On Monday, Jordan and Corey went to play racquetball in the morning. After racquetball, Corey came home and Jordan went to work. Andrea took Hannah, Leah, and Matthew with her to a pre-surgical appointment for Peter's tonsillectomy and met us at the train station later in the morning to ride it into Dallas to Jordan's office. The boys loved the train ride and then we had to walk a few blocks to Jordan's office. They also loved looking out the window of the 56th floor at the city--they thought it was pretty cool. Then we went to a place called Jason's Deli for lunch, which was really yummy and I was so impressed with the customer service! After that, we went back and caught the train and went home. Hannah, unfortunately, came down with a high fever and sore throat and was miserable the rest of the day. We didn't get home in time to go swimming. We played some games together--Whoonu with the kids, and then after dinner and bedtime, Peter played Quelf with us.
Caleb and Westley on the train to Dallas
Westley and Matthew on the train home
Andrea, Leah, and Hannah on the ride home
Eliza was so cute, as soon as I pulled the camera out, she started grinning and babbling
Westley and Leah walking back from the train to the car
Corey wearing Eliza's bloomers on his head as part of his challenge for Quelf (wear something pink for the remainder of the game)
Jordan drinking water backwards for his challenge for Quelf
On Sunday, we just went to church in the morning (11:30-2:30). Westley, Caleb and Travis all did fine going to primary and nursery. Jordan did very well teaching his lesson in Gospel Doctrine. I only got to attend a portion of Relief Society before I had to take loud little Eliza out. After church, we were going to try to go see the horses in Las Colinas (the horse fountain). We didn't make it though. In the afternoon, the kids all just played together while we hung out and chatted. We had an early dinner, then Jordan had to go to Stake Priesthood Meeting. When he got home, we actually sat in the hot tub for a little while to relax after dealing with the kids at church and home all day.
Saturday was a BUSY day. We crammed a lot in and everyone was very tired by day's end. In the morning, Andrea and I both slept until 8 while Jordan and Corey got up with the kids. At 8, Andrea and I both got up and we all got ready to go. Jordan packed their van with all the bikes and then he drove his car and Andrea drove the van and Corey drove our rental van over to Mimosa Park in Richardson that is near Mohawk Elementary and Pearce High School near where we used to live. We took a bunch of muffins and bananas and had breakfast at the park. Jordan and Peter played some baseball and most of the kids took turns riding bikes. Corey, Westley and Caleb went briefly down to the creek bed (the creek was dry!) and explored around. I took Jordan's bike and rode around the old neighborhood past our old houses and even talked to some of our old neighbors. After the park, we went to the Campbell Braum's, which has really gone downhill, unfortunately, and had lunch and ice cream. Then we went back to Jordan and Andrea's house and got in a little bit of a rest (about an hour) before taking off again to the splash pad up in Allen. We spent most of the afternoon there. The kids LOVED it! Then we went back to Jordan and Andrea's house, even swimming, and then made dinner for the kids. Jordan and Corey went out and got us some Texas BBQ from Dickie's, and we ate that after the kids had gone to bed! We had such a fun, busy day! After the BBQ, Jordan, Andrea and I played some more games.
Eating breakfast at Mimosa Park (Westley, Travis and Eliza in the background)
Westley (on Hannah's bike) and Leah
Travis and Matthew in the carriage--Jordan took the kids for rides in the carriage around the park
Eliza playing in the gravel at the park--the older kids kept burying her legs in the gravel, which she found fascinating.
On Friday, the kids played with playdough in the morning. At about 10:30, Andrea and I left with the older kids (Leah, Hannah, Westley and Caleb--Peter was at his last day of summer school) and dropped them off at Ave's house. She wanted to have them come over and play with Creighton and Geoffrey, the little boy she was baby-sitting. Corey stayed at the house with Travis, Matthew and Eliza, and later Peter, and had lunch there. We went through McDonald's drive-through on our way to the Cantrell's and picked up lunch for the other kids. Then Andrea and I went out to lunch with a group of friends from her ward who were celebrating a birthday for one of them. We went to Macaroni Grill. It was fun, I enjoyed getting to know some of Andrea's friends. After that, Andrea and I went back to Cantrell's after running a few errands and ended up staying for a while. Ave shared the special book that Andrea had put together with help as a memorial to Ave's Matthew. Matthew is Ave's child who had an accident in October of last year and passed away--I posted about it before. The kids had fun playing at Creighton's house and Westley and Creighton seemed to hit it off. Corey was so great in staying home with the kids for most of that day. In the evening, we had dinner and got the kids to bed, then Corey and went out in search of dessert. We came back and played Beyond Balderdash with Jordan and Andrea, which was a lot of fun.
Westley, Hannah and Caleb with playdough (they really were having fun--they had just come in from playing outside and were hot and tired)
Matthew and playdough
playing dress-up: Spider-man (Westley), Cowgirl (Hannah), Princess (Leah), Butterfly (Caleb)
Going for a car ride: Westley is driving, Leah is in the front passenger seat, and Hannah and Caleb are the kids in the backseat
On Thursday morning we went over to Breckenridge Park behind Jordan and Andrea's house. The kids played on the playground and then went down the creek and played there. Later, back at the house, the kids played outside, drawing on the driveway with chalk and chasing Fritz around the yard. Some friends of Andrea's came over later to swim with us--Tracy Sparks and her two younger boys and Ave Cantrell and her son Creighton. That was after lunch, so the younger kids (Matthew, Eliza, Travis) were down for naps. Corey stayed in the house during the first part of naps, until Caleb and Travis both came outside. Even Eliza came out for a little while. After swimming most of the afternoon, Andrea and I went to a mall there (can't remember the name of the mall) where they had a fabulous play area and a carousel. Ave and Creighton also went. We had slushees (from Sonic--I think that's what they're called) in the food court and then went on the carousel, after which the kids played in the play area for a while. We went home and ate dinner and the kids all went to bed. We adults played Scattergories until late.
Eating lunch (Westley, Hannah, Caleb who didn't want his picture taken)
Hannah and Westley looking at the Dinosaur Encyclopedia together
Travis hiding behind the chair at the mall food court
When we decided to go to Texas, we decided to fly to save time and headache driving with four little kids. Now I'm not so sure flying was any easier, but we did have fun. With 2 kids under 2, Travis and Eliza were lap kids. Westley and Caleb were excited because it was their first time on an airplane. We were dropped off at the airport around 7 am and checked in to find that the flight was full, so there were no extra seats. Also, even though I had pre-booked fairly decent seats toward the front of the plane, we were put in rows 31 and 32, which were at the very back of the plane by the engines, so all we could see out the window was the engine. And the seats that Corey/Travis and Westley had were behind the food preparation station, so there weren't seats in front with a place to put Westley and Travis' backpacks that I had so carefully packed with snacks and things to do. But, the flight went well and the kids were very well-behaved.
While waiting at the airport, we brought out a small treat we had packed for the kids, some Hershey's chocolate bars.
The terminal we were in had a little play area for the kids, so we went there while waiting for our flight to board. This is Eliza and me playing.
I held Eliza on the plane and Caleb sat with me. Corey held Travis and sat with Westley.
Westley on the plane
Eliza slept through deboarding and getting the luggage and going to the car rental place and waiting to get the rental car. She was tuckered out!
After we got to Texas, we had to get the rental car and then drive to Richardson. We finally made it to Jordan and Andrea's house about 3:00, where we pretty much just hung out the rest of the day, swam a little, ate dinner, put the kids to bed and then we adults watched most of the movie The Last Samurai (TiVo'd by Jordan) until late. It was a lot of fun!
We went to Texas to visit my brother Jordan and his family. We were gone from July 9th-July 15th. We had SO much fun and kept very busy the whole time we were there. Following will be a series of posts about each fun-filled day. We really had a great time!
Caleb and Westley on the train to Dallas
Westley and Matthew on the train home
Andrea, Leah, and Hannah on the ride home
Eliza was so cute, as soon as I pulled the camera out, she started grinning and babbling
Westley and Leah walking back from the train to the car
Corey wearing Eliza's bloomers on his head as part of his challenge for Quelf (wear something pink for the remainder of the game)
Jordan drinking water backwards for his challenge for Quelf
Me dancing with Peter for his challenge for Quelf
