for months, we had so been looking forward to visiting lauren and kyle in dallas. i LOVE being there with them and in the big city! they spoil us rotten and keep us busy. there's plenty of love and laughter and fun to fill us for a lifetime. we're not easy to accomodate in their little apartment, but they graciously share there space (and bedroom) with my rowdy crew. kyle even compared the pre-arrival grocery trip to what it probably feels like to host the duggars!
lane was even able to go with us this time. he hasn't had the chance to visit them since they've been married and living in dallas. we've always gone down there when he was away on a youth trip. i was SO thankful for the help on the drive down! we left saturday at lunch time and arrived at dinner time just as lauren was getting off of work.
reunited!!
these ornery eyes and hands were into everything!!
we went to a yummy pizza place for dinner. of course, that was a hit with these handsome boys! their eyes cracked us up in this picture. goof balls!
aunt lala is always prepared with lots of fun activities/games/toys. it's nice to not hear them say how bored they are and for someone else to be at their beck and call :)
a perfect way to see the zoo!
this sweet baby LOVED the animals. he had no fear and was so fascinated them! i thought this was a sweet pic of him and the snake...even though i despise snakes! he was a trooper the whole time. he just likes being out and about.
i enjoyed every minute spent with these sweet guys@
lauren suggested a family wide carousal ride!
knox's first carousal ride :)
all by his big boy self!
ledger cracked me up by wearing his binoculars all day!
lauren and i opted not to go in the "big bird cage". yuck. but the boys sure enjoyed feeding them!
this is my favorite picture from the zoo. canon talked about seeing the "gur-jaffes" for hours. they were one of the last few animals we saw. he has always said giraffe correctly, but for some reason, that day he called them gurjaffes. i didn't correct him :)
after getting home and resting for a bit, all the boys headed down to the pool to get ready for a cookout. kyle grilled burgers while lauren and i gathered everything we would need for a picnic dinner. it was such a gorgeous evening sitting around the pool. and the burgers weren't too shabby, either ;) my favorite meal!
just livin' the dream!
...and lookin' good doing it!
the water was freezing, but of course, the boys were drawn to it and ended up wet!
the boy likes his bananas! this is after he got his fill of burger and beans. LOVE his sweet smile!
a bubble bath was definitely in order after the day of fun we had! they love to "swim" in lala's big bathtub. lots of laughing and silly faces!
lane has so many personal days that he has to use each year to be spent on prayer and spiritual refreshment. he spent monDAY and tuesDAY in various locations around dallas doing just that. he would meet up with us at dinner and spend the evening with us. meanwhile, we were running around having a blast! monday morning's entertainment was brought to us by pump it up. i don't know if lala or the boys had more fun! knox just toddled around :)
we had already decided on in-n-out for lunch. easiest decision of the trip! ledger had a case of the grumpies. he was really hungry! canon's always up for forcing helping someone smile :)
in-n-out is hands down my favorite fast food burger. joplin needs to get one of those asap...or maybe not! and, yes, i'm the only one eating in the below picture. that's because everyone had already finished and i was on my second burger under the notion of "sharing with the boys"!
kyle met us. he's a wonderful uncle to my boys, a great friend to us and a fantastic husband to my sister!
after lunch, we wandered aimlessly around tj maxx. it's quickly become my favorite store! of course, lala let them pick out a toy. they're rotten! actually, they're not. they just ask to look at the toys and don't expect anything. they're always sweet to leave when i say it's time to go. why do little boy toys have SO many pieces?! all i ever needed was my baby doll.
while i put dinner together and let knox nap, lauren took the boys down to the pool for popsicles.
it didn't take them long, though, to hop in the water. they can't help themselves! no matter how cold it is.
we were blessed with another beautiful day and evening! once kyle and lane got home, we headed back to the pool area for our dinner of lasagna, green beans and salad. the boys wanted so bad to get in, but we quickly distracted them with a plan for a trip to the park and ice cream!
the park was pretty crowded so we entertained ourselves with an epic game of tag! i LOVE running around with my boys. man, kids are really in shape! they never get tired. i was over there sucking air and my kids just never stopped running :)
knox even got in on tag!
tag turned into a big 'ol wrestle match!
LOVE my sweet little family SO much!!
cheesy family photo :)
fro-yo is my boys' fav!
especially this sweet boy's!
canon has really been into basketball lately. it bodes well for him it's playoff season! he was cheering for the bulls here. lane's been reiterating our love for the thunder!
tuesday morning, we woke up to rain and much colder temps. i did not pack accordingly. when i looked at the forecast before we left, it was a high 65*. i didn't know that it was supposed to be 65* at midnight and then falling all day. oops! since lauren's last visit to joplin, the boys have been planning their next visit to chuck e. cheese. they associate it with lala. she's taken them in tulsa, joplin, and now dallas! we went right when they opened and only had to share the place with 2 other families. the boys LOVE running around spending token :) we made bank on tickets this time because when we walked in, pretty much all the machines had tons of tickets just hanging out of them. one strand i grabbed had 92 in it! the boys were pleased that they could choose from more junk this time :)
my favorite thing to do at arcades is to get pictures taken. we tried doing the classic chuck e. cheese sketch with the boys, but that didn't work out at all so lauren and i did one (actually 2 so we could each have one)!
after saying good-bye to chuck e., we headed across the parking lot for rainforest cafe. i've been several times and am always under impressed with the food, but we thought the boys would love it. they did, except ledger covered his ears anytime the animals made noise! knox just ate everything in sight :)
we did some browsing after lunch. ledger checked out his muscles in the dressing room!
somehow we came home with new toys...again! the boys were giving lala a lesson on superhroes :)
we had planned on heading back to joplin after dinner that night. after loading up the van, we met kyle in frisco for dinner. we enjoyed some mexican food and free ice cream and sopapillas! it was the perfect ending to our trip.
kyle and lauren, we had the best time and are so thankful for the memories we made! we are already looking forward to visiting in july. that should give you just enough time to recover from this trip! we love you both and i'm so proud of y'all (sorry, i can't help it!). oh, yeah, baby!!
1 comment:
You have the cutest family!!!
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