Monday, July 18, 2011

A Whole Bunch of Randomness

I have a bunch of photos that are just from things we did here and there and never blogged about, so I am throwing it all into one. Just quick pics I took and wanted to share.

When we were in Texas back in May the family and I had a extra day before the rest of our family arrived so we decided to take the girls to an aquarium they had in downtown Dallas. When we got there we the only ones there so one of the guys that worked there spent lots of time with Katie and Bree showing them all sorts of water creatures in this tank. Telling them all the details and letting them touch them. Bree didn't really want to touch but Katie was very interesting in them. This guy was super nice to them.

The aquarium was not very big it took us all of an hour to go through it, which surprised me, I would have thought Dallas' aquarium would have been really big. Maybe there is another we just didn't know about. Anyway, as we were leaving we walked by another place called The Butterfly House. Katie begged us to go in because they have been learning about butterflies at school and have a butterfly net in their class room so they can watch all the stages from a caterpillar to a butterfly. We went in and it was really pretty neat. The girls kept trying to get the butterflies to land on their fingers.



Chris and Bree inside the Butterfly House

Papaw and Katie playing checkers. This is Katie's favorite new game to play. They played lots of games when they were here for a visit.




There is always a trip to CEC when Nana and Papaw are here. Nana riding the virtual rollercoaster with Bree. Love Bree's expression.



One Saturday we went over to Wilmington to check out their mall. Wilmington is about 35 mins away so we don't go there often. We when walked in the girls saw a carousel....well it was actually a double decker carousel which I had never seen before. Of course they wanted to ride on the top deck.









A day in the life of Samson....poor guy just can't get away from the tutu's and bows. You can see the bow that is in one of his ears. He had on in the other but managed to knock it out.




He gets his rewards for being a good sport and dealing with the girls. He gets his beach time. He loves the beach.




Bree's class at school had Pirate Day. She came home with a pirate hat and eye patch she made. She cracked me up wearing this around and saying "Errrrr Matey". She is one cute pirate.




The girls and I went by a shop called "The Turtle Factory". Most of the shops around our house are one a tourist shop for all the beach goers or they are shops that sell all of the beach decor items or very unique things. We went into this shop and got a nice surprise. They have a pottery painting place in the back. Kids paint for free all you have to do is buy the pottery piece. Most of the ones for kids are 5 bucks or less. The lady who runs this part of the shop is very kid friendly. She took the girls and showed them how to paint them, helped them the entire time. Whats cool about this place is you don't have to leave the pottery and let them fire it before you can take it home. They have a spray they put on it and it just has to dry a few minutes and then it is good to go. They loved it and have been back one more time. Katie ask to go a lot....she is big into the arts and craft stuff.



My two cuties waiting for some fireworks to start on July 4th, while they wait they enjoyed their snow cones.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Family Visit

This post is a little overdue...a few weeks ago Uncle Kevin, Aunt Brandy and Matthew came to our house for a visit. We were excited to have them come to our house and get to spend some good quality time with them. We didn't have much planned for the week, which was nice. We enjoyed spending time just hanging out together and of course hitting the beach a few times.



Most of the evenings we would spend some time outside. . Uncle Kevin brought some kites. One of the evenings we had lots of wind so we took advantage and let the girls fly some kites.

The girls love their cousin Matthew and are always so excited to see him. One day after we got home from the beach I found them all cuddled together on the couch watching a movie. Love this photo of the three of them..


Group photo


A little sunbathing is a must when at the beach



Bree taking a stroll with Kevin and Brandy.


Katie riding the waves


Fun in the sand. Matthew was working hard to dig a pool of water to put his feet in. Somehow it ended up he made a pool for Katie and Bree to play in.


One evening after dinner we all ended up playing Katie's Just Dance for Kids Wii game. It was beyond comical. Brandy and I danced to "Everybody Dance Now". Kevin took video but I threatened his life if he showed anyone. I realized just how uncoordinated I really am and also how aerobic this game really was. Kevin and Matthew gave it a try. They picked a hard one....YMCA....don't hurt yourself guys.


On their last night there we went to get some seafood at a little restaurant on the water by our house. The food is so good. We had a great dinner and enjoyed our last night together that week.

We had a great week together. Lots of fun spending sometime with the family. So nice to be back closer to family and get to see everyone more often.