Our 2 Week Vacation......Continued

While we were at Karlee's we did a lot of swimming at her pool. It's a really nice pool and the kids always had alot of fun, but Charlie didn't really care for it. He would much rather walk around the pool and make his mother follow him everywhere he went. Which was fine..... Great time to soak up some rays. =)

Another fun thing we did while in Houston......yes, Karlee and I decided to brave Galveston Beach by ourselves. We didn't think it would be that bad, then all these things kept happening as we are on our way to the beach.....

1. Although we did have Karlee's GPS, we still had no idea how to get to a beach, since neither one of us had been there before. So it took a little longer than expected to find a beach where we thought we could go to and leave......ALIVE. =)


2. We had a Styrofoam cooler with our ice, food, and drinks in it. As we are walking with 4 children (one of which wants to be held by his mother and the other in a stroller which is EXTREMELY hard to push in the sand), beach umbrella, towels, a stroller, sand buckets and shovels, our not so cheap Styrofoam cooler bottoms out!!! All of our food, ice, and drinks land smack in the sand! So we have to rummage around for extra bags to put our food and drinks in and then we stacked it on the stroller....which made the stroller even more fun to push in the sand. =)


3. It was a little windy that day, so setting up a 6 foot umbrella was very difficult while trying to make sure 2 toddlers didn't make a run for the ocean.


4. Eating food at a beach it not as enjoyable as I remember it was as a kid. Sand was in everything we ate, but the kids didn't seem to mind one bit, which is what matters.


5. There were a gazillion jellyfish that day. So Karlee and I had to stand watch and make sure our children didn't step on any jellyfish that had washed ashore!

But overall we all had wonderful time at the beach! I would do it again in a heartbeat (just as long as we have a plastic cooler next time).

Uncle Kent is cutting Charlie's hair before we leave for Louisiana to visit Papa and Mimi.

So after our weeks stay in Houston, Karlee and I packed up our children and suitcases and drove over to Louisiana to visit for a week. My dad, after 9 1/2 years of serving as stake president was being released, so we both wanted to be there for him.

When we arrived at my mom and dads, my mom told my dad that they were going to have to get a basketball hoop for "the boys". I've never seen Charlie and Boston happier!

Boston....................waiting patiently......................................

"the boys" fighting over the basketball

As if we weren't tired enough, Karlee and I helped my mom re-do one of the bedrooms before the general authorities came to stay. We were up pretty late, but it was fun to visit with each other. But for some reason, I don't have an after shot of our hard work. If I find one, I'll post it. =)

My parents probably have just about anything you can imagine at their home for their guests (children, grandchildren, etc.), but one thing they are lacking (but doing better), are boy toys. I grew up with all sisters and so every time we go home to visit, one of us purchases a new toy for the boys to play with so we can gradually build up the supply. =) Here is Rylee checking out one of the new toys.

Well, it never fails...... every time Karlee and I are together during the summer, our kids (and Karlee) always end up getting pink eye. It is now 4 years running!

Charlie woke up one day and his eye was swollen and I thought maybe it could have been related to the drops I gave for pink eye. Plus he was EXTREMELY fussy for the first few days were at my parents. I finally took him to the doctor and she told me the swollen eye was a bug bite, but that he did have a double ear infection. We got medication and he was back to his normal cheery self.

I think every time we go to mom and dads, the girls always want to go to "Mimi and Pawpaw's Chuck-E-Cheese". I don't know what makes theirs so different than anyone else's, but we did have to pay ole' Chuck a visit!

We had plenty of treats while at my parents house for a week..... smoothies, cookies, popsicles, snow cones, ice cream, and that's just to name a few.

We also went to see the Disney movie "UP" which I just adored! Definetly a new fave!

It was a great vacation for both me and the kids. It was great to spend time with my sister, nephew and parents.

Thank you Karlee, Boston, Kent, Mom and Dad for taking such good care of us while we were visiting. Sorry if things go too crazy. But I did love every minute of being there with ya'll. Dad, it's going to be so nice to have you home more often now when we come to visit. =) Sure love you guys.