Mom has been wanting to go to Texas and visit Austin for quite some time. She has never been before and we decided that this spring the two of us would go. We flew down on Thursday, April 20.
Austin took Friday off and we went to Dinosaur Valley State Park. I was surprised to learn that dinosaurs lived in Texas. I thought they were more to the west, mostly in Utah and Colorado.
We took a picnic lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, chips, and raisins.
It was a little bit of a drive to get there and Claire was hungry!
In fact, we were all hungry!
There were some big rock formations near the picnic area, and the girls wanted to climb on them. Claire got to the top pretty quickly.
Camille was not about to be left behind!
King and princess and of the mountain! Austin is such a good dad, he plays with his kids a lot.
The girls loved Great Grandma Collins! We all walked around and under the rocks.
Austin's family has been here before, and finally, the part Claire and Camille had been begging and begging for--playing in the water! Long ago, dinosaurs left footprints in the mud at the edge of this river. We saw several, but they didn't show up very well in pictures.
Fun in the water!
Mom found a good shady spot to set up the chairs.
The girls had so much fun digging and splashing and playing.
This was about as deep as the water got, so it is just perfect for kids.
Claire takes a break to come and visit with Grandma Collins.
Camille is making sand castles with Daddy.
We had so much fun--we stayed all afternoon. They had some showers and so we were able to clean up before heading home. We stopped for pizza and got home just in time for bed. What a perfect day!
So glad yesterday was nice and warm! We spent some time in Austin's back yard, you will notice Mom and I have our jackets on. We thought we were coming to Texas to soak up some nice warm sun, but the joke is on us! It was a little chilly.
The girls love to swing, especially Camille. She stayed in the swing for over an hour!
Denya gave Austin a record player for Christmas! She also gave him the soundtrack from "Guardians of the Galaxy", and so he gave us a demonstration. It was so fun and reminded me of the "olden days" when this is how we listened to music. I remember a little blue record player I had as a girl and I remember playing records with kids songs. "Puff the Magic Dragon" was my favorite, and now everyone says it's a song about drugs. That makes me sad and ruins my childhood memory. When I was a teenager, I had a stereo with lots and lots of records. It was fun to reminisce!
Camille thinks this is dancing music!
Grandma showed Claire how to do jigsaw puzzles on her iPad. She did a cat, some flowers, and a dog. They had 24 pieces and Claire was pretty good at putting them together.
Every kid loves the laundry basket, and Camille is no exception. It's her favorite place to sit! And it makes a great car!
Tomorrow is Austin's birthday and Melissa is making chocolate cupcakes.
Of course the girls had to lick the beaters! They are so excited for Austin's birthday!
No trip to Texas would be complete without a trip to Braums for burgers and ice cream!
Mom has heard us rave about Braums ever since we tried it for the first time and she has been looking forward to giving it a taste. And it didn't disappoint! She declared it to be the best ice cream she has ever had, and she has tasted a lot in her 76 years! Too bad they don't sell in Colorado or Utah. I'm sure they would make a lot of money off of us. They didn't have any cherry limeade, so I had peanut butter and strawberry cheesecake.
Austin and I both love Cherry Limeade at Braums, it's our favorite flavor! Braums is a fast fast restaurant and also a little grocery store. They didn't have any cherry limeade at the one close to Austin's house, and we drove to two others before we found one that had some in cartons that we could buy and take home. Austin said that if they don't have any in the restaurant to buy on a cone, they usually have some in the store you can take home, but we were striking out today. Good thing Braums didn't let us down on our favorite flavor!
I wanted to take a new picture of the girls to hang on the wall. They were pretty cute posing for me.
Claire's favorite word is "seriously". She says it all the time! Sometimes as a question and sometimes just as a comment. She is so funny.
Ready for church!
The girls pose with Grandma Collins, Mom stayed at my house for a few days before we came to Texas. She hung her church clothes up in the closet so they wouldn't get wrinkled and she forgot to put them back in her suitcase. Oh no! We made a quick trip to Dress Barn and she she got this cute skirt and top. Good thing she realized it before Sunday morning!
The girls were so happy this morning, I took a ton of pictures. I think they like having company.
Family pictures after church. It was pretty sunny, so some of us might have squinty eyes.
Grandma Collins with her oldest grandchild and his family!
I don't think I've mentioned that Melissa is having a baby in October! So excited!! I love babies! They find out next month if it is a boy or a girl.
When we got home from church, Melissa frosted the cupcakes for Austin's birthday,
and the girls put the sprinkles on.
When I first told Austin that Grandma and I wanted to come for a visit and were thinking about the end of April, he got so excited and kept saying, "You'll be here for my birthday, you'll be here for my birthday!" I couldn't tell if he was really excited or just teasing, but it has been a very long time since I have been able to celebrate Austin's birthday with him and I am so glad we are here today.
Happy 32nd Birthday to awesome Austin!
Now it's time for the presents, and the girls were so excited to help!
You can never have too many flashlights! It seems like I am always looking for one! And Austin and Melissa like to camp, so I know they will get a lot of good use.
We gave Austin his pistol early, but I still wanted to give him a little gift since we were actually there for his birthday. A little something to remind him of his roots.
Melissa let the girls pick something from the store to give Austin for his birthday, and they could hardly wait for him to open it.
Melissa said the girls saw the nose sticking out of the box while they were at the store and were so intrigued, they insisted it would be the perfect game for them to play wiith their Dad.
Beard Balm?? Who knew such a thing even existed?
It makes your beard soft and smooth, and not so prickly. Camille doesn't like the beard, she says it is too scratchy. Austin says there is also a beard conditioner to keep your beard from getting split ends! I laughed until my stomach hurt. Austin should have the softest beard around!
A big present was out in the garage under a tarp, a new lawnmower!
The girls wanted to play Operation right away. Claire got pretty good at it after a minutes, but Camille thought the buzzer was too noisy and kept covering her ears with her hands. Claire;s favorite thing to get was the bread basket. She didn't like the pencil and whenever she picked that card she would say, "The pencil--seriously?" What a great birthday!
The weather was nice on Monday and we went outside to play. Camille was in her favorite spot again.
You can't see them very well because it is so sunny. but there are already tomatoes on these plants! I think Mom was a little jealous. We can't even plant until mid-May, so it's a long wait for us before we'll be eating anything home grown.
Cute Melissa soaking up some Texas sun.
Mom and I had such a good time, I told Mom we should make this trip a yearly tradition!
