Dallas Aquarium!

The day after the 4th of July we (me, Mom, Lydia, Gloria and Bill and family) went to Bill's and on Friday we went to the Dallas World Aquarium.  The girls LOVE aquariums and Bill really recommended theirs.  It was crazy crowded so we were herded along to each area with the rest of the mob.  Carrie and kids came to meet us!

One of the highlights was the tanks with two manatees.  It was several stories tall and included birds and other animals with fish near the bottom.  Lydia also loved the snark tunnel tank and we returned there before leaving to sit and watch again.  We saw the Jaguar and ate in the Tex-Mex restaurant.

The kids inspecting another tank of fish.

We rode the train for the experience and to avoid parking.  We rushed onto one while leaving and it was the wrong color.  So we decided to change trains in one of the two subways stations and the kids loved it.  It is a highlight that is often fondly remember about 'going underground'

Gloria's two loves-dogs and her blanket!  Rosie is a good dog.

4th of July

 As per tradition we celebrated the 4th of July at my parents.  Of course we started the party with the flag marching parade to Sousa music.  Jessamy had some fun crafts planned including the great dipping of strawberries.

 The attempt of funny family picture.  Bill and his family went wild before we knew what was going on :)

The stash.  Fireworks...since the kids were bigger this year we tried them (and it had rained).  Lydia was okay for a while but then she and Jonathan sat inside while Gloria reveled in the fact that she like them.

Summer Fun

 I am shocked at how busy we have been this summer, besides visiting family and friends, while we are in town we've been staying busy with Summer $1 movies, Austin Public Library special events, Tuesday splashpad and random fun.  I love the photo above the way the water is spraying!  We meet on an afternoon with friends from church at a splashpad.

 We had a wonderful Indian lunch with some Friendship friends and the girls were happy to get to wear their outfits (so was I!)

 A friend hosted a Bastille Party to celebrate everything French including amazing crepes.  The girls were tired after grancamp (I had just gotten back from San Antonio) so we didn't stay long.

 We went to a park on Lake Austin with Rachida and family, Caleb brought the boat and even though it was a rainy day the kids loved the boat ride and picnic.

 Kerby Lane with friends after Princess camp

 Lydia's class at Princess Prep school.  They made serving aprons (to remember princess use helping hands and don't just sit on a throne bossing people around).  They had a good time and I enjoyed it but next time I think I'll do puppets :)

 We went to an amazing park in Round Rock but it was HOT!!!  I love the sweat and red cheeks captured in this photo!

So splashpark are better (though still hot for the mamas so really the pool is the best thing for the summer).

Bats....or not

 We attempted to see the bats come out from Congress bridge (maybe again in Aug as now there are plenty of bugs so they don't exit until later in the evening and therefore it is too dark to see them)  We walked down the river to the dog park which the girls love.

 I walked up the bridge to take some pictures.  This is Lydia 'relaxing.'

 This is Caleb not relaxing, both girls had a turn.

We gave up and watched the lights come on the buildings and then went home...

Dance Camp

 Lydia attended a four day camp at Dance Discovery, the theme was Cinderella.  They had a show off the last day and she wanted to wear her recital costume-yay for more use.  As Caleb now has a regular job he was able to come as well.  She was one of the oldest girls but still had a wonderful time.

They made a little apron that turned into a fancy 'dress', also made a wand and painted the clock.  Gloria and had a few mornings together to 'practice' next year while Lydia is in KG!

Visiting Grandmama

 After the boat ride, we cut some flowers from Nana & Grandpa's house to take while visit Grandmama.

 As always they loved seeing Betty Boop (see Kathy & Grandmama in the window they were visiting in the bird room)

There were various hats sitting around the they girls enjoyed placing on people's heads.

Boating Fun

 Aunt Kathy came to visit and Dad took his boat out of the lake.  It was the girls first time to go out in it.  Lydia liked going fast but Gloria wasn't as fond of it, she needed someone to hold onto.

 We stopped in a cove (Kathy and I said if you squinted and looked a certain way you could feel like you were in Greece).  We swam a bit, climbed on a fallen down tree and up the rocky hill.

Dad let Lydia & Gloria have a turn at the wheel.

Friends

 A group of friends got together to play outside in water at Owen's house.

 The three little sisters

 He has a trampoline and they had also had a picnic underneath.

Enjoying a Sprite.

Libraries!

 And now a plug for our public libraries!  We have been spending a lot of time in various ones around town.  The programs are great and its cool and free.  I am still being the teacher at the small country Garfield library once a month.  Our last theme was King, Queens and Emperors (so the girls dressed appropriately) our craft was making a crown.

 Twice we met Maryam and her new baby Joseph at a library by her home for special programs.  He mostly slept but they enjoyed being out of the house too.

First was An Afternoon in Africa and a lady from Kenya told stories with puppets and showed clothes and also let the children play African instruments.  It was a long program so Lydia was warmed up enough to volunteer to play a bell.
Then we saw the Singing Zoologist and became groupies and went to see him at another library as well.  He tells stories and sings silly songs about animals.

Blanco State Park

 After the Festival we headed to the State Park along the amazing Blanco river.  We spent most of the time in the water.

 We also enjoyed out campsite including a new big tent!  We had Ramon noodles and carrots for dinner and the girls raved about how it was such a wonderful meal.  In the night we caught fireflies and had a fire.  

After breakfast and another swim we packed up and headed home.

Lavender Festival!

 For several years I've wanted to go to the Lavender Festival in Blanco so for our anniversary this year we packed up the family and headed west.  We stopped at two farms and looked at the small lavender bushes, enjoyed lavender treats-divinity (see Gloria's face), lemonade, cookies and more.

 The second farm had a pink tractor and a farmer's market where we bought peaches (fashback to Georgia and Gloria munching on a peach outside)

We stopped at the festival on the square in Blanco, ate our picnic lunch while listening to a family band from San Antonio perform.  It was too hot and crowded (and shopping-yuck) for us to enjoy watching around and looking at the booths so we got icees (including lavender) and headed to our campsite!

Various Summer Fun!

 Now you get to experience wonderful pictures from various fun things so far this summer.  Gloria as Rapunzel when Jon & Pam came for dinner.  The girls always think dressing up is a good idea for guests-Lydia wore her ballet costume.

 Face painting from VBS kick off.  They didn't want to take a bath so I took lots of pics to remember the beauty.

 VBS was an aviation theme so we continued it at home including a trip to the airport to watch planes take off and land.

 Climbing a tree outside Amy's ice cream (we've been eating lots of ice cream!)

 Gloria has now been to the movie theater!  We saw Dolphin Tale with friends (they both loved it) and while Lydia was in dance camp the two of us saw Yogi Bear.  Gloria enjoyed it, I endured it :)

 Kirinda's 5th annual pool birthday party.  We were late as it was the last day of dance camp but we still got the yummy food and cake and we played with KT while her parents cleaned and packed up.

 Having a picnic lunch at daddy's new work.  We got a tour of the whole building and ate on tables overlooking McKinney Falls State Park, this will be a really nice place when it gets a little cooler.

 Nita & Jacob are spending most of the summer in South Africa.  We went to play and so their parents could run errands the day before they left.  Now they are enjoying winter.

But not us, we rarely go outside unless it involves water-like this splash pad with some friends from church.