Texas Staycation

On Monday we returned from our family summer staycation. We had such a great time together as a family. We decided to take our old digital camera since we were going to Sea World, just in case we got splashed by Shamu. I forgot how slow that thing is! I would press the button to take a picture and like 4 seconds later it would take the picture....needless to say that doesn't work so well with a 2 year old. Here are some of the pics from our trip.

We all enjoyed Sea World. It was so fun to watch Sunshine get excited! We

watched all of the shows and visited all of the animal exhibits while we were there.

We spent one morning at the San Antonio Zoo.

We have a Texas State Parks pass-which is really handy.

Here we are at the Colorado Bend State Park.

Sunshine enjoyed climbing around on the trees at the park.

This picture was taken at Enchanted Rock near Fredricksburg. It was SO hot the afternoon we visited. Sunshine was trying to tempt us to get out of the shade.

One of my favorite things about vacation is finding new places to eat. We ate on the Riverwalk in San Antonio twice. Sunshine and I shared a slice of Raspberry Diablo from the Iron Cactus one evening. It was VERY good. I am trying to find a recipe like it so I can make my own!

One night we ate the famous Coopers BBQ in Llano. It was very good. We all three shared this pork chop and still couldn't finish it- it was huge!

The Lake

The weekend before last we went to lake LBJ with some friends. We had so much fun and really enjoyed the time to relax and be away from home. Sunshine loved the fact that the weekend involved water.

T and I were able be out on the lake by ourselves, thanks to our friends'

willingness to play with Sunshine.

This family canoe outing was very memorable. Sunshine used a

little shovel as her oar. It was so cute!!

Sunshine ADORES Abby! Here they are playing in the sand.

T's favorite thing about the lake was the jet ski. It was big enough for all 3 of us to ride on at one time. The first time we took it out, we flipped it on it's side...yea for life jackets! We also took the boat out a lot and I am hoping that next summer Sunshine will be big enough to try tubing.

Family Fun

My Mom, and my sister K and her family came to visit last week. We had such a fun time with them and I was so glad they were able to make the trip from Kansas. We went swimming, ate at some our local favorite places, went to church and to the Waco Zoo. We were sad to see them drive away, but so glad that we were able to spend time together!

Sunshine loved playing with baby J. Baby J was a trooper!
My mom reading to her grand kids.

The Waco Zoo was great! Lots of shade and great exhibits, but not too many that we felt like we would never make it though. Sunshine and her cousin C held hands for part of the trip through the zoo....so cute!

Looking at the giraffes.

The zoo had a splash pad. It was a great way to end the day and get them cooled off for the ride home. They loved it and took great naps on the way home!

I love the 4th of July!

I love celebrating the 4th of July. We always had so much fun celebrating as kids, so I think it has just carried over. We would do fireworks at home, have a cookout, maybe a parade (when we were little), and then drive to Osage City to watch fireworks. My mom always made apple pie, and we would take it with us so that we could eat it while we watched the display. Then we would drive home and celebrate my Grandpa's birthday while we did our night-time fire works.

We had fun celebrating this year. We stopped by the fireworks stand on Saturday and bought our fireworks. I wanted some snap-pops for Sunshine, so I asked the woman working there for a box. She said, "They are buy 1 get 5 free." What??? So we ended up with 300 snap-pops. We still have 200 left, but we are enjoying watching Sunshine step on them or throw them down. I am sure the other 200 will be gone soon. Yesterday, T's sister and her family came over. We went swimming, ate, and then went fishing. Lots of fun! It's so fun to watch the 2 girls play together, eat together, swim together, etc. We ended the night watching fireworks at the George Bush Library. It was a really fun and relaxing day.

In other news, T's Grandpa passed away on the 25th of June. He and his sister flew to Laurel, NE for the memorial service that was held this past Friday. We are glad to have him home, as he has been out a lot recently with travel. This week Sunshine started swim lessons. She is very brave in the water and so she enjoyed her first lesson this morning. It has been a little odd not being in the water with her. Last year we took group lessons, so of course I was with her the entire time. Today I just observed. My mom and my sister Kristen and her family are coming this weekend. We are looking forward to their visit. That's about all for now.

Yes, I know...

On Friday we had to run some errands. I was hoping/thinking we might get some rain from Hurricane Alex, so I grabbed my umbrella. I got some funny looks as I was driving around town, as Sunshine rode with the umbrella part way open for much of the time. I should have taped a sign to the passenger's window that read "Yes, I know my daughter has an umbrella open in the back seat." This girl is so much fun.

Morning Fun

Today has been cloudy- a great break from the hot sun. We love to spend time outside, but usually try to be in by 9:30 to escape the heat. Due to the cloud cover, Sunshine and I enjoyed being out most of the morning. Here are some of the activities we did together...

We picked some cucumbers.
Sunshine enjoyed some cherry tomatoes from her plant.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles...

We also went for a walk and attempted to fly the kite she got T for Father's Day. We did have it up for a little while, but I spent more time untangling kite string than actually flying it. Hoping for some more mornings like this one!

Sunflowers, take 3!

The sunflowers have been blooming like crazy! I am amazed at how tall they are. We planted them on the west side of our tomatoes and they have worked out great as a shade and some protection from the hot sun. I think they are about done. We are hoping that they will reseed and will have more to enjoy later. Sunshine has really enjoyed them and talks about how tall they are.