Luke Austin Windels

We grabbed a bite to eat on the cruise ship before Courtney and Matt’s wedding. Luke was a little indecisive when it came to eating his chicken and vegetables. But there was no doubt about his passion for ice cream. Naturally we took a little advantage of this!

Our trip to Galveston wasn’t just about staying at the Moody Gardens hotel (with clowns). Courtney and Matt got married (Congrats, guys) on a Carnival Cruise ship before it head out to sea. Here is Luke’s highlight reel.

Luke checks out the cruise ship before the wedding.

Luke changes into his wedding clothes.

And shows them off for the camera.

Luke gears up for the ceremony with a bit of stretching.

Courtney and Matt get married (note: Luke missed this part because he kept yelling "wow," and Daddy had to take him for a walk).

Luke cuts a rug on the dance floor at the reception.

And hangs with his favorite cousins.

Cappy's going to be sorry he taught Luke this trick!

The kids love their Bella and Cappy! From the looks of it, Rylie takes after Cappy!

And at the end of it all...Luke was wiped. Man, Aunt Courtney sure knows how to throw a party! Note: No alcohol was involved in this picture.

Before dancing with Rylie, Luke put on a solo act chasing the disco light around the dance floor.  Put one laser pointer on our Christmas list.

Now that we’re parents, instead of looking for four star hotels, we look for four balloon hotels. In Galveston, we stayed at Moody Gardens…and we chose it because they promised face painting, bouncy castles, an ice cream store and clowns.

The lagoon at Moody Gardens opened at 9 am, and we were there at 9:01.

We were joined by Cappy and Bella about an hour later, and Cappy taught Luke how to make sand castles.

Later our crew grew even more when cousins Rylie and Hunter (and their parents) arrived.

Luke clearly had a fun time playing with Cappy.

After 6 hours in the sun, Luke was glad to get some love from Aunt Courtney.

Another key feature of our Moody Gardens vacation package was a splash pad and lagoon. Luke is a trooper when it comes to getting splashed right in the face!

We caved on vacation and let Luke watch cartoons, and he was quickly addicted. Here, Daddy tested the addiction (and Luke’s patience) by putting the camera between Luke and the cartoons. Watch as he strains for a clear view of the television.

Luke was up from 5 am until 9:30 pm on the day we flew in to Houston, with only this 30 minute nap in the car to hold him over.

Luckily, it was a good nap.

He was a trooper throughout the trip. Staying up past his bedtime, sleeping in 5 different places, and still looking cute.

Luke’s baby mullet is no more. Courtney’s wedding is coming up, so we took him in for his very first haircut. He got to sit in a car, watch Dora the Explorer on TV, and eat a sucker…so he probably doesn’t even know he got a haircut.  But he looks very handsome!

Luke isn't sure what's going on as the haircut begins.

At first he was a little apprehensive.

Then he started to get the hang of it.

And by the end he was all smiles.

Nothing gets Luke more excited than a set of keys. Of course we just discovered that his real motivation is to unlock doors in the neighborhood.

Luke’s been a little sponge when it comes picking up new words. Here he is pointing to just about everthing in the front yard.