Our little school boy

Today was Z's first day of preschool. He will attend 2 days a week in the mornings. It is a great way for him to interact with other kids, learn lots of new stuff, and learn to follow the rules from someone other than his parents. This morning he was so excited to go to school. He carried his new lunch box around the house until we left. He kept saying "it's HEAVY, mom". Here are some photos before his first day. I tried to get a picture of him in his class but he was too busy playing.

Zachary and Daddy on the first day of preschool

Z showing you his lunch box. He was so proud of himself.

Getting his shoes on for school.

Look in the background...Z is playing. He ran right in there and played.


It was funny once I dropped him off I almost did not know what to do with myself. I am so used to having a little 3 ft shadow with me. I ran several errands, hit Kohls to purchase new towels, had lunch with Mel, and then went to the grocery store. I got more things done in 3 hours than I would get done in one week with Z. I did miss the little guy but felt rejuvenated & happy when I picked him up. It is good for a mommy to have a break every now and then.

When I returned to pick him up he started to cry. He did not want to leave. He saw the "Car line Drive-thru pick up kids" walking outside and he wanted to go with them. He thought they were going outside to play. He did not want his mommy to pick him up and take him home. I am thrilled he had a great day. His teachers said he was the only one in that class that did not cry all morning. Yeah Zachary! We are proud of you.

Final week of Summer

Last week was our last free week of summer so we did a lot of fun things. One afternoon we went to the movies with Grammy. Actually it was Grams last day before she went back to work. We watched Mama Mia. So glad we did not take Kevin too it, I don't think he would have liked it. Z enjoyed the singing, dancing, and of course the popcorn. Our theater has the best kids combo. It's a small drink, small popcorn, and a bag of juicy fruit bites. I have to remember this combo for my next date night. I really enjoyed the time with mom and Z.

Zachary and his kids combo at the movies.



The next morning we went to Jump Mania with our best friends, Mel & Charley. This was actually Mel's first day out after her first chemo treatment a week earlier. Z LOVED Jump Mania. The toddler zone had an inflatable "Choo Choo train" that caught Z's eye as soon as he walked into the place. After wearing ourselves out at Jump Mania we went to Cheddars for lunch. I can't remember the last time Mel and I did this with the kids. I was so glad to have this time before she heads back up to St. Louis for Chemo #2. Mel you're doing great. We love you! Hang in there!


Mel and Charley on the big slideHil and Z on the big slide. Z liked it better than I did!
In the jump house
Lunch with our best friends




The next morning Z & I took a walk to the park with Grandma Karen. It was a fun morning. Z had a blast doing everything "by himself". He seems like such a big boy anymore. He is definitely growing up too fast.


Grandma Karen and Z at the park


The last set of photos are from today. Kevin has been out of town for his 12th annual Fantasy Football draft. It is a weekend that is booked one year in advance. I do not even think our wedding was booked a year in advance. Anyways, he loves this weekend with his old college buddies. Today when Z and I returned from church Kevin was home. I unloaded Kev's bag and immediately Z jumped in it. He thought it was hilarious to be in daddy's bag. The photos were too cute not to post.






Tomorrow will be Z's first day of preschool. He is going to go two days a week in the mornings. He is very excited to go to "school" because his cousin Elliott goes to school. It's hard to believe that he is growing up. It is also hard to believe this summer is over. Our summer has been very sad and busy so I am hoping the fall is much better.

We did it!

On Monday night August 18th we cut Zachary's "NINA" and showed it to him. He said, "Broke, All Gone". We have not given it to him since. I have to admit pacifier detox was a little rough at nap time but other than that he did great. I think it helped that he has a little head cold too because he could not have used it if he needed it. I wanted to wait for at least 3 days before I posted this but it is OFFICIAL. No More Nina's at our house. Zachary is a big boy! I am so proud of him. Daddy is so proud of me for not giving in. We are all super happy at our house!

Six things about Hilary

So my friend Aubrey tagged me so I guess I am it.

Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you, mention the rules, tell six quirky, yet boring unspectacular things about yourself, tag six other bloggers by linking to them, and then go to each person's blog and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged. (I think I will just list them at the bottom and leave it at that. If they see it, great.)

6 random unspectacular things about me:

1. I make our bed everyday. ..even if I know that Kevin is planning on taking a nap after church on Sundays. I love to make our bed with lots and lots of decorative pillows. Kevin thinks I am nuts and that it is a waste but it makes me happy so he does not mind.

2. Ever since I was in 7th grade music class at Hickory Hills Junior High (yes, it was a Junior high at that time and not a middle school) I have sung Whitney Houston's song "One Moment In Time" in the shower. I do not feel that my shower experience is complete without singing this song. Yes, I am a loser.

3. I love to purchase new make-up at the cosmetic counter. I only do it about once a year but it makes me super happy to have fresh, unopened make-up.

4. I am a people pleaser. I never want to hurt anyones feelings. This is one of my negative attributes because I need to learn I can't please everyone. Currently I am the MOPS coordinator at our church. It was the hardest thing for me to design the MOPS t-shirts because I want everyone to love it. It was so difficult for me that I ended up doing one design but two t-shirt colors because I wanted to please everyone.

5. I love to have company and to be a hostess to our friends & family. Anyone who visits our house is a friend. We know no strangers. I love to have the table decorated for each season and I love to serve wonderful food & desserts.

6. I love to have my name monogrammed on things like address labels, note cards, pens, etc. I think it is because as a child my sister always found items with her name on them and there was never anything with Hilary on it. In fact, my favorite Christmas present as a child was a rubber stamp that my mom special ordered for me. If I can't find my name or if I cannot special order it I am happy with the letter H.

I tag: Melody, Rachel, Kim, Alysia, my cousin Jennifer, and Fawn

Day Three: Cancun

Just for the record....we are already home. A lot of people are asking. I was not able to update the blog while we were there because the "free WiFi" was super slow and because I did not want to download my photos in case I would lose them from my files. So long story short...I wrote some of the blog entries while we were there and then these last days of our trip now from our home. Sorry for the confusion.

Day 3 was pretty much like day 2. A lot of relaxation!!! Just what we needed. I can honestly say this was the most relaxed I have seen Kevin in about 4 years. We totally enjoyed our four days away.

One of the main things on the agenda for the day was to get me a MONKEY drink. We saw pictures of them on the online Orbitz review and I really wanted one. Every day from noon to one the bar staff makes about 20 monkeys to pass out to guest. The second day we were there we missed out. So my goal for the day was to get one. . At 11:30 I started stalking the bar for the "COCO LOCO". Finally at 12:30 they were ready and I got the first one!! I know I get excited at the dumbest stuff..it's okay to laugh at me. Anyways, I took a drink and it was GROSS! I dumped out the contents of the "Coco Loco" and refilled it just so I could have it by my cabana. I was thrilled I actually got one.

So there are 5 Fancy restaurant at this resort. We only had 3 nights there so we knew we were going to miss out on 2 of the restaurants. Leave it to Kevin to come up with another plan so that we could take advantage of the other ones. On the 3rd night we decided that we would go to 2 of the restaurants. Yep, in true Austin fashion we ate at the Lobster house at 6 pm, took a walk, then went to Agave the Mexican Restaurant at 9pm. I was so full by the time we got to Agave that I really did not want to order...but we did anyways. We really did not enjoy the ethnic fare as much as the Lobster House. I think its because we are used to Taco Bell and not the real deal. We nibbled on our meal but did not finish it. That is the beauty of an "all-inclusive" resort.
Overall we had a great day and to quote our good friend, Dave Brotherton, "we were stuffed to the gills".



These were our "Coco Loco" Monkey Drinks
Kissing my monkey

Date Night #2
Dinner at the Lobster House

Mariachi Band

Somberos at Restaurant (click to enlarge....the photo is super dark).

Day Two: Cancun

Here are our photos from Cancun on day two. We had the best time lounging in the sun, playing in the ocean, swimming in pool, eating lot of food, and hanging out with each other.


Swinging bed by our room

Relaxing at the beach
Kevin enjoying his vacation

For dinner we ate a the "French" restaurant and used our anniversary voucher. It was hilarious we gave the hostess our voucher and she made us wait while she got our table ready. When Kevin and I walked into the restaurant the pianist/organist started playing "Here Comes The Bride" super loud. I was so funny. The entire restaurant started clapping. I thought it was sweet how excited the wait staff got when we sat down. Dinner was a four course meal.

Ready to go to dinner

Our anniversary dinner at Chez Isabelle
Our waitress set this up for us
Kev's appetizer of Escargot "SNAILS"
Hil's pear, almond goat cheese salad
Three desserts: We could not decide...Creme Brulee, Chocolate Ganache
cupcake, and Chocolate Crepes.

To finish dinner one of the resort staff, Ivan, came over to make a Mexican tradition...Mayan coffee. It was the coolest show. First he melted sugar on the rims of the glass coffee mugs. Then he started pouring different kinds of alcohols and coffees together. Within seconds he started a fire and poured the liquids from one glass to another. The pictures really do not show the flames but it was super cool. The final drink tasted like the worst cup of coffee we have ever drank. It had a lot of ANISE in it so it was like drinking black licorice. After one sip we could not finish it. We clapped and tipped well so that we did not hurt Ivan's feelings. He really wanted us to love that Mayan Coffee.

Day one: Cancun

Well, Kevin and I arrived to Cancun Mexico around 12:00 today. Our flights were excellent and our trip to our all-inclusive resort was good too. Funny story about our ground transportation....when we exited out of the Cancun Airport there were all kinds of signs with peoples names on them. None of them had our name but from a distance I saw one that said " Bienviendos HILLARY HOUSTON...Excellence Playa Mujeres". I did not think that was ours but there was not one with our name on it. As other tourist started to leave in their shuttles this sign was the only one still waiting for its guest. I told Kevin, "I think that is our transportation." It was....you know Hilary Houston, Hilary Austin, Hilary Texas. They had it somewhat close. Anyways we were taken off in a fully loaded Denali XL to our resort. It was safe, comfortable, and private.

Once we arrived at Excellence Playa Mujeres we were greeted by Mario who brought us citrus smelling, moist hand towels. Then we checked in where they gave us glasses of Champagne to welcome us. Everything was just like it was pictured online. The resort staff were super friendly and the rooms were spacious and beautiful. Check it out online. Immediately upon arriving we went to lunch at The Grill. Food was good. After lunch we threw on our suits to head to the pools. Boy, did we feel like we were on vacation.

Here are some photos from our suite and the resort. More photos to come
tomorrow.

Our suite

The living area of the room

The bathroom

Jacuzzi tub in room

Our porch

Directly outside our swim up room.