Home Sweet Home

We started home bright and early Monday morning, we made pretty good time and got home around 11 PM.  The kids were great as usual and we had a nice drive back.

We spent most of Tuesday recovering and unpacking and cleaning out the car.

Wednesday after Eileen got home from school, we packed lunches and headed to the water park.  The kids had fun - but they spent more time on the play ground than at the splash park part.  There was a large summer camp group, so the kids had plenty of kids to play with and they all had a great time.

Wednesday evening, we headed to the church building for activities.  The girls had Activity Days, Aaron had cub scouts, I had Young Women's and Dan had Young Men's and Evie and James ran around and had fun.  The kids and I rode bikes and then rode home again.  

Thursday we went for Piano lessons after Eileen was done with school and we had eaten lunch.  This will be the last lessons until August - travel schedules and vacation schedules aren't lining up.  

Friday, I picked up Eileen and Mallory from school so Mallory could babysit while Dan and I went to the temple.  We had a really nice time - though I'm still recovering from this silly cold and still a bit under the weather.  Then in the evening, we let Eileen babysit so Dan and I could go play D&D with Becca, Jeremiah and their friend Chris.  It was fun, but we got home late and poor Eileen was really tired... :(  

Saturday was crazy,  Dan left early to go hiking at Garden of the Gods with the Young Men and I got busy prepping for the baby shower.  Becca and Natasha came early to help set up and Eileen and Anna were big helps too.  The baby shower went well - we did the whole "decorating onesies" thing and it seemed to go really well and was a big hit.  They came out really cute and Eileen and Anna each did one too.  

After, I was so tired, that once Dan got home, I took a long nap.... And was still ready to call it a night pretty early.  

Today was great!  Church was wonderful, I got to substitute on the piano in primary during 3rd hour, which I love doing!  After was ward choir and then camp stuff.  Tomorrow is going to be long and exhausting!

Burnt Texas Toast

We kept ourselves pretty busy this week!  We went with Sandi and the cousins to the Dallas Zoo.   The kids had a blast riding the merry-go-round, 

Climbing and playing on every available surface, 

Feeding the birds - and holding them - and having them land on Aaron's head, 

And of course, playing in the water, seeing the animals, petting the goats and whining about the heat (well maybe not that last one...)

We had our friends the Tolberts come over to play and we walked over to the turtle pond to feed the turtles.  It was so good to see them again!  They were out of town last year and we weren't able to get to see them.  Weather wasn't really good for swimming, but it was perfect for a walk and chatting!

Wednesday night, we finally got to pick up Anna and Grandpa from the Airport.  Eileen came with me and practically jumped on Anna - it's so cute to see that she missed her sister!  Anna is still recovering from Jet Lag - she's been exhausted most nights and getting up early.

Thursday was our only real day for going to the lake.  Weekends are too busy and crazy and awful - so even though Anna was a bit tired and cranky, we headed out to the lake around 10 and stayed until 5 PM.  By the end of 7 hours in the sun - despite numerous applications of sunscreen, we were all burnt.  I got to do some wake boarding, the kids had a blast in the tube and Anna and Aaron even tried wake boarding.  Anna was able to get up and get going, but struggled with balance once she got there, Aaron was almost able to get up - but everyone else was exhausted and we didn't really have the time to give him a full lesson - we tried some more the next day in the pool.  After we got home from the lake, the kids all promptly jumped in the pool again....

Friday, the Tiltons came over to swim and play. We all had a blast (except for the sunburns - though that didn't stop them from wanting to get in the pool.  It was great to get to see and hang out with them again!  I don't miss the Texas heat, but I do miss out friends.  It's fun to watch friendships pick right up where they left off - I just wish we didn't have to leave off...  Evie has finally been wanting to take swim lessons from Grandpa and has made huge leaps forward in her swimming this year!  It was so exciting to watch her finally really start to get comfortable in the water!  

Saturday was nice and crazy busy.  The kids did some swimming and swim lessons in the morning, I did some errands to get ready for the trip home, and then we met up at a nail place to get pedicures.  The girls were really looking forward to this and had a blast (at least until they found that they had to wait for the adults to finish... :)  They still did a good job and had fun.  Kai was deemed old enough to come this year and she LOVED it - she was so cute sitting there pampered and adorable!  

After, Evie went with Sandi to have a sleep over along with James and Aaron and Sandi's kids, while Grandma, Grandpa, Eileen, Anna and I went to Medieval Times.  The girls really seemed to love it.  Eileen's favorite part was probably the Falconer - but she didn't remember to bring her glasses to Texas, so she borrowed mine and I wore my sunglasses.  It was a lot of fun though!  We all had a great time cheering - though Eileen and Anna both got scared during some of the fighting scenes.  

Sunday we went to my Dad's ward which was at 1PM - so before church, we had a bit brunch and a little birthday party for Kai and Anna/Father's Day for Grandpa.  Anna got a scooter and Kai got a cabbage patch doll with accessories.  We all had fun eating yummy cupcakes right after filling up on waffles, eggs, potatoes, and bacon... :)  Church was wonderful, though James didn't want to go to Primary.  The girls went up to sing with the primary and sang beautifully.  Then the kids went to primary, and James came with me, he actually did pretty good at being reverent and snuggly, though by the end he was getting a little more rambunctious and flirty with the ladies in Relief Society.  The lessons were wonderful and the kids made cute little things for Daddy.  We had fun, but I can't wait to get back home to Dan.  

Texas Toast

Monday we packed a lunch and headed to Dinosaur Ridge.  Most of the kids were complaining about the heat before long, so Claire took the kids and headed for the visitor's center and Elise and I did the whole walk.  I've wanted to do the whole thing for a while and was eager for the excuse.  We all had a good time and headed home tired, but happy.  After dinner, we had an evening of packing and playing games and then Evie said she was hurting, and it seemed bad enough that Dan took her in to the ER who ended up having to check for everything from kidney stones to appendicitis, only to find that it was nothing and sent them home around 3 AM.  

Tuesday morning, bright and early, we packed up the car, loaded up the kids and headed for Texas.  The trip was long, but the kids were good and Koopa did a great job travelling.  We arrived around 1 AM then unpacked the necessities and went to bed.  

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were mostly spent in the pool. Some of Saturday was also spent in the pool.  Sandi came over with Taz and Kai to play in the pool with us.  The kids have been having so much fun.  We've been lathering up with sunscreen, but we are still growing more tan every day.  

Today we went to our old Frisco ward for church.  It's always so fun seeing old friends.  It was nice getting to go to Gospel Doctrine this week - I love getting to study and learn about the scriptures - as awesome as teaching youth Sunday school class, it was a nice little break.  We spent the afternoon playing games and having fun together.

Summer!

The beginning of this week was mostly not too crazy.  We've gotten enough rain that I had to mow the lawn twice this week.  Monday was the usual laundry and grocery shopping, The kids played at home and we took it pretty easy.  In the evening, I took Eileen with me to go pick out stuff for the car trip at the dollar store.  She had fun helping to pick stuff and then filling the car carriers.  Evie spent the rest of the week telling me how she couldn't wait to go to to Texas, and James kept telling me that he wanted his "surprise"

Tuesday was the usual summer crazies.  The kids practicing piano, playing outside and having fun together.  Dan and I also spent some time getting stuff ready for the Youth Activity.

Wednesday Eileen started Summer Math class.  It's really strange not having her around during the mornings - and I just think it's awesome that she is choosing to do this. After, we got the house cleaned up and kids got their piano practicing done and such.  In the evening, we had the Youth Activity at our house, we played games, practiced building fires and built a real fire to roast marshmallows and made s'mores.  I think the activity went well.

Thursday was piano lessons,  we headed over after Eileen's math class, then after lessons, we hung out and played so Rose and Evie could have a play date together.  They still weren't happy because all the other kids were there too, but oh well - you can't have everything.  :)  The kids had a ton of fun playing together, then we headed home for dinner and fun, then I headed out for institute.  Class went really well - I was teaching for Sarah and got to talk about some really awesome parts of the OT.

Friday morning after Eileen's class, we headed to the used book sale.  We all had fun combing the stacks and finding treasures.  Now we just need to figure out where we will put another book shelf...

Saturday was mostly spent doing house work and getting things ready for our trip to Texas.  We did laundry, packed up the kids clothes and cleaned out the car.

Sunday we had a great day at church, then after church, Claire and the kids arrived from Wyoming to spend a day with us.  We had fun eating dinner and playing games and hanging out together.  I had fun getting my hair done :)