Visiting in Texas

We were so excited to see Claire and her big welcoming smile!  I just realized as I was writing this blog, that we were so excited to see Austin, Melissa, and Claire that I didn't take any pictures of their house.  Oh well, next trip.  We got to their house about 10 minutes before Austin was due to arrive home from work and we had promised not to take the tour until he got home.  We hadn't unpacked anything, so I didn't have my camera out yet.  Their house is adorable!  They have painted and cleaned and re-modeled, and everything is very pleasant. They have a bay window in the kitchen that is really fun.  It was Britta's favorite spot to read.  We arrived on Wednesday and went home on Sunday.

 

 We are on the way to the park!  It is only a couple of blocks away, and is a nice walk. 

 The previous owners of Austin and Melissa's house left some tennis equipment in the garage.  We have never played tennis before, and the kids were excited to give it a try.  Needless to say, we ran around chasing the ball more than we hit it.  It was still fun, but I must say, it is harder than it looks!

 Some older men were playing on the other court.  They were very friendly and gave us some tips on how to play.  They told us that our equipment was antiques!  No wonder it got left behind. Supposedly our rackets are too heavy and the balls don't have enough bounce in them, so they gave us some of their balls to use.  Ryan looks like a pro!

 The kids really enjoyed this twirling thing at the park.

 Britta wanted to hang upside down.  She is part monkey, I think.  Kids are never too old for the park!

 Blake and Claire had fun on the swings!

 Claire just wanted to climb up and down the stairs.  She kept us busy chasing after her.

 Down the slide we come!

 

More fun at the park!  

Time to head home!  Claire took good care of the balls for us.

 

We all such so much fun playing with Claire.  She can't quite figure out how to move the car with her feet, but no worries.  She has plenty of horse power in Aunt Britta and Uncle Ryan.  She got tired of riding before they got tired of pushing.

 



More riding fun!

 



Melissa, Claire, and I went to a Farmer's Market.  Claire was really interested in the pumpkins.

 



They had a cute maze for kids, but Claire wan't quite big enough.  They had a lot of yard decorations that Melissa and I enjoyed looking at.

 



Melissa and Britta had a hair party.  Melissa knows how to do a lot of cute braids.  This one is called a halo braid.

 



Claire LOVES books!  She is true Palmer girl, we all enjoy reading.

Me and my girl!

 



Austin had a couple of projects he wanted Delwyn's help with.  One of the them was to re-tile the shower in the master bathroom.  The master bathroom is really nice.  It has a long counter with two sinks and a bathtub on one side and a shower on the other side.  Ryan was quite interested and helped as well.

 



It was a hard job and took most of the day.

While the tiling was going on, the rest of us played games.  Claire wanted to be Blake's partner.

 



We played Upwords, Monopoly Deal, Uno, and Old Maid.  Old Maid was Britta's idea.  We haven't played that for many years, and we laughed a lot.  Who says Old Maid is only a game for children?

 



The weather was perfect!  Not too hot and not very humid.  We enjoyed playing out on the patio.  Claire loves to be outside.  When you say the word "outside", she runs to the door.  We had a great visit, but it ended all too soon.

 

 

 

 

Fall Break Travel to Carrollton Texas

 We are spending part of fall break in Texas visiting Austin, Melissa, and Claire.  They bought a house last spring and we are very excited that we will finally get to see it.  We left Tuesday afternoon and drove part way.  We are spending the night at Dumas, Texas.  Our hotel had pool, so of course we went for a swim. 

Ryan and Blake played some games in the pool. 

 

 Of course, no trip to Texas would be complete without a stop at Braum's.



We all had a double dip cone, and enjoyed every bite!

Cub Scout Raingutter Regata

Ryan received some awards before the race began. He earned his Webelo badge, which includes a Mother's Pin.

Ryan's last rain gutter race as a cub scout.

He has won quite a few times. He has learned the secrets!

Ships ahoy!

Britta's Fall 2012 Choir Concert

Britta is in choir again this year.  I just love going to school choir concerts!  The kids are so much fun to watch and they do a great job singing.  Every concert I remember the first time I went to a high school choir concert--Landon was the first one to join choir in high school.  I came home absolutely amazed at how good they were.  I couldn't believe what I had been missing by not having a kid in choir. 

 



Britta has a lot of fun when she sings and looks so happy!  My favorite song was "Two Sturdy Oaks."

 



Something is really funny!

 



Britta and a couple of her friends, Caitlyn and Gailia.  Great job Britta!

Garden of the Gods

Austin, Melissa, and Claire are here for a week--Yipee!!  Frontier had their flights on half-price, so they decided to take advantage of the cheaper price.  They are such bargain shoppers. I am so happy to see them!  Austin and Melissa love outdoor activites, so we went to Garden of the Gods to do some hiking. There are a lot of really neat rock formations here.  There are miles and miles of trails, some on cement sidewalks and some are just dirt paths. 
 

 We had the stroller for Claire, but she wanted to walk for the first part of our hike.  She lasted for quite a while before she got tired and was ready for a ride.
 

 The boys head down the path!  Ryan enjoyed pushing Claire.
 

 We climbed on some rocks, and Claire proved herself to be part mountain goat.  She wasn't about to be left out.
 

 

 Everyone had fun touching the rocks and feeling the different textures.  There were lots of little holes and it was fun to see which ones were big enough to stick our whole hand into.
 

 

Claire thinks she can scale this big rock!  And she's doing a pretty good job of it with a little help from her Mom.
 

 She found a hole just her size and was ready to go inside.
 

 

You can see some of the neat rock formations in this picture.
 

The handsome Palmer boys stop to take a break on this brick wall.
 

 We saw many beautiful flowers!
 

 This part of the park is named Balancing Rock.  It looks like one little push is all it would take, and it would come tumbling down.
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 Blake and Melissa hold it up!
 

 Austin and Blake look like they are carrying a heavy load.
 

 Queen of the Hill!
 

 Ryan poses by another fun formation!  He had fun climbing on all these rocks.  What a beautiful world we live in!
 

On our way out of the park, these two deer slowly meandered across the road right in front of us.  Then they stopped and Melissa got these pictures out the window.  It was like they were posing just for us. What a great afternoon!  We love it when Austin and Melissa are here!