

Wednesday we took the kids to Schlitterbahn here on Padre Island. It's not anywhere the size of the one in New Braunfels, but it was AWESOME!!! We all had so much fun. In many ways I liked it better. The waiting in line for the rides was all done in the water...no long lines lugging your float up three flights of stairs! The kids played so hard. Mandy loved the "lazy wiver." We were there by at least 11 a.m if not earlier and left when it closed at 8 p.m. We had some seriously tired, waterlogged kids!

Thomas was so tired he didn't even notice when he rolled off his air mattress!

They were all dragging a little today. They went off and on to the beach and the pool, but most of the time they just wanted to do this...I'm sure by tomorrow they'll be ready to run themselved ragged again!

Enjoying our summer blessings,

Leslie

Beach Fun!

Here are a few of our pictures from the beach this week! I think they all pretty much speak for themselves....

Scott was VERY proud of his turtle and wants Scott C. to know that he did this all by himself!!

Below is Mandy with her new best friend, Kaitlyn!

Beach Blessings,

Leslie

Padre

Yesterday before leaving Corpus, we visited the Texas State Aquarium. It was fantastic. In fact, Scott and I thought we both liked it better than the Shedd in Chicago. It's smaller of course, but it has character, not just wall after wall of fish tanks. We also got to see a dolphin show...

One of the biggest hits was getting to touch the stingrays and striped sharks...

They also got to touch hermit crabs and spiney sea urchins...

Today we did the beach most of the day. We've brought them in and cleaned them up a bit for a mid-afternoon rest before dinner! A few pics from the day...

Blessings,

Leslie