Schlitterbahn 2011

Schlitterbahn 2011 was great!  We stayed in a house that was situated across the street from the waterpark.  Still part of the park, just across the street.

The house had what seemed like hundreds of doors.  There were 7 doors to the outside, 5 of them opened onto the huge fenced in patio at the back.  Jax loved it!  He went all through the house opening and shutting doors.  Slam!  Slam!  Slam!  He actually got outside without anyone noticing, which was very scary.  The only door with key access was the easiest door to operate.  It was in one of the living rooms...the one we only used when leaving the house.  If you're inside, you just pull the lever down and it unlocks and the door opens.  Which is how he got out.  This was fairly soon after we had unloaded the cars and none of us were familiar with the house.  We were all wandering around turning corners and getting someplace other than where we wanted to be.  Brent walked into that room, noticed the door was open and started looking for Jax.  We all started looking in all the rooms.  I went to the front door...almost completely opposite from the open door and saw Jax standing at the end of the sidewalk right next to the road.  A loaded shuttle bus with two cars had stopped there and the bus driver had his arm out, seeming to be telling Jax not to move.  I finally got the front door open and yelled to Jax.  He turned around to look towards me and at the same time I saw Brent running around the side of the house to get him.  From then on, we kept a large chair in front of that door to keep him from opening it again.

We really enjoyed our time there...the house was perfect with 4 bedrooms, the 2 living rooms, a dining room, breakfast room, laundry room, 3 bathrooms, a decent kitchen, a covered carport and a huge patio with a large barbeque grill and 3 large tables.  There were countless places for storage...the worry was that we wouldn't remember where we had stowed our things.  We've booked it for next year, too.  It's on a large lot and although there are parking lots next to it and across from it, but it's on such a large lot we didn't even notice them.  We just had to cross the road and walk a short distance to an entrance.  It was a lot quieter there than any place we had stayed before. 

As I said, we had a great time.  If you look at the photos, be sure and click on the video at the end.  Carlee, always the entertainer, started dancing to a catchy tune as we were leaving one of the pool areas and I was able to get the camera on video just in time to film a little bit of it.

Back living room.  This is the one Jax escaped from...the farthest room from the kitchen.  Notice the large plasma TV.  There was one in the other living room, too.

Dining room and front living room.  Bigger than it looks here. 

Wayne, working on the barbeque grill.

Jax spent a lot of time opening and closing the doors at the house where we stayed

A rare quiet moment

Looks like supper

Jax buddies up to Pop while Carlee whispers something to Uncle Chad

Carlee hanging on just before we get shoved off for our first ride

Kate kept us in line on the Lazy River

Kate and Aunt Robin

This was on the Raging River ride.

Jax and I apparently sharing a joke

Jax was really having a good time

Our Schlitterbahn annual family photo

Carolyn and Kate

Carlee's sassy pose

Memorial Day Weekend, I think.

The Bubela family traveled to Port Alto for a weekend of fun in the sun.  Jax didn't get to the bay at all last year.  He was just over a year old then, so Brent would stay at home with him while Carolyn and the girls and I would spend a couple of days at the bay.

But this year, Jax is two and we're glad to have him (and Brent) at the bay with us.  It's been so windy that the kids have really had to struggle in the water...waves knocking them here and there.  It started out windy on this particular weekend, but then the wind died and they were really able to enjoy it.  We all had a great time and nobody got sunburned.  I'm actually getting a tan. 

I'm writing this in mid-June, but I think this was on the Memorial Day weekend. 

The palm tree in the last photo was a surprise.  Not a surprise that it was in the photo...I did that on purpose.  The surprise was that it was growing there.  In the middle of the sidewalk.  Especially since we have never had any type of tree or flower or decent vegetation growing on our property at the bay.  Let's just call it determined and practically a miracle!

Carlee, Jax and Kate

Virgie, Carolyn and Brent

Carolyn and Jax, catching some rays

Kate and Carlee

Jax working on his bucket of mud

Brent and Jax

Kiddos having some fun without having to fight the wind and waves

Determined palm tree

Jax loves his little "foot power" cars, so Carolyn and Brent got him this Lil Tykes classic truck for his birthday.  He loved it!  He had a little trouble with his big sisters who hovered around him, impeding his progress.  They were really excited for him and tried to show him features of the truck, such as the horn and the working tailgate.  He kept trying to push them away, but they kept coming back, never giving him any space.  Brent opened the door so that he could go outside with it.  The girls helped keep him on the sidewalk until he was finally on the driveway.  The last picture I took of him, he was out of the truck and pushing it up the driveway.  It was very cute!

This battery powered Lightning McQueen car was from NaNa and Pa.  He likes that one, too and I can't wait to see him when the battery is charged and installed.  Till then, he's still happy not minding that he has to use foot power.  Actually, I'm sure he doesn't realize there's any other way.  Wayne and I still haven't gotten him anything.  It's hard to think of something he doesn't already have!

The final picture here is Jax the morning after his birthday. He's in his groundskeeper persona. With the lawnmower loaded into the back of his truck, he's ready to head to work!

Jax is 2 years old!

Jax is two years old today!  And what a fun two years it's been watching him grow and learn new things.  The videos below indicate how closely he watches what goes on around him.  He wants to do things the same way other people do them.  The first one shows him opening a drawer.  It's a drawer where all the random plastic bowls and cups for snacks are stored.  There used to be a handle on it, but it's missing now.  He has obviously seen everyone else use their foot to open it, so that's the way he does it.

Jax was really excited to see his mom and Carlee arrive home.  He brought Carolyn a little ride-on car and then got on his own so they could make a few circles through the house.  She told me to watch how he changes how he "pedals".  When Carolyn got ahead of him, he saw her style and began doing the same thing.

He's such an entertaining little fellow...as are both his big sisters!

Saturday morning at the Bubelas

Kate is having a little batting practice in the video below.  She got some nice hits, as you can see.

Jax is back to work at being the groundskeeper. Pushing his little mower around the yard. I don't know how he sees anything except the mower, he keeps his cap pulled so far down. After mowing, he walked up to Carlee and indicated that he wanted her to help him into the swing. Since Carlee couldn't do it, I helped him in and we all took a turn at swinging him.

I might be heading back over there this afternoon for more backyard fun...and margaritas!

It's sliding time again!

Jax loves adventures like these.  They set up a big, homemade slip & slide a couple of weeks ago, put him in a tube and he had a blast!

That's Carlee starting to climb.

I'm not sure what Kate is doing here, but Jax is letting her do it. 

The slide was at an angle, so all the water in the pool was at the other slide.  That didn't bother Jax.

Kate posing at the top.

Jax and Kate sharing a little face time.

Carlee sliding...that's Kate doing some weird dance at the edge.

It's official...I'm way behind!

I'm not even going to try to get caught up from last summer...I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to remember much.  I'll see if I can go through my photos and try to get caught up from the first of this year.

Brent's friend Jeff, born and raised in Louisiana, sent all these jerseys to the family after LSU beat the Aggies in the Cotton Bowl this year.  Everyone (except Carolyn) seems to be cheering!

The video below was just cute. Jax stops at the little kitchen center then makes his way to the table to do a little coloring. At the end of it, he decides to sit down, but forgets that the chair isn't there.

I love this photo of Carlee, getting down with her music, dressed in fancy black tutu and pink crown, microphone in hand. It's so Carlee.

Jax must have had something on his mind here.  He looks deep in thought.  

 This was on Carolyn's birthday.  All are eagerly waiting for the cake ceremony!

Carolyn got roller-blades from Brent and the kids.  Kate is standing by for support, if necessary.

 This wasn't taken on Carolyn's birthday.  Jax was under the weather and Carolyn had a patient, so I was there to snap this photo of Jax, so ready to nod off that his head is held up by his lip on the edge of the cup.

Brent built the dollhouse/bookshelf pictured below to donate to the auction at the St. Philip Dinner Dance in February.  I should have taken the photo with a child beside it in order to give it perspective.  It might look small here, but it's probably about 3-4 feet wide and about that tall, too.  After he painted it, it was taken to St. Philip's where Carolyn and other mothers of children in Kate's kindergarten class finished it with paint decorations of flowers, trees, bees, caterpillers, etc.  Books and baskets were added to show how it could be used.  The childrens' fingerprints were used to form the painted decorations.  Click on the picture to enlarge it and see how cute the little decorations are.

This is a view of the back of the dollhouse/bookshelf.  The names of the children in the class are painted onto the leaves of the tree.

Kate and Carlee, just hanging out with balloons.

It's evident that Kate and Carlee have done some modeling for Aunt Robin.  Carlee seems to have that beauty queen/parade wave going on.

Bathed and ready for bed, the kids are rewarded with a little play time on Mom's and Dad's iphones.  Jax seems content to watch.

So, that's a little about what has gone on at the Bubela household since September.  I only looked in a few folders.  I'll bet I find a lot more folders to go through!