Jeffrey and his family are moving to Singapore this summer, but thankfully they are making the rounds to see family before they head across the world! Their first stop was Texas, and we were sure excited :) I picked Brooke up early from school so that we could get to the airport on time, and then began the carseat shuffle. We eventually fit everything and everyone in the Armada and were on our way to the house. Brooke and Colby were especially excited to have their cousins here, and they all began playing so well together.
The next day, Brooke had school, so we had a mellow morning at home. I had to go to a fertility appointment, but thankfully Jeffrey and Madi were willing to watch Colby so I could get to the appointment. We then went to Clayton Chandler park for an hour or so until we were all hot and sweaty. Jeffrey kept commenting on how hot it was and that he was going to have a rude awakening when he arrived in Singapore, haha.
We had about 30 minutes to hang out until it was time to get Brooke from school. so I was just chatting with Jeffrey while Owen played near us. Colby and Ellie were upstairs playing, and Madi had gone to have a quick nap. Well, I totally lost track of time and the next thing I knew it was 3:24 and Brooke gets out of school at 3:30. I told Jeffrey that we needed to hurry and get everyone in the car because we were most definitely going to be late to get Brooke. On her last day!! I was so mad at myself. We decided to let Madi sleep, and rushed over to the school. Brooke was the second to last kid to get picked up, but she didn't seem to mind because she was excited that we all came to get her.
The kids played for a bit at the school, then it was time to head to the pool!! Madi was still asleep (she had a busy few months preparing their home and family to move across the world!), so we went to the pool without her. The kids had a blast and Jeffrey was the fun uncle that would throw my kids, give them rides on his back, etc. They were in heaven!
Friday we headed to the Dream Park in Ft Worth, which is a new and AMAZING place! The city spent something like 4 million dollars on this project that would serve children of all abilities. It really was the coolest park we've ever been to, and we spent about 2 hours exploring the place. After having a picnic, of course :)
The highlight of the whole park was the zip slides. We spent the majority of our time there, and the kids loved both the rope swing and chair options.
These two were so sweet together and Brooke kept hugging Ellie in line. The novelty of having her cousin here clearly hadn't worn off yet.
My kids both preferred Uncle Jeffrey to push them down the zip slide, which was great because then I could spend my time capturing pictures.
Since it was Friday, we ended the day with our tradition of pizza and a movie. Well, we actually watched a few short shows because the kids needed to get ready for bed so that we could enjoy a full lake day on Saturday. Sidenote: We were letting Brooke and Ellie have sleepovers in Brooke's room, and it was working out great! Ellie slept on an aerobed on the floor, and although I could hear her talking in her sleep on Brooke's monitor, it didn't seem to faze Brooke.
Saturday was lake day, and it was perfect! The kids all did really great out there, and we made lots of fun memories. Owen was in love with the watermelon I brought and ate at least 6 slices, haha.
He loved his cousin Brooke, probably because she was total sweetheart to him. Unlike Colby, who was not super inclusive or kind to him. I talked to Colby about it a thousand times, but my speeches only changed his behavior for short periods of time. It was really embarrassing, but at least he played well with Ellie. Thankfully, Jeffrey and Madi weren't high stress about it and were happy that him and Ellie were playing so well together.
I love my little brother and the fact that he has an amazing wife :) She really is so easy going and fun to be around.
We got all four kids out on the tube, which was pretty comical. Kevin reviewed all the signs for "slow down", "speed up", and "all done"...but as he was driving, each kid was giving a different sign. Kevin is a very conservative tube driver, so it was a mellow ride, but the signals were pretty funny. We stopped multiple times to get different kids on or off the tube depending on who wanted a faster ride, etc.
Jeffrey and Madi had fun taking turns surfing and we kept teasing Jeffrey that his wife was showing him up :)
We spent lots of time jumping and splashing despite the chilly water, and had an overall great time.
When Brooke climbed out of the boat, her ponytail was flipped forward which totally made it look like she had bangs. I was cracking up and of course she wanted a picture so she could see. At least we know she could rock bangs if she wanted them.
After cleaning the boat, we were gathering our stuff and Owen kept wanting Brooke to hold him. He is so big, but Brooke managed to pick him up every time he asked :)
Sunday we went to church, then had Jerry and Bev over for dinner to see Jeffrey and his family. J & B always show so much kindness to my family, and I know Jeffrey appreciates that they cared enough to come see them. Kevin smoked a brisket, which was insanely good. His skills are getting better and better each time.
Monday was Memorial Day, which was also opening weekend for Hawaiian Falls. I was expecting some heavy crowds, but was pleasantly surprised. Kevin had to park in an overflow lot, but yet it didn't seem like that many people were there. We spent about 4 hours there, and had so much fun riding the slides as a family. Kevin commented that he spent more time that day than he did all last season, which is probably true! They close at 6 most days, so he's always at work. They do Friday Night Slides till 8 PM, so Kevin would join us for the last hour before the park closed, but I think they only did that in July.
Owen was so great, but eventually crashed! The sun sucks all the energy out of you, haha.
I will miss these guys when they live so far away, but I am SO thankful for the memories we made in our week together and I look forward to their next visit!!
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