Hanging out in Houston, well...Tomball

I spent a total of 16 days in Tomball, with our really good friends. Each year we go on a "Milnik" vacation together. This year, since Ken was still tired from our Church History Trip, our family just came to visit them. We had tons of fun times and a few overwhelming times due to my precious little (stubborn) Gabers. But all in all, it was a terrific get-away for me and the kids.



Shortly after arriving in Houston, Ken got really sick and had to be put into the hospital. Here he is with the rest of the Milnik family just before being released from the hospital.


Gregor wasn't able to come to Houston either...not too big of a vacation for him. But we don't like to leave anyone out so we make a couple of stick-figures of him. One of just regular "daddy", for when it was just me & Karie and the kids. And then a "Milnik Daddy" for when he was the only one missing so he could participate in our Milnik family outings. The kids got a kick out of this...who am I trying to kid, so did Karie and I!


Here's buddy giving his "daddy' a hug. He really missed Greg so this was a way that Gabe could feel closer to his daddy.



When I saw this bumper sticker I just had to take a picture of it. All I have to say is, "Amen!" It reads...I'll keep my guns, freedom, and money...YOU CAN KEEP THE "CHANGE!" Love it!!

We took the kids to the childrens museum in The Woodlands Mall. After a few minutes of being there, our new motto was.."who says a children's museum is just for children?" The next several pics will explain why.




Yes, that is Karie running in a stylish pair of flippers and a childs life vest! GO KARIE!!



Then it was my turn and I have to say, running in flipper is MUCH harder than it looks! But it sure was fun!! A little too fun!! I hadn't laughed so hard in my life!!

Karie posing in the sexy swimming gear on our even sexier canoe-thing.

Yes, I thougt the yellow flippers added a little color to the picture, though the black ones were funner to run in.

This was the saddest part of my whole vacation. We were all standing around the paint table while the kids painted, when I got paint on my pants. I looked over and Hannah was covered in paint as well. I then proceeded to say that I was taking Hannah to go wash her hands and for me to go wash off my pants. After about 5 minutes in the bathroom trying to rinse out supposed "washable" paint, we headed back. When I came out of the bathroom, Karie and Dustin were sitting on a bench right outside, waiting for us. I instantly knew the answer but I asked it anyway..."where's Gabe?" Karie's face said it all as we instantly ran back to go find him. As we rounded the corner, I could see poor little Gabe, still sitting on the little chair at the paint table, with the saddest look I've ever seen on his face. It instantly broke my heart. I rushed over to him and picked him up. I praised him for staying there and not leaving and apologized over and over and over again. I felt SOOOOO bad!!

That evening, and many more following, Gabe told Greg on the phone, over and over, about the scary ordeal. It went something like this..."I scared. Mommy go bathroom and I scared. Mommy come back and I scared!!" Talk about feeling like a loser mom, it was horrifying! But I'm happy to say that I have a forgiving child and a wonderful Father in Heaven who looked after Gabe while I was away.

Typical Texas church advertisment. I was actually tempted to look this one up to see how they twisted this back around but never did. It reads.."JESUS-knowing Him could be dangerous"

And here's a sign that was a few doors down from the house we used to live in. It's just so different from our culture. Could you imagine me with a sign in my yard that read..."I Love My Church! Eagle Mountain 9th ward LDS Church."

Karie and I took the girls to see Cirque Du Soleil. It was amazing what people can do with their bodies! Hannah had her first "Dippin Dots" there and LOVED them, of course.

Our old community had a nice pool area with an adult pool and a kiddie pool. The kids liked to cool off when we had the chance to take them. (Hannah and Daria)

All Gabe needed was a cup to play with in the pool. Such simple entertainment!

Water Babies! Daria, Hannah, and Dustin

We took Gabe to the Lonestar Flight Museum. We were bummed, when we arrived, to hear that most of the museum was closed due to damage from Hurricane Ike. It's located in Galveston, TX, which was almost flattened by a hurricane in 2008.

Me and my handsome husband. Looks like he's decided to follow his buddy Steve's example and become a pilot.

Galveston, TX beach. We stopped here for a few minutes to allow the kids to wade in the water (Ken was waiting in the van). When it was time to go Gabe threw a MAJOR fit!! He was kicking, hitting, and screaming the whole way to the car. I, in turn, threw a fit because I was so sick of his actions (I'm sure Ken and Karie enjoyed that...sorry!). I bet most of the people on the beach thought I was kidnapping him. It was REALLY bad!!!

Greg chillin' on the beach, catching a few rays!

Jenny, me, Shannon, and Karie. I really miss these ladies so much. We decided to do a "girls day" and go shopping. We had tons of fun and lots of laughs. It was so good to be around them again. I really appreciate their friendship.

I did a GOOD job shopping...I love you Greg!! You're the BEST husband EVER!!! I love how well you take care of our family!!! Did I mention that I REALLY REALLY love you?!?

The Damage! Never underestimate the power of influence that four friends getting together has, especially if they're going shopping!

We were just so tuckered out after the long day of shopping. I forgot to mention that Jenny was a bit miffed that she didn't get the "wear while capris" memo but I'm sure she'll get over it. :)

My newest feddish.....White chocolate covered cranberries!!! YUMMY!! I think we made 4 or 5 batches of these things while I was there. They are SOOOOO good and SOOOOO addictive!!

Doing crafts with the girls.

Karie's house was covered in TONS and TONS of ARMY stuff. She has visited each of the recruiting offices to get random stuff to decorate Dustin's room, he loves military stuff! Anyway, when she made it to the ARMY office, the recruiter there loaded her up with two bags stuffed full of random items with the ARMY logo on it. It was so funny because everywhere I looked, I saw the words..."ARMY" and "ARMY STRONG".

What's a vacation without a little Settlers? We decided to let Greg play and Surprise...Surprise...Greg won! He's so good! And as you can see, Ken was being a poor loser...giving Gregor bunny ears! But one fun thing we did differently this vacation was we learned how to play Settlers online! It's really fun and now we can play with each other from different states! Very cool!!

It was a wonderful trip and I wish I could've shared every story here but like I said, anyone's more then welcome to come see my family vacation book (with all the details in it) once I get it in!!

I'm so excited because now that I'm done blogging about my vacation, I can get my "Blog Book" started!! YIPPEE!!!