Our final destination on our Texas trip was my Aunt and Uncle's home in the small town of Stephenville. We were eagerly looking forward to spending a few days with Family.
Sunday morning we went to church and in the afternoon had a huge family dinner. It felt like old times around Grandma's kitchen table back at the Ranch (possibly due to the fact that we were using Grandma's table...). However, we didn't have Grandma's pickles and there was no fermented soda, so perhaps it wasn't exactly like old times.
We spent most of Monday playing in the pool. It was awesome to have so many cousin-friends running around.
Aubree wasted no time jumping in the pool and played and swam all day. She's always been a water-loving kid. Unfortunately, despite numerous applications of sunscreen, she earned her first serious sunburn by the end of the day. I guess now we know to stick with rash-guards!
Bryce was initially hesitant to get in the water; he wanted to sit on the edge of the pool with me and just stick in his legs. Within a short time, however, he was splashing and playing with the rest of the kids.
The only way to get all the kids out of the pool was to offer a Popsicle treat. Happy Kids!
And when they were finally done swimming? Zone-out time...
While the kids played (and late at night while they were sleeping soundly), we adults reminisced. It was interesting to hear stories that I thought I knew, from different perspectives, and to think of them from a parent's point of view, rather than a child's.
One highlight of the visit for Bryce was getting to see the on-site backhoe loader. Uncle Paul promised to take him over, and Bryce talked about it for days excitedly. However, when the time came to go, he resisted because he didn't want to stop playing "House" with Kylee. Those two really had a good time playing together.
Aubree loved playing with Bailey and Morgan, but also enjoyed getting special treatment from her aunts.
And Thane? I think Aunt Nancy's crib was magic because he slept amazingly well. Multiple, long naps every day. I was tempted to take the crib with me back to Washington.
On Tuesday our trip finally came to an end. We flew out of Dallas at 6:30 pm and didn't arrive back to Seattle until 1 am. Thankfully Mark was with me so we were able to divide and conquer, but still - that was one LONG night. Bryce and Aubree didn't fall asleep until after 11 pm. At one point Bryce told me matter-of-factly, "I'm going to stay awake the whole time." *twitch*
Thane slept the best of the three (which isn't saying much). The next morning, Thane woke up around his regular time. He and I got up, had breakfast and a bath, got dressed and played. I put him down for a nap and when he woke up, that's when Aubree and Bryce finally woke up for the day.
Phew! What a fun adventure we had!
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