Emily

Fredericksburg

This last Thursday I took a trip to Fredericksburg Texas with my college roommate Kim. We were having a girl’s weekend out! Both of us were feeling run over and exhausted so we decided we needed a weekend to get away!!

So Thursday we drove to Fredericksburg and found the house we were staying in for the long weekend. The house was built in the 1920's and was beautiful!! Plus it was blue and we all know how important that is :O) The inside was nicely and cleanly furnished!! Claw footed deep tub and shower and a kitchen. Kim and I loved it!!

Here we are sitting on the front porch!!

Then we went out and explored the town. The weather was perfect and the town itself was quaint. Fredericksburg is known for two things wine and antiques. They had allot of cool shops (which had handmade quilts in them). I had a hard time not spending every last cent I had. Mostly the first day we walked around the town and saw what was there.

The next day we went out to see the wildflower farm and trade days.

The wildflower farm had some really beautiful plants. Also it would seem the owners take in stray cats because there were cats everywhere. I loved it!! As you can see they had this type of wildflower that was an amazing purple ~~ Next we went to trade days which was like going to the shops at the Tulsa state fair. They had allot of cool and bizarre things. I found Kane a plant and we bought some bread and preserves. We had fun just walking around looking at all the strange shops (and the strange people running them).

On Saturday we just relaxed and visited the local winery. There was a really cool guy that ran it!! He was telling us how everything was made. We ate lunch in a tea room. It was call the Peach Tree and is only open from 11:00 - 2:30 everyday but Sunday! I was amazed that something could be open for only3.5 hours and stay in business. But the food was great!! I got to look at the catholic church (which has amazing stained glass windows). Finally we dropped by the Native plants of Texas store (thus the picture above).

Lastly we went by the courthouse and the parks. This sculpture is in front the courthouse. All in all it was a great and relaxing weekend!! Just hanging out was fun!! But I guess now it is back to the real world :O(

Meet the baby

Well yesterday is the first time the boys really got to meet their baby sister ~~ It was interesting . . . .

1st and most important; here I am holding Alyssa. Quietly plotting ways to get her muddy and to teach her best ways to be a true tomboy :O) Yes one day she will come in with her pretty dress covered with mud and her new shoes covered in grass stains; at that point just look to me and I will say "That is a job well done!" Anyway back to the point . . .

CJ was all for kissing the baby and waving at baby sister!! But Kyle would not get near sister until Aunt Emmie held her and then this is about as close as he would get. But that is just Kyle for ya ~~ but at least he is not ignoring her (which is what he did with CJ ~~ so progress is good).

But in reality the best things there was the balloons that we brought for mommy!! Yes who needs a baby sister when you have balloons to play with?? Very cute and very loud, but hey that is why we love the boys!!

I decided to help distract the boys from the new baby and mom and dad being gone ~~ that they would take a field trip with Aunt Emmie to the Dallas World Aquarium where Uncle Kane works.

The boys looked at allot of things. Most things we would look at for a moment an then Kyle would say "Can we keep moving?". Only a few things held his attention a little bit ~~ One the touch screens about the animals (not so much for the education, mostly just being it was fun to touch. Two the sting rays ~~ there are three main exhibits with sting rays ~~ Kyle favorite was this one with the rays, turtles and ducks. The duck was taking a bath and splashing water everywhere and both boys thought that was really cool.

They both liked going outside and looking at the penguins. CJ waved to the penguin that was looking at him. In fact he waved and blew kisses to the animals that were looking at him. CJ mostly just liked running around and having me pick him up to get as close to the animal as possible :O) We then ate lunch with Uncle Kane in the area with the fish tanks. Then looked around some more.

This is near the end of the day and the boys were getting tired. CJ really thought the big tank was cool, but Kyle was a little scared by all the big fish.

Uncle Kane then took us to the back to see what he gets to play with everyday. They took one of the baby crocs out of the tank to let us see it. CJ was willing to get near it and he even petted it. Kyle on the other hand looked at it from behind the door frame. Then he told me "You should not be taking the bay out of the tank." It is good to know someone is safety conscious.

Finally Kane showed the boys the frogs he was helping hatch (there were also lizards, geckos, and turtles). This is of the boys looking at frogletts (half frog, half tadpole). I got the boys a souvenir glass that had a neck strap and a lid. Then we headed home.

The boys were excited about seeing Mom and Dad. Mostly because the building has the "whirly" door. baby sister just is not as cool was the "whirly" door. :O) It was a fun day, but a tiring one.

Alyssa is here . . .

Okay as some of you know my camera is in the repair shop ~~ so these quick pictures were taken with Kane's camera ~~

The boys see their sister for the 1st time :O)

Now this is not the best picture of the baby, but it was as close as I could get for the time I could stay. Being Aunt Emmie and watching the boys their attention span is not too good. But I took the boys shopping and they each chose a card (neither one had to do with having a baby), candy/snack (CJ insisted on Oreos and Kyle wanted Mom to have gum), a candle (you would not want a bad smelling hospital room, though CJ chose mostly on color), and an outfit and toy for their baby sister!! They also chose bags and bows to put the gifts in. Other then that we have one tired john, one exhausted Laura, and two worn-out boys = one tired aunt and grandma!!! But that is all okay ~~ There will be more picture to follow. Jonathan is driving down to see the baby tomorrow. So the saga continues . . . .

Alyssa is born!!

Just a quick announcement . . . . .

Alyssa Nicole Mullen was born today at 3:35!!
She is 5'10" and 17.5 inches long!!

More information later!! Everyone is very happy and celebrating the new addition to the family!!

Wisdom Teeth Adventure

Well as you can see I sucessfully got my wisdom teeth out (all four to be exact). Dad came over and picked me up and waited for me to get my teeth ripped out!! Then it was back to Mom's house to be "taken care of" by the boys :O) They feel that the best therapy is PLAY therapy!! Needness to say that I ran arouns too much and got myself feeling quite ill!! Yeah me!! Hopefully I will not swell up too much.