Summer Vacation - Oregon

FINALLY time to leave for vacation! We took an evening flight out of Austin, so the girls woke up and had to wait nearly all day before we could leave. 

Enjoying Austin crackers in Austin. :)

The plane is here! (By the way, it is a VERY bad idea to take McKell on an evening flight - unless you enjoy wrestling a crying, writhing, uncontrollable toddler in a confined space at midnight while seated next to a complete stranger.)

Huge bonus of our Oregon visit this year was the blessing of seeing Russ's aunt and uncle from Tennessee. We went to their home for Thanksgiving each of the 6 years we were in Delaware, but haven't seen them since we moved to Texas. We love you, Janet & Allen!!!

The reason they were in Oregon the same time we were was not a happy one - Russ's grandpa passed away a few weeks before our trip. We were very sad we didn't get to see him one last time, but grateful that his passing meant we did get to see all our family on the Burnett side.

A few of the many things we enjoyed about our visit to Oregon . . .

Playing the Piano

Discovering a Shared Love of Pottermore

Being Rewarded with Ice Cream after the Family Photo Shoot

The Tire Swing

The Hammock

Picking (and Eating) Blueberries

Family Dance Party

McKell Re-Discovered her Deep Love for her Papa

The Rocking Horse

Picking (and Eating) Peaches

Playing in the Water

and . . . Being Together with People we Adore  :)

Walton Cousins

It's only fair to do a post about the cousins on my side of the family now, right? (and then I'll finish up our summer vacation, then I'll post about McKell's birthday, and back to school, and by then it will probably be Halloween or something - good thing the kids are back in school now so I can catch up!)

After spending a week in Oregon, we went to Utah, where we got to see EVERYONE in my family, including the 6 cousins - Rebecca, Zach, Audrey, Eleanor, Lydia, and Rafe.

Here are some fun pics:

We had SO much fun with all our families - 

we wish we didn't live so far away. :(

TWO

   

And here are my other girls at 2 years old.

Who do you think McKell most resembles now?

Upgrade

Old

Purchased for us as a wedding gift from my parents in 2004.

New!!!

I'm so happy to finally have enough MATCHING seats 

at the dining table for our whole family.

The girls love our new table, too. :)

Burnett Cousins

We left on our summer vacation the evening of July 22nd. (By the way, it is a TERRIBLE idea to take an evening flight with a toddler. Or at least with our toddler.) We flew to Oregon and spent a week with the Burnett family. It worked out so that we were able to see EVERYONE while we were there - Russ's parents, Grandma, all 3 siblings with their spouses and children, and even his aunt and uncle from Tennessee whom we are very close with. It was lovely.

For today, here's a collection of pictures with the Burnett cousins (Bekah, James, Elise & Julia)!

   

   

   

picking peaches

picking blueberries

Summer Swim Lessons

So, the summer weeks went by pretty fast, huh? We just returned from a long vacation and I've got tons of things I can (and will) post about. But, tonight I'm just putting up some pictures from swim lessons.

We always do 2 sessions (each session is M-F for 2 weeks and the lessons are 30-45 minutes). Brenna completed both Preschool 1 and Preschool 2 this time around. I let her take lessons because she really wants to and she's in low levels right now, but because of her physical limitations I find myself wondering how much she'll really be able to do in terms of swimming. I was surprised and pleased that she passed her classes. So I guess we'll let her try again next summer and see how far she can go.

Ashlyn passed Level 2 the first session and took Level 3 second session. She can swim quite well, but doubts her own abilities and so doesn't usually perform as well as she could. She needs to fine-tune some of her more basic skills before moving on to Level 4, which focuses on more advanced strokes.

Kaylee was a rock star and she easily passed Level 3 and Level 4. Her Level 4 instructor was surprised at how quickly she picked up on new things, like the "butterfly" and "elementary backstroke". Two summers ago when we moved to Texas and started swim lessons here Kaylee cried at the thought of even putting her head under the water. Who would have guessed she would be so confident in the water now?

McKell and I did 2 sessions of the "Water Babies" class (basically a Mommy & Me thing). The real reason I registered her for the class was so that I didn't have to chase her around the pool and keep her out of the water every morning while the other girls were swimming. She had fun though, and improved in a few things.

Anyway, here are the fun pictures:

Brenna with her instructor, Mr. Keith.

My friend made each of the girls a darling swim bag.

We have been so happy with the swim lessons offered here, and we'll certainly be returning next summer!