Memorial Weekend in Galveston!

The Thursday before Memorial weekend all three of us took off for vacation in Galveston, Texas! We left the house  bright and early that day, and believe it or not Gwen made the trip to Houston in three stops! She did great! It helps to have a DVD player with Barney on repeat. Thursday night and Friday were spent in Houston with Tamie's sister, Dallas, and her husband Gary. Saturday morning, Dallas and Gary paved the way through some wild traffic in Houston, and made it to our beach house!

Our vacation house!

The view from our back deck.

The back side of the house.

The neighborhood.

We didn't waste any time going straight to the beach. It was Gwen's first time in the ocean! She took right to the water and loved playing in the sand. Tamie and I couldn't stop smiling watching our little girl play. 

REAL sand!!

Dad, introducing Gwen to the ocean.

Our house was actually not in Galveston, technically the house was in Jamaica Beach, about 18 miles south of Galveston. It was quiet and comfortable for our little girl to play outside, away from a very busy Galveston beach.

I want to play in the water!

Staying up late can result in some goofy faces!

Staying up late also results in some pretty pictures!

Gwen climbing all over dad!

Saying CHEESE with mommy!

And here's the results of staying up late!

Along with our beach house rental, came access to a pool and lazy river. We tried the pool and river, but our little one preferred the real thing, the ocean! Gwen loved playing in the seaweed and gloppy sand.

Finding gloppy sand.

Future Baywatch beach babe! Running on the beach.

Trying out the lazy river.

Drawing in the wet sand.

Tuesday, we had to leave and make the 12 hour drive back home. Gwen didn't fair so well on the ride home. Lets just say it was a long ride for all three of us. Barney on DVD got yet another workout... Tamie and I lost count, but we're pretty sure we watched Barney six or seven times. Barney is taking a vacation for a while!

Watching Barney.

One last pic of the ocean. 

May Fun!

The month of May has nearly come and gone. We have got a lot of updating to do! While Mike was away on evening shift, Gwen and I snuck off to Lindsborg to have dinner with the Anderson family. Gwen got to hang out with all of her friends.

Gwen giving a hug to her friend Will.

Even more fun times at Bre Hutts' house. Gwen stopped by and wished Bre a happy birthday and dropped off a present for the birthday girl.

Bre and Gwen!

May didn't have just one May Day celebration. Farmers Alliance had a big 125 year anniversary celebration as well. The FA parking lot was transformed into a mini theme park! FA had numerous activities for adults and kids; but Gwen found the BALL PIT and her night got even better!

BIG smiles in the ball pit. 

I think she likes the ball pit?!

Blowing bubbles at the FA celebration!

If you live in McPherson, you know what the month of May means... All Schools Day. The second Friday in May is McPherson's big local end of the school year celebration. Gwen and I headed to the 100th All Schools Day parade while Mike was at work.

Grandpa Prieb and Gwen at the parade.

After the parade was over, Gwen and I took off for Sedan to see my nephew Jordan graduate high school. Before we made it to Sedan we stopped in to spend the night with Norman and Diana Reeves.

Gwen and Diana playing piano!

Gwen 'won' a huge teddy bear at the FA celebration! When we asked Gwen what the bear's name was, she replied "Bears". So I guess the bear's name is Bears.

Back home with Bears.

The three of us moved over a year ago, and the amount of clutter that we have accumulated is, well... too much. The Hutts were having a garage sale, so the Priebs joined the garage sale party. 

Bre and Gwen hanging out during the garage sale.

Mike and I cleaned out an area on the north side of our second garage and decided to use that space for a garden. The picture below was taken nearly three weeks ago, shortly after we planted some veggies.

As if Gwen didn't have enough stuff in her playroom downstairs. Gwen recently got her own playhouse downstairs. We sold our pool table that took up a lot of space, just in time to fill the spot with another LARGE object. It's nice to have an indoor area for Gwen to play during the HOT summer days!

Gwen's first encounter with her new house!