Visit with Mawmaw and Pawpaw!

Once again, Jacob had another business trip that carried him away to Phoenix for a week.  Since the last trip was a bit of a strain for Brenna and I, we decided it best to fly home and spend some time with Mawmaw and Pawpaw.  Help for me, fun for her!  And Oooh Boy did she have fun.  Seven straight days for undivided attention, unlimited activities, and staying up late.  So, sit back and relax because this is gong to be a long one.  I don't know how many pictures you can put in one post, but we're about to test the limit.  The week in pictures, here's how it went:

"The Play House"

The playhouse was complete with patio and air conditioner (see photo below).  She practically lived in this thing the entire week.  But who could blame a her, it was stocked with books, toys, playdough, a play kitchen, markers, musical instruments, it even had its own Christmas tree, which was requested by Brenna.

The Neals Visit

We were very excited to have the Neals come for a visit.  I could say it was for the families to get together, or for the kids to get to play, but that would be a lie.  All that stuff is just a bonus, really it was all about a visit for the girls (meaning the big girls, Jodi and Kawanda, not the little ones).  Don't get me wrong, everyone had a great time, but I was very excited to see my best friend.

I thought it was funny as I looked back on our relationship.  We started off as college roomies brought together by a mutual need......shared rent!  We knew each other in passing as friends of friends, and as crazy as the circumstances were that brought us together (which is a story all unto itself, one of those college dramas involving ex-girlfriends and broken friendships) I count it a blessing that I walked away with a caring, goofy, neurotic, fun-loving best friend for life (I can only imagine her choice of words for me, she's a teacher, so she's alot more creative than I am.)  Between our two lives, marriages, and families, we've seen each other through alot over the past 10 years (its been a decade, really???).  Time and distance hasn't diminished our friendship, it has however limited our visitations.  Unfortunately, of recent years, visits were only prompted by child birth, funerals, baby showers, and milestone birthdays.  But that's ok, I like to think of it as we never forget the big stuff.  That's why this visit was so exciting!  This was the first visit in a very long time that it was for "Just Because!"  We all had a great time and the weekend flew by entirely to fast.  It was icing on the cake that Mississippi State beat the University of Houston!  Here's a few pictures from the visit.

Can I Lick the Spoon?

The Downtown Aquarium Houston!

Our family decided to take a much needed "mini" break.  Jacob took the day off last Friday and we made it a three-day weekend.   We went to the Downtown Aquarium Friday morning to enjoy the cooler weather and have some fun.  Here's a few shots from the day.

The Last Summer Swim!

We closed out Summer, literally!  We met some friends at the pool on the last day it was open for the year and stayed until they pulled the plug on us and turned off the water works.  Just to make sure we squeezed every last bit of Summer out that we could, we left the pool with wet heads and headed over to the park where we stretched out the beach towels and had a picnic in the grass, fed the ducks by the lake, and played on the playground.  It's been a fun summer with lots of friends and even though I hate to see it end, we're already looking forward to the fair, hayrides, pumpkin patches, halloween, and all the fun that fall brings with it!

Kicking off Fall Fun!

We've already kicked off fall with some outdoor play. The recent weather has been cooler (not specifically cool, because it was still 90 here yesterday) and we've been able to get outdoors more in the mornings, instead of having to wait until late afternoon. Me and my friend Shellie have started back walking in the mornings, and while our intentions were originally for our benefit, we've found that Brenna and John get more play time than we get exercise. That's ok, we may not get points for fitness, but at least we get points for effort and motherhood!