Galveston Beach

This year we spent a relaxing Labor Day visiting Stewart Beach in Galveston. The sand, sun, and good friends provided an ideal play day for our four busybodies. Brendan and his buddies spent hours building in the sand; Audrey learned to boogie board with me; Madeline ran around with her cute girlfriends; while Caleb lounged in the mud and under the shade canopy with dad. Some of us mommies tried our hand at body surfing and had a blast playing in the waves, watching from afar as the dads did their best to keep track of all the kiddos. What a fun excursion!

We did receive several unfortunate sunburns, and spent the week rubbing aloe plant leaves all over our arms and backs (thanks Maren & Megan for your generous donations to the sunburn cause). We are now back in business and enthusiastically watching as the poor burned skin relics peel away. So very relieved to be done with the tender skin stage. One tip for future beach trips: sunscreen lotions work so much better than sprays!

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Family Campout

Last weekend we decided to take a last minute camping trip with some friends. All the little Lewises were so thrilled to sleep in a tent together and get dirty playing outside. Brendan really wanted to take Legos along, so I reminded him of the bounteous supply of sticks and rocks in the woods. He got an enthusiastic look and exclaimed, "Yes! I just love those kinds of toys. They will be a great substitute for the Legos, mom."

We enjoyed tin foil dinners, throwing things into the fire pit, and exploring the woods. We even found a delightful and cool river that was shallow enough to wade through. We got completely soaked and loved every minute of it. So glad I remembered lots of plastic bags to tote home the muddy gear. 10 loads of laundry later, I'm still so glad we went!

Special Time

I have very much enjoyed the past few days with two kiddos at home. Madeline feels special to be the oldest child in the house. She feels so grown up to be able to go on outings with me while "the other guys" are at school. Although I was sad to see B & A start school and be away from me, I find that I am cherishing the time I have to spend with the littler ones. Here is my attempt to capture some of our fun moments:

First day of school

How bittersweet to see my little ones growing up. We had a fun morning preparing for the day that's been talked about for months. How strange it seems for me to have a second grader AND a kindergartner. Looking forward to a great year!

Summer comes to a close

Next week marks our last week of summer before the school schedule begins again. What a relaxing, joyful summer we've had. We've spent our last days of summer with some good old fashioned fun...

Caleb loved playing in the laundry basket:

He also tried his hand at the piano:

Brendan enjoyed many weeks of good reading. Here are his favorites from the summer:

While sorting through some of our stuffed toys we discovered Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. We read the accompanying stories and reminisced about my days as a little girl playing with these dolls. I am surprised and delighted to find that my children enjoy playing with them as much as I did.

Favorite Cookbook

I use this cookbook several times a week and so many of our staple meals come from it that I thought it deserved a post of its own:


The authors of the book tested hundreds of varied recipes for the same dish and after significant taste-testing, display their list of the very best. Our favorite recipes therein: homemade pizza dough, banana bread, Indian crock pot curry, beef stroganoff, quick cinnamon rolls, philly cheese steaks, bake sale brownies, pasta carbonara, and on and on.

Madeline Turns 3

Our Maddie Kate is 3!! She's been waiting for this day for a full year now. Her only request was "pink puh-cakes", which we enjoyed with her after dinner on the big day. Here was her face on birthday morning after realizing she would have to wait until after dinner before enjoying her cupcake feast:

Here was the pink bounty she craved:



Madeline is such a special and spunky little girl. She brings so much life and energy into our daily routine! She's constantly on the go and ready to help with all of the hard jobs around the house. Her favorite chore is always vacuuming so she was tickled to receive this:

A junior sized vacuum/dustbuster that claims to actually pick up things (I'm still not so sure about this). She asks me every day which room we will vacuum together. She will surely keep a clean house in years to come.

We love you MK!