Grandma's House

We have spent the past 3 weeks at my parents house in Virginia and have had a lot of fun.  I'm sure we will have worn out our welcome after the next week is done.  The kids have loved every minute of it and I'm sure will be sad when it is time to leave.

My mom flew out to drive with us across the country. We were very blessed to have a pretty easy 3-day drive with the kids being VERY good under the circumstances. We got up around 3AM most morning so we could get 4 hours of driving in before the kids woke up and it was perfect. That meant we could stop when we needed to and still got to the hotel in time for a swim in the afternoon. It was nice to have something for the kids to look forward to.

Since we have gotten here we have had such a nice time.  My little sister has a guinea pig and Ethan and Taylor love "having a pet".  Taylor will sit by the cage all day long and talk to her and pet her.  Ethan is a little wilder and therefore the guinea pig hides from him if she can.  But they both do great with it.

 My brother needed by mom to watch his dog for a week in the middle of our visit and the kids absolutely adored him. He was just the right size to play with and sit with and walk. And Parker never missed an opportunity to be in the action around the house.

He even needed to be in the middle of story time.  If there was a lap available he would be on the couch.  The kids sure missed him when he had to head home.  And I think the dog went into depression once he had to go back to his quiet house as well.

The kids each have their own special way of spending time with McKaylan on the computer. This time is usually spent watching music videos of groups I have never heard of or watching videos of Disney rides in anticipation of our trip down there next week.  It is kind of scary to hear them now singing these songs word for word.  Ethan doesn't like to admit that he knows them so he will deny it when anyone asks but he just can't help singing along when they come on.

The other day Dad and I took the kids to the James River in downtown Richmond.  I always loved going there as a kid and I knew Ethan and Taylor would love it.  We had a great time walking on the rocks but the kids were annoyed that I didn't pack bathing suits.  It isn't a calm part of the river so I didn't want to tempt fate by letting them get in.  Of course they both ended up getting wet by "falling" in after I let them put their feet in. 

It has been such a nice visit and I wouldn't have survived all my travels for work without my Mom and Dad's help.  But we are looking forward to Abe coming out at the end of the week and starting our vacation down in Florida before we head home. Only two more weeks before we will be home and life will be back to normal!

Daddy Time

Things finally slowed down for Abe at work and we got to have some fun with him. The month of May was long as he had to work 6 days a week and didn't get a single Saturday or Sunday off. So we have taken advantage of having him back for some fun.

We took the kids to see Cars 2 at an outdoor movie screen.  We had learned about the event at least a month ago and Ethan has been so excited ever since.  We got there early and brought the football for Ethan and some bubbles for Taylor.  They loved making friends with the other kids that ran over to play with our toys.  It was pretty funny to watch 10 5 and 6 year old boys trying to play football.  Ethan is a little wild when he gets going.

 Here we are waiting for the sun to go down so the movie could start.

 Poor Taylor was tired and climb up on her daddy's lap and fell asleep.  We didn't think about the fact that she had drank a full bottle of water before falling asleep and we didn't take her to the bathroom.  So towards the end of the movies she peed all over Abe.  He was soaked!  He was pretty happy that it was dark as we walked back to the car, wet pants and all.  He is such a good sport.

 We decided to head to the river again and enjoy a relaxing tubing trip.  The kids absolutely love it!  I'm always amazed by how crystal clear the water is.  Hopefully the summer will hold more fun activities with Dad.  We are actually in Virginia now with my mom and the kids so the next few posts will be our adventures here.  In a few weeks Abe will join us for a fun trip to Orlando and we can't wait!

Family Visits

We had a fun visit from some of our family in Dallas in June.  We got to show them around the Riverwalk and the Alamo and then had fun going to the park and pool on base.  And the adults even got to sneak out for a great Tex-Mex meal without the kids.  We had such a great time and we are always sorry when these short visits come to an end.  They are always such easy houseguests and so much fun to have around.  We are going to miss them when they move soon.
 Ethan is never that thrilled to have his picture taken but Maren sure is having fun.

 The kids all wanted to pose on every single cannon at the Alamo.  I love when they want their picture taken.

 They were all good sports even though it was hot.

 Our kids refused to let them have a family picture alone.