The Trip

Alright, here are the rest of the pictures from the trip:

 

We took lots of naps.  After the long drive and not sleeping well, we had a hard time catching up and plus we all got sick. :(  But sleepy pictures are super cute.

 But we did do lots of fun things, like go to the mall (civilization!!!  We NEVER go to the mall here cuz it is about an hour away), and the River Walk, and parks.  I think we all had a really good time and it really felt like a vacation.

 Matthew really enjoyed exploring Grandpa and Grandma's house...and hiding in the cupboards.  :)

 Tyson and Grandpa took Josh and Caleb to the local missions.  Me and Grandma aren't nearly as interested in history as they are.  :)

 Grandma took the boys to Build-a-Bear.  I have never been there and neither had the boys.  They LOVED it.  It was such a fun adventure for them.

 The one person I thought wouldn't care at all about something snuggly loved his animal the most.  Matthew grabbed this rabbit and hugged it tight pretty much endlessly.  So cute.  When I asked him what his name should be, he said "frow," which is his word for throw.  So that is his name.  :)

 They got to "wash off" their animals.  Josh really enjoyed this part.

 Josh picked out this bear, we all kind of thought it was a little girly so we kept trying to convince him to get something else, but he was very determined.  This was his.  And he named him "Giggly."

 Caleb picked this cute little rabbit and named him "Fluffy."  I love the names little kids pick.  Note Matthew digging through the hearts in the background.  He would not leave those things alone.

 Walking to the mail boxes where the mail man pulled up and showed the kids how he fills each of the boxes and even let Josh lock up the doors when he finished.  What a cool mail man.

 The house suddenly got quiet and I looked out the window and saw this: All four of them walking hand in hand.  Totally adorable.  So I ran after them barefoot to get a picture.  I felt a little bit like my dad.  Lol.

 Reading time with Grandma.

 Matthew was way too comfortable climbing up and down the stairs over and over again.  So this is me barricading the bottom of the stairs to catch the little guy if fell down.  He never did though.  Unlike our last trip, there was no falling down stairs, calls to poison control, or trips to the ER.  I have to say, I was and am pretty thankful it was more low key this time.

 Matthew also loved this spot.  I was so nervous he was going to get smacked in the throat by someone on the other side, but miracle of miracles, he never did.

 Tinywings, I think is the game they were playing on the mini i-pad

 More cute sleepyness.

 And this is kind of out of order, but here are the pictures from the car ride there.  I was really excited to eat lunchables.  Hehe.

 The trip wasn't all happiness, especially for this guy.  He wanted to be held really bad.  I thought he just wanted to run around, but I set him down on one of our stops and he acted like the ground was made of lava or quicksand and started shrieking and wouldn't stand.  It was kind of funny, but sad too.

 Caleb casting some spell in his sleep.  At least that is what it looked like.

 The very tired drivers.

 All bundled and cruising.

 The first few minutes.  Josh was this happy THE WHOLE time.  He kept saying "I don't want to be a chicken!" because I asked them if they felt all couped up.  Believe me, I regretted saying that one phrase for almost 24 hours straight.

It was a REALLY long drive there and back.  Not something we could do often.  But we made a lot of fun memories.  Tyson and I had lots of fun talks there and back, we read a book, sang songs, and chewed celery and drank pepsi until we thought we were going to puke.  We had a lot of fun in Texas and vacations are way nicer now that the kids are getting kind of old enough where I don't have to constantly moniter everything they do.  I'm really glad we got to go and hope the kids remember it, they are fun memories.