We survived the Hurricane!

It started out as a typical day at the Garrett household. Emily suggested we take a trip to the mall for some window shopping. So, thinking that was a harmless activity, we decided to give it a go! Little did we know, but we would encounter the great Post Oak Hurricane of 2011. After window shopping, walking, and snacking on pretzels and smoothies we were headed back to Bealls so we could exit the mall. Just as we were approaching Bealls we encountered a small, contained, but VERY strong hurricane. Because the kids were looking for a little adventure, and because they were under the influence of the peer pressure of Jamie Manning, they decided to take on the hurricane whole heartedly. And well, maybe I shouldn't refer to it as PEER pressure as I am not sure that you can consider Jamie a PEER seeing as she is an adult...but either way...the fact that she has survived the very same hurricane...as well as many others like it across America made the temptation too strong to resist. The kids also wanted to be hurricane survivors and accepted the challenge! Luckily, they all survived...and they brought joy to the lives of the innocent bystanders, as well as the security guard! And we all know those security guards need a little action to keep their day from being so boring...its not like Post Oak Mall is the type of place where you see any serious mall cop action going down!!! Here are the pictures from the Great Post Oak Hurricane of 2011...

 

The winds were just starting to pick up...3.5 mph                             Getting stronger....50.3 mph



Jennings is trying to make a run for it....                                            HELP! A hair blowing 78.7 mph!!!

Ellie's Fantastic week at Lakeview!!

I was super excited to get back home today after camp but then knowing i would have to wait a whole year before going back again. I had an awesome time at the "Willy Yak Cove" which had the wet willy, flat bottom boating, and kayaking! i was in a cabin with 4 other girls and a counseler. my favorite part of camp was being with all these other people and worshiping!

Emily's Fabulous Week at Lakeview!

This past week I had the oppurtunity to go to church camp in Palestine, TX. This year was my third year to go to Lakeview. We did lots of things like the huge slide, the Wet Willie, mini golf, and inflatables!!! But most of all i grew closer to christ this week. We had worship every night and small groups every day. I met lots of new people throughout the week at small groups and the girls who were in my cabin with me. I was sad i had to leave camp but also very thrilled to be back home in college station. But, I'm sure you will here what all ellie did at camp as well!!! I can't wait to go back next year!!!!!

Sorry to say but i have no pictures from this year but here are some from 2 years ago when Katy was a counselor!

Olivia, Hannah, Rachel, and Katy!


Wet Willie!


Top of the Wet Willie!


Hannah, Emily, and Halle, a girl from our cabin


Hangin in the Cafeteria-- Rachel and Katy


View of the Lake

THANK GOODNESS!!!

Tomorrow afternoon the older three girls will return from camp! Abby and Jennings have decided that they enjoy life without the older girls and wish camp would last a little longer! I, however, am ready for them to return and hear all about their time at camp! I am also ready for them to return so that Ellie can get back to her job as chief blogger!!!

Swimming and Papa Stick's House

On Wednesday Jennings, Abby, and I ended our last full day with Avery with a few relaxing but fun activities. In the morning it was raining so we opted to go see Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. Everyone enjoyed the movie and by the time it was over it was starting to get a bit more sunny outside.

After rest time the sun was out in full force so we were ready to take a plunge into the pool. There was lots of diving board jumping, hot tub posing, swimming, and laughter.

We followed up pool time with a trip out to Papa Stick's house for dinner and country fun. To clarify, Papa Stick is my Dad, and Avery's grandfather. She calls him Papa Stick...but that is a story for another time and place as it has no relevance to this blog! The kids had fun chasing chickens, petting the horses, hunting for treasures in the yard, watching ants, and racing Papa Stick. Abby was confident she would beat him based on the fact that she took him to be an old, slow, man...but...alas...she lost.

Here are some pics from the evening:

It was a fabulously fun evening!

Something is a little fishy around here...

On Tuesday, Jennings, Abby, Avery, Jamie and I made a last minute decision to hit the road for the open seas...well may be not the open seas...more like the contained seas. We headed to Houston to check out the Downtown Aquarium.

An attempt to get a picture at the entry fountain before going in...got multiple...but none where everyone was looking at the same time!

Abby claimed this creepy looking eel as her new best friend!

 the Discovery Room is one of my favorite parts where you can touch sharks, stingrays, horseshoe crabs, and starfish. We also got to see them feed the sharks and stingrays!

 Master Divers:

Jennings: Serious Diver

Abby: Happy Diver

Jamie: Creepy Diver

The White Tiger in his oh so natural habitat of marble and fake cascading fall...not to mention...what in the world does a white tiger have to do with and Aquarium....last time I checked, tigers didn't live in aquariums...

These guys aren't scared of no tigers!

Aside from watching Jamie be scared by the robotic shark at the end and nearly dump Jennings off of her lap into the shark infested waters, this is my favorite part of the shark voyage train ride! I love this saw fish guy...I think he is so funny looking!!! And he has giant lips!

Ferris Wheel Fun

 Avery on her seahorse and Abby on her alligator

 Jamie on her dolphin and Jennings on his seal

 Thank goodness everyone is securely fastened to their sea animal...that guy was not going to start the wild and crazy carousel if anyone was left unbuckled! But hey, maybe he was on to something...the rate with which it took off was unbelievable...Jamie was holding on for dear life with both hands as that thing creeped to a crawling start! Don't want to be too careful these days!

                     

                       Yeehaw! Ride'em Cowgirl!!!                                             Look, Mom! NO HANDS!

Thank goodness that wild and crazy carousel evened out and everyone was able to loosen up so that Abby and Jamie could do some trick riding!

 Jennings, Abby and Jamie ready for the big kids ride....this was Jennings's first time! He wasn't scared at all!

 Nothing but smiles from Jennings...and screams from Abby and Jamie!

 Jamie and Avery waiting on the ground while I take a take a turn riding with Jennings and Abby

 I challenged Jennings and Abby to keep their hands up for the duration of the ride...they accepted and met the challenge!

 We ended the day with some time in the splash pad...very cooling and refreshing for the kids...very hot for the adults! The kids were all tired out by the end of the trip and had fallen asleep within minutes of being buckled into their carseats!!!

While the Cats are Away...the Mice will Play!

 this is another post about pre-blog events....

While Phillip and Donna (the cats) were away on a trip for business, me and the kids (the mice) were here preparing for camp, swimming, and slumber partying!!! Through-out the weekend I had surprise guests come to make things more interesting and more fun! On Friday, we had Kim, Barbie, and Giselle over for swimming and pizza. Giselle had a great time swimming with the kids (she is an only child), Kim had a lovely time taking swim lessons from her instructor..Abby Garrett, and Barbie sat on the side looking cool.

On Saturday Emily and Ellie had a swim meet in Navasota where they both did a great job to end the swim team season! The rest of the day was spent hanging out, making guesses about who the mystery guest for the night would be, and running errands to get the much needed supplies for our slumber party!

At precisely 6:00pm our mystery guest arrived! After much anticipation, many guesses....most of them wrong...and a long day of waiting...her identity was revealed...our mystery guest....drum roll, please.....bum bum bum bum bum bum bum JAMIE arrived at the door. After a brief home tour we headed out for dinner at Freebirds to fill our tummies so that everyone would be ready to party! (kid style, that is!) While we were at dinner, Jamie, Emily, Ellie and Abby pulled their smarts together and were able to correctly guess the number of rocks in a jar to win a free cookie for dessert....unfortunately the cookie just wasn't all that great...but winning is awesome!!!

After dinner we took the plunge into the pool where we had fountain spraying wars (the fine and classy art of spraying water from one's mouth like a dolphin), underwater sit-up classes, diving lessons, a tantrum or two, and the much anticipated Katy/Jamie Swim Race of 2011. Sadly, I  must admit to defeat. In the first race we tied, but in the second race, Jamie beat me....only by an inch...but a win is a win and a loss is a loss...so here on this public blog I admit defeat and commend Jamie on her win! However, Jamie also recieved the new name/title of Fishy Jamie! this was bestowed upon her by the kids...I don't know if it is because of how she smells or because she claims to be a fish out of water...but whatevs!

After swimming we all cleaned up, put on comfy clothes, and headed out for frozen yogurt at Yogurtland. quite a delicious late night treat!!! There we spotted some highly dangerous, fully armed, karate kids all decked out in their white pants...scary stuff I say! And Jennings proclaimed his love for Jamie in that he told her that he didn't think that her face looked sun-burned...that it was in fact...beautiful!

We left Yogurtland with satisfied tummies, mostly happy children, and biodegradable spoons...which by the way can double as microphones for the car!

Once we were back home it was time for the sing-off to begin. Emily had confidently said she did not need to practice our songs in the car but that we could go ahead and practice...so we made her a bet that if anyone at the slumber party beat her on Sweet Caroline, she would lose a dollar. I was counting on Jamie to be my secret weapon....but alas...Emily pulled off the win! We rocked out to the Glee Karaoke game for a while then moved on to Just Dance 2.

Jennings and Jamie showed off their skills on Jennings's favorite song....the Monkey song on Just Dance Kids, and Abby rocked out to TikTok. Then after we sent the younger 2 to bed all madness broke loose! Jamie and Emily danced it up to many a song...and while I couldn't see the screen because I was photographing and videoing...they looked pretty ridiculous...it was quite a show! I wish I had taken pictures throughout the course of the night as there were many great opportunities, but, with all the fun going on, I just forgot! So I will leave you with this Dance shot and video:


Emily and Jamie dancing it up to Just Dance 2



Kriss-Kross will make Jamie and Emily Jump! Jump!

These chicks were some dancing fools! As well as comical entertainers!!! HAHAHA!

Our slumber party with our mystery guest was tons of fun and a rockin' success!

A good time was had by most everyone!

The post of things we did before we started the blog

We had a semi-slow start to summer as Emily and Olivia were both in summer school taking classes to get a ahead and free up space for other electives. However, we were able to squeeze in some fun as well. Emily and Ellie were both on swim team and competed each Saturday. They both did a really great job!!! We also got to watch the Aggie Baseball team in post season play! (Unfortunately, their college world series run has come to an end.) Then Jennings and I left for a trip to the lake in Mississippi with my niece, Avery, and some more of my family. We had a great time!

Jennings has flown before, but he was only 2 at the time and could not remember it. Needless to say, he was VERY excited about the opportunity! He was a great traveler! He did not have any ear or headache complaints on the plane and was great at pulling his suitcase around airports! He did really well each time we went through security and was very helpful! Even though I got randomly selected for further screening twice, he always was very patient and a great listener!

 There was plenty of sand digging....

 Human Cannon balling....

 Laughter and smiles....

 minnow catching...

 Splash pad spraying...

 Troll hunting....

And picture posing!

Jennings and Avery both had a great time and were both quite sad to see the fun times come to an end. Then, on the way back to the airport in Jackson, Jennings and I made a stop at the Jackson Zoo for one more bout of fun before heading home!

All was well and good, aside from our plane delay in Houston. We were so close to home..and yet so far!!Luckily our amazingly awesome friend, Lindsey, not only rescued us for dinner between flight and took us to chickfila, but also came back and rescued us again when we realized our flight had been delayed by about 3 hours! She willingly came and picked us up and drove us halfway back to college station where we were met by Phillip and taken the rest of the way home. It was a fun, but exhausting trip!