4th of July- Part 1

I tried to get cute pictures of the girls in their patriotic attire, but it didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped because it was super bright outside. We got these outfits at Cracker Barrel. They were too cute to resist.

Dallas World Aquarium

We actually went to the aquarium with my dad while he was here, but I don't have any pictures of that because I forgot my camera! I was so mad! But about a week later, the kids and I went back with the Whitworth clan. Apparently we were the only ones in the family who had ever been to this awesome aquarium before. I couldn't believe it. It's one of my favorite places in DFW.  Plus, they've all lived here a lot longer than I have. But anyway, we went with my mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and all 11 grandkids. It was a little crazy. Luckily we picked a good time to go and there weren't very many people there. We kept having to slow the kids down. Abby, Brigham, and Isabelle kept running as fast as they could from one thing to another, not really seeing any of it. Near the end there is a Jaguar, and periodically throughout the day people dressed in Mayan costumes come out and do a presentation and then stay to take pictures. Hannah and Brigham were both so terrified they about peed their pants and would not go anywhere near them, so I didn't get to take a picture with them, but Natalie and Lacey both did. The other kids weren't scared, but poor Emily got whacked in the eye with feathers. It was a crazy morning, but it was a lot of fun!

 Trying to get 10 kids to look at the camera at the same time is like herding cats....

Cousins

Recently, my cousin Jeshua and his family were driving back to New Mexico after spending a few weeks in Tennessee visiting family, and they decided to stop in Fort Worth to see us. I was so excited. They are a lot of fun and I hadn't seen them in about 5 years. Their son Ben didn't even remember me. :( And Kayden is so grown up and fun to talk to. So it was fun to catch up and for them to meet Dan and the kids. I'm so glad they decided to stop by!

I think Ben was trying to be studly... Blue Steel, anyone?

Zoo day with Grandpa

While my Dad was here visiting we decided to go to the zoo. It was supposed to be a little cooler that day... but it turned out to be so humid it cancelled out the lower temperature (lower being like 92 instead of 100) We were all drenched in sweat by the time we were done, but it was worth it. Hannah loves the zoo and hadn't been since before Clara was born so she was super excited. She even managed to keep her hat on the whole time. Clara did really well- she pretty much slept through the whole thing. She woke up long enough to scream through our lunch and then eat her lunch and then went back to sleep. Well, she was awake in the reptile house too, but that was because it was so stinking loud in there! Oh yeah, that was the other thing about that day. We got there and it was more full than I had ever seen it. It turned out we had managed to go on half-price admission day, so everybody and their mom was there that day. And all of the local day camps were there with all their millions of kids. But really, surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. There were a few times that I got frustrated, like in the reptile house, but overall, it was a really great day and I'm glad we went.

Looking at the Rhino

Giraffes

Swimming

YAY for summer!! And double yay for a summer that's been about 10 degrees cooler than the last two summers I've spent here. I can't believe the summer's half over already. Hannah will be 2 in less than a week! Crazy! But more on that later. Hannah LOVES to go swimming. We ended up getting her a ladybug floaty- since Ladybug Girl is still her favorite character. It's made from life jacket type material, so it works really well and she loves it. She thinks it's awesome that she can swim by herself, and is pretty fearless with it on. We tried it out for the first time a few weeks ago when my dad was here visiting. We thought at first that Clara was going to sleep through the whole thing, but she eventually woke up and we took her in. She seemed to enjoy it.. as much as a 2 and a half month old can, I guess.

Hannah and Grandpa