memorial day weekend at nancy & nery's

All natural piña coladas, a la Debbie!

My 4th daughter :D

Awkward Emmy...

And ADORABLE Emmy!

This swimsuit gives her the most hilarious TAN DOT on her tummy ;D

emily is 13!

For the first time ever, we didn't have Emily on her birthday this year! It was so strange! Fortunately, we were able to see her on the actual day thanks to Sadie's volleyball game. So what did we do? Surprise her with prezzies, flowers, a cupcake & candle and an embarrassing public rendition of "Happy Birthday" (as Sadie's volleyball team joined in and Emily repeatedly saying, "No!" hahahaha)!

Emily has turned into such a teenager this past year. She's goofy and vicious and introverted and social. Spotty academic record! Aversion to all clothes non-sweat pants! Friends out the wazoo! She's cool as hell and developing killer taste in music. She's so damn funny in a group but I love spending time with her alone because she really opens up when you just sit and listen. She loves sitting on the top bunk in her room in her own little computer-game world and has the best hair that she can't be bothered to brush. She's always willing to split a veggie smoothie with me and snip at her siblings for basic sounds & movements. ;P Basically, she's so freaking dope and trying to figure it all out, and we can't ask for much more than that. 

For Emily's birthday date this year, we went to see Alice Through The Looking Glass at Alamo Drafthouse, and it was a pure right of passage for me as a step-mom. "Don't care to see this movie AT ALL but Emily asked and I want Emily to have fun and just want to be with her!" We ordered sammies and shakes and chatted alot and at least the movie was super easy to follow! ;P I took this picture of her afterwards, and she did her typical "I'm just going to stand there and let this happen" pose - thankfully I've figured that if I say "LOOK LIKE YOU'RE HAVING FUN" really aggressively, she snaps to a face that doesn't look like she's been kidnapped. ;) She later asked me what my favorite part of the movie was, and I tried SO HARD to think of a part (didn't care one bit!) and I finally thought this morning, "You! You were my favorite part!" :D

Happy birthday, darling. We love you so much!

a few randos from this spring!

R3 at a reptile convention with his oldest sister. LOOK AT THAT FACE.

A birthday lunch with... Bellesa! Not pictured: the drawing she gave me for my birthday, too!

The most beautiful salad from Mi Cocina! Ok, I like Mi Cocina now... ;)

Packing jokes! Whatever we can do to make it bearable! 

Sadie's birthday date FINALLY - Seeing The Jungle Book!

A Candy's Dirt happy hour at The Centrum (!) with Carla and Josh. <3

My mom's idea of getting ready for a big storm coming through! OH MAN.

ALSO!

- dinner with TK and S at Torchy's

- Meg's first day of hair school

- our cute new rental! it's so darling!

- the covered patio at our new rental! it makes me so happy!

- smoked salmon... I mean, I always liked it but now I LOVE IT

- R3 and all his math accomplishments!

sadie's 2016 volleyball season

Volleyball game and went this year our little Sadie-bug! I had to miss a few games due to holiday weekends, vacations, cramps (!), but from what we got to see Sadie is improving SO MUCH. She has a killer serve and team spirit to boot. Plus, her uniform is SO DARN CUTE. It's so fun to watch! Here are a few pictures and videos from her season (her team only won 1 set the whole season, so we're going to focus on improvement this year ;P).

And let's not forget the games that our sweet Da stood on the sidelines to call the games when there was a need. ;)

double-date night!

Cocktails, fancy eats, talking & laughing until 2 in the morning... WE LOVE THESE BOYS. 

A violet libation. :)

R's tried/true party trick - pulling off any pair of glasses.

THIS STUFF IS RIDICULOUS.

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trip to portland :D

Mom and I had THE BEST time visiting Donna and Auntie in Portland this year. Here are a few (ha, many!) pictures and videos from our trip!

Starting the whole thing off right with mimoas in DFW airport... we earned it after waking up at the crack of dawn and sitting in a taxi for an hour. ;)

Mom's hotel present! ;) When I made reservations at Silver Cloud Inn, I just made a silly comment in the additional notes saying, "Please print a color photo of Kevin James and place on the pillows - it will make my mom laugh." AND THEY DID. :D

Beautiful views from their home's patio...

We had a very boozy holiday, par for the course with these ladies! :D After going out for lunch one day, we came back home for a nice afternoon drinking on the patio. More after the jump!