Anna Maria Island!

We just got back from Florida this weekend. We went to Anna Maria Island. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Think Destin without all of the tourists. We go every other year with the Warren side of the family. The water is crystal blue and just the perfect temperature. The beaches are white powder and SO soft. This was Lila's first time at the beach and I think you can tell from her face in every photo, She loved it!! Thanks Grumps and Cha Cha for such a fun trip :) Long post, beware.

Day 1

Lila did GREAT on the flight. She slept the whole way. We flew into Tampa and got in our rental car and drove to the condo. Then once the rest of the family got there, we went out to dinner and had some delicious crab cakes. Everyone was tired from the travels, so we called it a night.

Day 2 (Father's Day)

We woke up bright and early and hit the beach.

Lila was in awe of the ocean.

She thought the waves were purely there for her enjoyment:)

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

We had a little pool of fresh water for her to splash around in. We had some big beach umbrellas with lots of shade and she was in hog heaven! We took our monitor and would take her up to the house to nap. It was nice to have some time for the grown ups to play in the water too. That night we played charades. I will never forget Grumps shaking it like a polaroid picture or Josh trying to be a bee :)

Day 3

The boys got up really early and went out with Capt. Greg to go Bay fishing. They caught some incredible fish. Grumps even caught a shark!!! Us ladies played out at the beach. (I really don't need anything else to make my vacay fun)

Lila and her cousin Mia had so much fun together.

She sported her TTU swimsuit that day. (Thanks Ally)

The three fisherman.

After dinner we went out to get some delicious Florida Ice cream. Why do all kids love the blue??

Day 4

The wind was out of control this morning at the beach, so Cha Cha found a great Bay Sea Cruise that we decided to go on. Lila was screaming at all the people on the boat. We saw some amazing animals, including several dolphins with their baby!

Day 5 (my birthday)

Josh took Lila this morning so I could sleep in. When I woke up he had made my favorite, blueberry pancakes! Then he told me he had booked a surprise trip. We went parasailing!! Josh is afraid of heights, but went anyway b/c it was my bday:)

Here we are with Roxann and Justin about to go out!

A tiny boat took us out from the bay side to the beach side of the island. It was scarier than the actual parasailing.

Here we are taking off!!!

There is Justin and Roxann way up in the sky.

We came back to these happy sunbathers.

That night we went to a great restaurant right on the beach. We saw the most amazing sunset. I couldn't get the pictures in the right order so they are coming up.

Day 6

This was the most beautiful day of them all. We just stayed and enjoyed the beach.

Happy Girl!

Here is that sunset.

On our last day, Mia met Santa Claus on the beach. She went up and asked him if that's who he was and he said yes. He said he was there on vacation too :)

I wish our video camera would have been charged so I could show you how happy she was and the CRAZY noises she made each time a wave came. I can't wait for many more trips to the island!

On the flight home Lila wasn't as well behaved. She needed entertainment for all 2 1/2 hours :)

Thank you Grumps and Cha Cha for the most wonderful, relaxing trip. We needed it. Now we are finishing packing and getting ready to move on Tuesday!!!

More Houston friends!

Everywhere I have been this week has been sort of bitter sweet. I have had to say goodbye to lots of great friends. This top picture is of my bible study group. Susan (on the far left) started the group at our school. These girls have been such a breath of fresh air in this big city. Yesterday I got to go for the last time. This is Susan, Me, Nicole, Lila (who has been present at all our meetings:) Kelly, Katy, Janet and Laurie. We were missing Rachel this week, but for the summer that is a pretty good turnout. We have read several bible studies together. Right now we are doing Beth Moore's "Get out of That Pit". It's a great book that I recommend to everyone.

Last night I had my last bunko night. This group started with a friend of a friend thing. Several of them have older kids and offer some great advice for this first timer. We don't even play bunko anymore. We started Left, Right, Center. It is a really fun dice game that is mindless. I will miss laughing with these ladies!

Tonight I called Susan to watch Lila so we could go to dinner. She is always offering to watch her for us. She has 4 kiddos, but 0 grandkids yet. She really does love spending time with her. Lila is going to miss her sweet friend!

One of our favorite restaurants, Goode Company Seafood, opened a new location we hadn't been to yet. We met our great friends Shane and Kaki Smith to celebrate Josh being done with fellowship.

We have had manly fun times with these two and are going to miss them terribly.

We leave tomorrow bright and early for the beach in Florida! Please pray that miss priss does okay on the flight. I will post pics soon:)

Supper club

Last night I went to dinner with my supper club girls for the last time. Jennifer, me, Jill, Annesa and Lindsey. These were some of the first friends I met here in Houston. They are such a blessing to my life. We have been through breakups, weddings, babies, moves and lots of wine. For the past 4 years we have been getting together once a month at restaurants all over Houston for dinner. I am going to miss them all so much when we move....in 2 weeks! Yikes!

5 Years together!

This weekend was Josh and my 5 year wedding anniversary! It was unusual to say it best. Josh was in Colorado taking his Oral board exam while I was home packing. (not so romantic) We figured we would just celebrate when he got back....but wait....We are moving in 16 days and are going on vacation for 6 of them. That means 10 days left here in Houston!! Of those 10 days, Josh is on call 7 of them?? What!?! Once we realized this, we decided to go on out the night before he left.

Since this was so last minute we had to take Lila with us. We figured a casual loud place would put her right to sleep, so we headed to Outback. That's right, I said Outback. Now I am no snob, and I realize when I move to Waco this will be more of a treat when we go out to eat, but of all the awesome choices in Houston, it was comical (but delicious)!

...so we bathed Lila, put on her jammies and headed off to enjoy each others company while she slept.

You can tell by the above picture that sleep was not what this little girl had in mind :) She has quit taking a binkie all of a sudden and so when she is tired or unhappy about anything, she can't sooth herself. She just screams! In the car or at home we just let her cry it out, but out in public we had to give in and get her up. We took turns eating and playing with what is now the center of our attention, even on our anniversary. My how things change :)

We decided this year we would get each other a washer and dryer for the new house for our presents, but my sweet hubby had these gorgeous flowers delivered to me!

While Josh was gone, this is what I did. Whew, and we aren't even close to done!

Lila was a BIG help in packing. This is her "I got something I'm not supposed to have" face. When I turned around she had a toothbrush, towel, baggies and was trying to grab the hammer!! Great job mom!

Here is a look back a past years celebrations.

Our first anniversary at the sushi bar RA.

Second year was at Fultons.

Third year at Papa's Steakhouse.

Fourth year at Hugos, one of our favorite Houston spots.

And this year at Outback. I love that Josh wore the same shirt both times :) Notice the gradual ease into casual. The place is not important. I would have grilled cheese with this man every day and never be happier. Thank you Josh for 5 amazing years! I love you more today than I could have ever immagined. Happy Anniversary!!!

My inner dancer :)

I am not afraid to say it. I LOVE So You Think You Can Dance! It is such a great summer show that makes happy:) It also brings out my inner dancer. To bad I really can't dance, but that doesn't stop me from twirling all over the house. Josh can't handle the Mary Murphy voices, so he chooses not to watch. Where as I just thank the Lord for DVR and fast forward. This season is full of amazing dancers. I can't wait to see who becomes the best. To all of you who now think I am the biggest dork, all I can say is .....

"shu...be...do...be...do...be...Dance....Dance.....Dance"

A Fellow no more!!

Last Friday night Josh had his...wait for it...GRADUATION!!! Finally, 13 years in the making (counting undergrad)!!! I am so proud of my hubby MD!! I don't think I have kept the same interest for 13 days, forget years!

Josh's parents got his undergrad and med school diplomas framed for a graduation present to hang in his soon to be office. He loved them and is so excited about starting his practice in Waco!

The other two are from his general psychiatry residency and his child and adolescent fellowship. The bossy mom in me had to get a pic with all 4 :)

The school threw a nice dinner celebration for the grads at a Rice alumni building. These are some of Josh's "fellow" fellows.

We had a great time celebrating with all of his colleagues and are so glad that this chapter is coming to a close. Only 8 more days of work and he is done for good!

Here is Dr. Warren and his biggest fan :) We are so proud of you babe! Thanks for working so hard for our family. I can't wait to see where you go from here!

Disney World...Purdy Style!

We have been recovering this week from our Disney daze! We had such an amazing time with the whole Purdy fam together. 4 couples+ 5 kids = a whole lotta fun! My parents put us up in the presidential suite at the Wyndham Resort in Orlando. It was super nice and I think having four separate bathrooms might have been the key to a good family vacation :) Thanks Mom and Dad for giving us such a great trip and unforgetable memories! I know that to many taking a 6 month old to theme parks in the hot Orlando sun might not should like such a good idea, but she loved it! The constant stimulation of all the people and noises (especially her cousins) was more than enough to keep this little lady smiling. You can imagine the fits I have been getting now that we are home and it's just Mommy to entertain :( ...so sad.

Beware this is a lengthy post...I didn't want to forget a thing!


Day 1

Josh and I got to the airport for our flight, checked our luggage and then saw that our 7 pm flight was delayed until 1 am. With a baby sitting around the airport for 6 hours would be terrible, so the continental people told us to go home and come back in a few hours. There was no way we would get on another flight and tomorrow was booked. Hesitantly, we left and checked on our phones every 10 minutes to make sure the time was still the same and went home. At about 9:30 we checked and it still said 1 am, so we went to bed. When we got up at 11, we looked and it said now boarding!!! We called continental and very nicely asked them to fix our problem!! They did and somehow an availiable flight showed up the next morning?? The rest of the family went to The Magic Kingdom that day:( We were sad to miss it, but relieved to be in Orlando...finally!

On the flight Lila was very fussy and didn't want to be held. Interesting since she had to be in my lap the whole time?? Not very fun.

When we got to the hotel the fam was at Disney World, so we just went down to check out the resort. We sat in the shade and enjoyed people watching at the pool. Lila got hot so we went WT in just a diaper.

Here is a girl who loves being outside!

So happy to be there!!

Day 2

We got up really early and were headed to Epcot. Lila was very excited as you can see.

The weather was awesome that day. We got there right when the park opened and beat the crowds! We got to walk right on and ride some great rides.

After the rides we went into the Character Spot where we met some very famous friends! Lila was in aww of Mickey's nose.

These boys reallly loved meeting all their Disney pals!

The Warrens and Donald.

All the girls with Minnie Mouse:)

After a busy morning Lila LEW gave in and slept.

Epcot was my favorite of all the parks. It was beautiful and geared more toward grownups.

That night Josh and I had a date night. This is the view from our balcony.

We went to Fulton's Crab House in Downtown Disney. It was so yummy!

Day 3

We woke up extra early and went to have breakfast with Mickey. (Thanks Cary for making the reservation). Here is our little Mickey Mouse Club ready to eat some grub.

When Mickey got to our room, Lila had fallen asleep. I loved how sweet he was with her!

These boys loved Minnie!

Lila did too. She woke up just in time! Angie got this precious shirt made for Lila and Ally. Unfortunately I didn't get a good shot in their matching gear.

That day we went to Hollywood Studios. Not my fav. It was really hard coordinating all the show times and fastpasses for the rides. We went to a Playhouse Disney show that everyone loved...even Lila. She sould watch the puppets move across the stage and get really excited when they danced. Here we are riding the Toy Story ride. You had to wear these 3D glasses in order to shoot the targets. I think Josh was done by this point!

All the Mouseketeers in their ears!

After the parks every day we went to one of the 3 pools and lazy river at the resort. I think this was Lila's and Mommy's favorite part.

Day 4

We just stayed at the resort this day and played. It was much needed after the past few days of busy, busy.
Day 5

This day we went to Animal Kingdom. The whole family went on the Safari ride. It was really amazing to see all the African animals. They made it seem like a real safari . "Simba 1...we must stop the poachers!"

Ally and Lila in their matching outfits. They looked alike every day, swimsuits and all. Their mommies just didn't get pics every day.

We left the park and went home this afternoon. Or we tried. Our flight was delayed a few hours again, but hay that's what Chili's Too are for. We had a GREAT time and are so glad we got to be there. This is one Happy family.

Thank you so much family for a truly awesome trip!!