Sunday, September 4, 2016

Summer Vacation - Oregon

Oregon was the first stop on our summer vacation this year. We arrived Saturday afternoon and departed Thursday morning. We went out to visit Russ's parents and grandma, but were lucky enough to spend a few days with Russ's 3 siblings as well. They all flew out for the weekend as a belated surprise for Russ's Mom's 60th birthday.

The trip began well for Russ - loading up on fruit at the local produce stand.


McKell was also a happy camper when she finally got to play with Nana's Barbie collection she'd been dreaming about.


The deck was all set up with tables and chairs from a wedding reception held at the Burnett's home the night before our arrival, so we enjoyed most of our meals outside.


Wouldn't be Nana and Papa's house without the tire swing.


The girls got to meet and fawn over their newest cousin, Millie. 


Brenna and Ashlyn got a ride on one of the horses stabled in the barn next door.


And Kaylee got the birthday gift she'd been anticipating for months (we were in Oregon on July 31st, which was the release date for the book).


Blueberry picking is a must if we are in Oregon during the time they're ripe.


McKell decided to pick blueberries AND flowers.


Happy boy.


Aunt Angela hosts a Harry Potter party every summer, and since Kaylee and Ashlyn are both huge fans, this year she planned her party for one of the days we were together in Oregon.



The day after the other siblings returned to their homes we headed off to the beach. It was the most lovely day on the Oregon coast I have ever seen - perfect temperature, no wind. It did start to sprinkle late in the afternoon, but we would have headed out around that time anyway. 

Playing in the waves, exploring, walking along the beach, building sand castles, climbing up the sand dune - definitely one of our favorite days of the whole trip.

And this may be my favorite picture of the whole trip. :)



McKell toted around her little bag of chips for the whole day. She wouldn't let go of it for anything.



So glad we got to be in beautiful Oregon this summer!


Thursday, July 21, 2016

4th Fun

Cute Girls in their Red, White & Blue

 Ward Breakfast at the Park

Playing Horseshoes

Party Time!
We had 36 people (20 of them children!) at our house for dinner and fun times.

The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath.

We also had 2 wading pools and our little slide set up in the backyard.



Russ grilled all the sausages and hot dogs.

Dinner Time


Games

And we made all of our party attendees take a turn with Just Dance. :)

When the party ended we headed to the fields on campus to watch the fireworks.

We brought some glow sticks for the girls to play with while we waited.


Another great Independence Day!

Monday, July 18, 2016

Cousin Time

Russ's niece Bekah is 13 and old enough to fly alone, so she came out to Texas for a week long visit! 
The girls loved playing games, listening to Harry Potter books, and especially watching videos on Bekah's iPad. :)



We planned one activity and one special treat for each of the days of her visit.

Tuesday: Bowling, "Taste of the Tropics" Smoothies

Wednesday: Swimming, Daylight Donuts

Ignore the large thumb on the left. Clearly my photography-in-really-bright-light skills need some work.

Thursday: Movie Theater, Snow Cones

Friday: Globe Exhibit at Texas A&M, "Spoons" Frozen Yogurt

Bekah's was flying home from the Austin airport on Saturday, but since she didn't depart until 5:00 PM, we decided to head over with the whole family and find something fun to do first.

We chose The Thinkery, which is a fairly new children's museum.
There were a lot of really cool exhibits/play areas, and we were glad we went.
     



Time to say goodbye. 
In the car on the way home McKell kept saying, "I'm really going to miss Bekah."

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Father's Day 2016

During Primary the girls all decorated these adorable "shirt & tie" bags filled with cookies.
Our family enjoys "The Gruffalo" movies, and now that Russ received the books for Father's Day we enjoy those as well.
Kisses from McKell.
Brenna found a bottle of Gatorade featuring Russ's favorite soccer star.

These kiddos sure love their Dad.