Grandma and Grandpa's House

After our fun in Lake Jackson, we headed up to Sugar Land to Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Gary's house. We had lots of fun there as well. We went swimming and to the splash park twice, went to McDonald's to play at the playland, had a great Memorial Day barbecue, made homemade ice cream, and played LOTS with all of the toys at Grandma's house.

Grandpa, Uncle Stephen, and Grandma with Sabrina at McDonald's

Grace shooting Benson with the water gun

Benson stomping on the water

Uncle Stephen and Grace watching the fun

Sabrina playing in the water

Daddy and the girls swimming

Mommy and Benson swimming

Grace and Sabrina making homemade ice cream with Daddy and Grandma's help

We had a great trip and are so glad that we are now within driving distance of both sides of our family!

Sleepover at Uncle John and Aunt Emily's house

For the Memorial Day weekend we went to the Houston area to visit family. This was the first long drive that we have made as a family since our ill-fated move to OK from CA. The kids did really well on the drive. Before we left, Benson asked to watch 9 movies in the car. We aren't sure where the 9 came from.
We headed down to Lake Jackson first to visit Uncle John (my younger brother) and Aunt Emily. As we were driving, Benson asked us if we were having a sleepover with Uncle John and Aunt Emily. He was so excited when we told him that we were! Uncle John and Aunt Emily planned a great day for us. We went to the Sea Center and saw some fish and turtles and other marine animals.

Touch pools at the Sea Center

Benson and Grace checking out the turtles

Uncle John helping Lucy and Sabrina color pictures

After the Sea Center we had lunch and naps and then headed over to Lucy's house to play. Lucy is the little girl that Aunt Emily nannies and she was kind enough to let us play with her toys.
We finished off the day with a barbecue on the beach. The kids LOVED the beach! They probably could have stayed for several more hours. This was the first time any of our kids had been to a beach. The Gulf of Mexico beaches aren't the prettiest, but they have sand and water which is all the kids care about. They loved it all and were filthy by the time we left. I put together a little video with our pictures and videos from the beach.

After baths we put the kids to bed and then John, Emily, Mike, and I played cards and talked until it got REALLY late. It was fun to see their new house and we thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality! Thanks for the fun Uncle John and Aunt Emily!

Grace helping Uncle John play the guitar

Kid Stories

Tonight after Mike got home and we had read scriptures he said to me, "When did our kids get so cute?" It's funny how it just hits us sometimes, how cute our kids our. It is so fun watching more of their little personalities be revealed all the time. I wanted to record a few stories to help us remember them at this age. The pictures have nothing to do with the stories, they are just random ones from the last month.

First story - So today Benson was doing his morning chores which are: 1. Wake up happy, 2. Eat breakfast, 3. Clear dishes, 4. Use bathroom, 5. Brush Teeth, 6. Get dressed, 7. Put pajamas in laundry basket, 8. Make bed, 9. Take bathroom trashes to kitchen, 10. Get hair combed. (I should note that Benson can recite all his chores from memory, but it takes quite a bit of "encouragement" to get him to complete them all in a timely fashion each day.) So this morning, he had completed his first 8 chores and then I reminded him that he needed to do the trashes, so I nudged him in the general direction of the bathroom and continued doing my morning chores. A few minutes later I went to put something in his room and as I was walking out I happened to glance in the bathroom. There stood Benson in front of the toilet, fully clothed, holding the toilet lid about half-way up.
Me: Benson, what are you doing? Do you need to use the bathroom?
Benson: Blank stare
Me: Ben, you already used the bathroom
Benson: Oh, right
Me: Weren't you going to do the trashes?
Benson: Oh, right - picks up the trash can and walks to the kitchen
Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went in there?

Second story - I was in the kitchen doing something and I sneezed rather loudly a few times.
Grace: Mommy, do you need a tissue?
Me: No Grace, I'm fine, thank you.
1 minute later, Grace walks into the kitchen with a small piece of toilet paper
Grace: Here Mommy, wipe nose.
It's a good thing that I have her to look after me.

I don't have a specific story for Sabrina, but I thought I would list some of the cute things she has been doing and saying lately. Every drink is "milk". She says "hand" and grabs your finger and drags you to wherever she wants to go. When you put her in her car seat or high chair or get her out of her car seat or high chair she says "buckle, buckle, buckle" until you get her buckled or unbuckled. She will try to sing any song. We've been told several times that she loves singing time in nursery. Tonight she was singing the ABC's with Benson and Grace.
I LOVE these children!!

Water Fun

Well the next several posts will have lots of pictures of our kids playing in the water. I guess that is just a sign that summer is just around the corner. Last week we pulled our water table out of the attic and set it up on our very nice covered patio. If only we had a fence, the backyard would be perfect. I'm always amazed at how long my kids can play in the water. I was also amazed at how long they played in the water without fighting. Hopefully the water table will continue to be this entertaining all summer.

There was a lot of spitting and water dumping going on

I love her little nose scrunch!

Do you think he spit the water at me?

I told them not to climb in the water table...my children are always obedient! (That was a joke.)

The Happiest Place on Earth...

The Kiddie Park! I guess I should have said the Happiest Place on Earth...in Oklahoma, actually probably just in Bartlesville, but you get the idea. On Friday we took the kids to the Kiddie Park for the first time this year (click here for last year's trip). We learned lots of new things while we were there:
1. It is much more enjoyable to go to the Kiddie Park in May than August!
2. Benson is deathly afraid of clowns. If a clown came within 30 yards of him he would stop dead in his tracks and insist on being carried until they were at a safe distance (out of sight). On the rides that were close to where the clowns congregated he was eyeing them the whole time.
3. Grace goes through a myriad of emotions on any given ride. She would go from laughing and enjoying the ride to crying and screaming in one rotation.
4. Mommy is mean and enjoys watching Grace go through her myriad of emotions. While she was riding the airplanes the girl running the ride asked if she wanted to get off and I said "no, she'll be fine." Then the girl stopped the ride for another screaming kid and asked me again if she wanted to get off and I said "no, she's fine." She eventually was fine because Benson held her hand and I think she did enjoy at least the end.
5. Sabrina is not a big fan of the rides, but she LOVES snocones. I got some ice cream thinking that she would like that better, but she devoured the snocone. She got so cold, but that didn't stop her.
6. It is SO much easier to go to places like the Kiddie Park when there is one adult for every child. THANKS Aunt Chelsea!

Riding the boats

Still riding the boats (it's impossible to get all 3 to look at the same time for a picture)

Benson and Grace holding hands in the airplane

Grace's favorite ride. She asked to go on this one (she had to be forced to go on most of the others) and while she was waiting impatiently for her turn she had already decided that she had to ride the purple one!

Daddy and Sabrina on the train

Mommy, Grace, Aunt Chelsea and Benson on the train

Snocones and popcorn, what could be a better way to end the evening?