Tour de Texas: Stephenville

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!

Tour de Texas: Marble Falls

I'm getting behind - WAY behind.  It's time to buckle down and wrap up these Texas posts.  Which brings me to the second-to-last post, the reason-behind-the-whole-trip - Eric's wedding!

We left our friends in San Antonio reasonably early Saturday morning and drove up to a small, yet quintessential Texas town outside of Austin called Marble Falls.  We met up with my sisters Kira and Katie, plus my extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephew), at their hotel.  It was a hot (HOT!) day, so we spent most of our time staying cool inside the hotel rooms trying (desperately and unsuccessfully) to get the babies and little boys to nap.  Aubree spent the afternoon playing with her "cousin-friends", Bailey and Morgan, and couldn't have been happier.

When we got kicked out of the hotel rooms, we headed out to the wedding location.  Granted, I haven't been to too many weddings outside of LDS temples, but this was definitely one to remember!  The wedding and reception were held on the grounds of a huge adventure ranch.  There was a shooting range and ATV riding areas, a paintball course and cows grazing freely.  We had to pretend our tiny rental car had four-wheel drive to make it up the dirt path to the wedding site.  After carefully picking our way through the stickers and trying to avoid the cow pies, we ultimately made it to our seats immediately before the ceremony began.

Did I mention it was hot?  So, SO hot.  Too hot to bother caring about doing hair or make-up, or making sure my kids were wearing the right shoes.  Regardless, the location was perfectly Texas and perfect for Eric and his beautiful bride, Taylor (who I only met briefly and didn't manage to get a picture of - but believe me - she's gorgeous and everyone spoke of her in glowing terms).

My Uncle Rick performed the ceremony and it was short and sweet.  Within 10 minutes of sitting down, we were trekking back to our cars to drive the short distance to the reception hall (aka shooting club headquarters).

By the time the reception began around 7 pm, I was certain that Thane (who hadn't slept all day) would surely eat and pass out.  I thought perhaps Bryce wouldn't be far behind him.  You'd think by now I'd know better, wouldn't you?

Thane wouldn't have anything to do with sitting still, lying down, or being wrapped up.  He spent hours playing under the table with a plastic cup or two.  All the kids had a great time eating and dancing and enjoying their cousins and aunts and uncles.

We left the reception early (around 9 pm) to drive to Stephenville (our last stop on our great tour-de-Texas).  By this point, the kids were so keyed up that it STILL took an hour into the drive before they fell asleep.  Despite getting lost (apparently GPS is not infallible), we eventually made it to Rick and Nancy's house where we ALL passed out.

4th of July

Growing up, the 4th of July was one of the most tradition-filled of all the holidays.  We had a routine that we followed religiously every year (ward breakfast, parade, park activities, BBQ, homemade ice-cream, fireworks at the beach).  Any attempt to deviate was met by firm resistance from all the kids and cousins.  Perhaps the traditions and expectation contributed to the 4th being one of my favorite holidays.

Thus far, we have not established any predictable traditions with our little family.  But we had such a great 4th this year, that it might form the foundation of future holiday celebrations.

One fun thing about the 4th of July are the coordinating kid outfits. 

 Thane's face in this picture cracks me up!

Our ward sponsored a breakfast and Flag Raising ceremony.  In addition to these typical offerings, they also planned a parking lot full of activities for the kids.  It was A-mazing!  There were bubbles, carnival-type games and booths (complete with prizes), face-painting (by a professional artist), fingernail painting (Aubree's favorite), soccer shooting, and sidewalk chalk drawing.  The culminating event? A pinata!  I was so impressed and the kids played for hours.

In the evening we walked down the street to a ward member's home for a neighborhood block party.  Some of our neighbors we'd met previously, but most we hadn't.  Everyone brought food and fireworks to share, and the kids and adults spent the evening making new friends.  Such a great idea!

The only downside to the whole day was the fireworks and explosions that lasted until the wee hours of the morning.  I have NEVER witnessed such intense fireworking.  It was constant, and coming from every direction.  Mark questioned, "how are any of us supposed to sleep?!"  It felt like what I imagine a war-zone to sound like. 

Tour de Texas: San Antonio

The drive from Houston to San Antonio took much longer than it should have taken.  Or perhaps it just felt extra long.  The rental car was small, which meant the three kids' car seats were super close together and Thane's seat had to be in the middle (usually I keep Aubree in the middle as a buffer).  Which meant a repeating chorus of, "Thane's kicking me!" "Bryce is poking Thane!" 
Bryce had to use the restroom every 45 minutes and Thane still wasn't feeling well, so every time I took him out of the car then had to put him back in, he sobbed. 

So, when we reached San Antonio and met up with some of our favorite Florida friends, the Millers, we were not only thrilled to see them, we were also ecstatic to be out of the car!  

Juliana planned the perfect post-long-drive activity - an afternoon at Pump It Up.  Surprisingly, though the bounce house facility was extensive, there was only one other family there, so we essentially had the place to ourselves.  Not surprisingly, the kids took zero time jumping back into their old friendships (the Millers moved to Texas a week after we moved to Seattle).

After hours of jumping and racing, the kids finally slowed down long enough to evaluate their battle wounds (those  "rug" burns hurt!) and realize they were tired.

Bryce and his "best friend" Raezy had stopped jumping much earlier when they found a driving arcade game.  They didn't put in any money, but that didn't stop them from "driving" intently and happily for a loooong time.  (Those two are sooo cute together... Is it wrong to hope they meet up again [and get along just as well] after Bryce's mission?)

We bandaged up the kids and drove to the Miller's home where we had the good fortune to be guests for a few days.  Clearly, I'm a slow learner, because we tried once more to let Aubree sleep in the same room as her friends (Ella and Raezy).  Despite being exhausted, the girls couldn't stop talking long enough to fall asleep.  I felt the same way.

Wednesday we considered taking off to see fun things in San Antonio, but Thane was on day 4 of his fever and seemed to be getting worse.  He was so sad and miserable and I finally had to come to grips with the fact that this was not just a reaction to his vaccinations.  I contemplated taking him in to Urgent Care, but was counseled to wait just one more day.  

We decided to take it easy and instead took the kids to the park. That didn't last too long because we were lucky enough to plan our 2-week trip during a 2-week long heat spell. It was HOT (and Washington has already turned us into wimps).  Of course, the kids didn't need any big trips or activities; they had a great time inventing games and creating intricate pretend worlds and roles.  By afternoon, Thane's fever broke and he started to feel much better.  Hallelujah!  

Thursday, the kids and I got to spend the day at my cousin Paul's home.  Paul and his wife, Carly, have a beautiful, brilliant little girl - Taytum - who we got to meet for the first time.  Paul took us on a tour of his property and we learned all about cactus, shared Popsicles, and let the kids play.  Bryce was enthralled with Taytum's ATV - he didn't even care that it was pink.  Aubree doted on Taytum and was the one who reminded me, "Mom! You need to take a picture!"  Good call, Aubree!  Thankfully, we got to spend more time with them (and take more pictures) at the end of our Texas trip.

After leaving Paul's, we drove to the airport to pick up MARK!!!  We were SO excited to have him join us on our adventures.  We went back to the Millers and, after putting the kids to bed, stayed up late playing games just like we'd done countless times back in Florida.  It was awesome.

Friday we decided to be a bit more adventurous (having an extra adult around helped) and took all 8 kids to Landa Park, which is an amazing swimming pool/lake/activity park combination.  We swam and played for hours.  Aubree and Ella especially liked the water slides.  As usual, Thane loved being in the water.  Towards the end of the afternoon, Mark and Bryce disappeared.  I finally found them standing in the corner of the fence watching a little train give people rides around the park.  Bryce could've watched all day.  

Have I mentioned before that we love the Millers?  Because we do, all of them.  Megan is such a great role model for Aubree, and Aubree adores her and likes nothing better than to be doing what Megan's doing.  In fact, the biggest problem of the week was probably that Aubree liked playing with Megan almost as much as playing with Ella and then Ella felt left out (understandably so). 

 It was hard to say good-bye Saturday morning.  We always spent a lot of time together in Florida and we miss them like crazy.  Now I need to continue plotting a way to convince them to move to Washington... 

Family Photo Shoot

Tour de Texas: North Houston

Memorial Day morning we packed up and said sad good-byes to our friends in South Houston.  The plan was to drive to North Houston and spend the afternoon with good friends, the Rogers,  then continue on that evening to our next destination - San Antonio.

Mark and I became friends with Brandon and Kathy while living in Wymount at BYU.  We bonded over BYU football games, Kathy's homemade cookies (and homemade everything else), and a shared fondness for the name "Aubree" (their oldest daughter is also "Aubrey").  They moved to Houston shortly before our Aubree was born and I hadn't had the chance to see them since.

 My kids weren't quite sure what to expect visiting people they'd never met, but the Rogers children (all 5 of them) are kind and generous and smart and outgoing.  My three were swept along with the happy tide. Everyone talked and played and laughed and feasted on fresh-picked blueberries.  

After lunch we headed over to their neighborhood pool and enjoyed a fun afternoon in the sun.  Aubree and Bryce frolicked in the kiddie-pool and we were reminded of what it was like to live in a hot, sunny area (it's still too chilly to want to go swimming here in Seattle).

Thane wasn't feeling very well (day 2 of a fever that, at that point, I still thought was a result of his MMR vaccination), and alternated between wanting to jump around in the water and wanting to be cuddled close.

When it was time to leave the pool and get ready to say good-bye, Aubree sighed, "Oh! I wish we could stay longer, I'm having so much fun!"

Brandon and Kathy immediately offered to let us stay the night so we could continue to talk and play.  So Aubree got her wish.  

Aubree was in friend heaven; she alternated playing with each of the three girls - Aubrey (9), Emma (7), and Kirsten (5).  When she learned she could sleep in their room (and read before bed), she bounced with excitement.  

Around 9 pm, Aubrey R. quietly slipped out of her bedroom.  "Mom," she called calmly, "I need your help.  There's a cricket loose and it's jumping on Aubree's head." 

Bryce also had a great playmate - Miles, who is just one month older.  Where Bryce is deliberate and cautious, Miles is adventurous and eager.  They balanced each other well and spent a substantial amount of their time racing cars on Miles' track.

Unfortunately, we did have to leave the next morning to continue our adventures.  Kathy sent us on our way with a scrumptious breakfast of blueberry pancakes and we were left with a 3 hour drive to consider the irony that by visiting, we only miss them more.