Cassidy Harvey has been so nice to share all her memberships with us this summer. We go swimming at their pool about once a week and now we got to join them at the zoo.
It was sooooo hot and I was already tired(pregnancy!) but it was worth it they had a good time.
Ashlyn didn't want to be on that Rino!
w/ our friend Addy Harvey
22 July 2016
Just wanted to send Daddy some silly pictures.
24 July 2016
I sent Jordyn up stairs because she was throwing a fit...again. I then noticed she was being really quiet. First time to bed before bedtime! 7:50!!!!
25 July 2016
I've been baking my own bread, and Jax loves to punch it down for me. Can you tell which one he rolled?
27 July 2016
Jordyn's New Hair Cut
27 July 2016
I'm not going to lie. This one of those days I was just physically and emotionally spent and then I find Jordyn like this...I just wanted to cry. She came out while I was talking to our neighbor and that's the first I saw it. There was no saving this one, we had to cut off the curls. And I was just thinking today that her other chops where getting long enough to braid...haha yeah right Mom!
This is my quick job to even it out, it has since been touched up.
We try to go on walks because the kids love to ride their bikes and Ashlyn loves the wagon. We where so surprised to find about 10 of this on the road in our neighborhood.
2 July 2016
Pool party! so fun!
4 July 2016
We had some friends invite us for a BBQ then a show us where the firework show was. This Aaron in the back with the kids watching a movie while we are stuck in traffic to get back home.
9 July 2016
We had some friends the Bishops come visit us one weekend and it was a blast! It ended too soon.
11 July 2016
This is Ashlyn helping me clean out the van one day. So cute!
I guess we have been playing too hard to stay awake!
Aaron made the decision, and I'm so glad he did, that we would take our drive back in 3 days instead of 2. So we took our time and found places to stay with pools. It was nice to have something for the kids to look forward to at the end of a day on the road. Although the bad part about all this was that we spent about 5 days of Aaron's 10 days off on the road...boo!
21 June 2016
Ashlyn taking a snooze with Uncle Keyan before we hit the road. Thanks Keyan!
22 June 2016
On this day we stopped at a Base Pro we spotted. Our kids love the fish and alligators. But this was the worst part of the trip! As I'm taking this picture I look up to check on Jordyn (who was just next to Jax) and she is gone! We looked for her about 15 mins when we heard over the intercom someone describing Jordyn.
It made me think about how we've lost Jax 2 times already. Once on the 4th of July at a firework show he went to a playground and didn't tell us. Then when we where at the Lincoln Memorial and he wandered off. When we found him he was telling a lady that his parents had left him.
I love that my kids are independent but it's things like this that really scare me.
23 June 2016
Fun in the pool before we hit the road.
I love how Jordyn swims on her back, I can still remember that being my preferred way of swimming for a while.
Jax and Jordyn keep asking when we where going to get to Texas. When we were in Pittsburg they asked again. Aaron and I keep telling them that this is Texas, just like Nana and Papa's house is Texas. They seemed satisfied with that answer then asked. "When are we going to get to the real Texas?" Aaron just looked at me and made a face like, don't say anything. Haha!
Well, after we got to the "Real Texas" it did not disappoint! The second we got there, there where cousins everywhere and they hit the ground running. Papa came in and the first thing they did was take the kids fishing/swimming out at the Skinners. I stayed with Ashlyn but they had a ball.
Day 1: Keyan and Kelli's Reception
17 June 2016
The first full day we relaxed and the boys started playing like boys, wrestling match round one. Tyce was a good match up for Jax. Someone finally bigger and could take Jax. Jax then recruited the other boys to help.
Later that night we had Keyan and Kelli's Reception at the new church building.
When JC Keys (the original Papa, Great Grandpa) was on his way out Ashlyn and I where saying goodbye and Ashlyn gave Papa a kiss. I think he was throwing his head back to entertain Ashlyn to show what a great kiss it was and lost balance. First he stepped back then overcorrected and fell forward taking us with him. Thank goodness Kevin was seated just behind us and was able to break my fall a bit and more importantly catch Papa. That was scary but we all got up just fine. That was a powerful kiss!
Back to the party and boy was it a party! So fun to dance and watch everyone else dance. The kids where the most fun to watch, although Aaron and Cary Shane's dance off was great!
Oh did this girl have fun dancing!
Man did these kids dance. I told some I was standing with how fun it was to just pick one kid out of the crowd and try to mimic them...too much fun!
Day 2:WAV (Wellington Aquatic Center)
18 June 2016
The kids where excited to go swimming but we where really disappointed to find out the silly rules, like no arm floaties and that you couldn't sit on the side of the pool. But after we got over our disappointment we had a blast and it ended up being a good thing for us. Jax and Jordyn really learned a lot more toward swimming on there own. Not there yet but they are doing so much better. It was so fun to see them get so excited about it, and we where so happy for them.
Ashlyn discovered how much she loves the water! She keep saying "EEEE" and lunging toward you in the pool. Which translates to "3!"
Some of the crew!
Brek playing with Jordyn
Our new little swimmer! Well, almost!
Ashlyn and Papa
Later that night Nana & Papa made a steak dinner. Then all the Tipa cousins came over while Papa did s'mores and Nana did home made Butterfinger Ice-cream!
I think Ashlyn liked the Ice-cream!
Day 3: Sunday, Day of Rest
19 June 2016
I think yesterday had these two pooped! Okay me too, I took a good nap!
Ashlyn loved Annie, she chased that dog everywhere!
Jax and the boys! I'm told Jax and Jordyn are the only ones who will touch the toads. Although the first night Jordyn runs in crying cause the toad peed on her! But when Jax is in town it's toad time! They had a whole cooler full of as many has they could find and make Jax catch.
This is this them yelling "Hey! Go find your friends so we can sell them!"
Bruce took a liking to Ashlyn.
Day 4: Elks and Games
20 June 2016
Savanna caught these with her go-pro camera, love it!
So cute I love this picture!
Daddy and Jax
As you can probably guess this didn't land so well... Haha poor guy! He was a good sport about it though.
The older cousins clogging up the slide.
Jordyn was so happy about these pink goggles!
Jax and the beginning of the silly faces.
Too much playing wore this little one out. She even fell asleep on me which she never does.
We tried to stay as long as our kids wanted to but we finally decided we had better go at around 2pm. We got there just after 10 and still didn't want to leave.
The ones that lasted! Our water bugs!
Kenney surprised us with a horned toad he found. That is a Texas Toad.
The games that night where so much fun! "Drip, Drip, Splash" and form of Duck, Duck, Goose. Let's just say this year was more successful. Last year they tried to play normal duck,duck, goose for fun one day and Jax ended up crying cause he was so confused and was doing it wrong. They loved it!
This was so much more fun than I thought it would be, and tiring! I only played for about 5 mins and I was breathing hard.
It was really funny to watch too
After this one we settled down for skits, which I wished I had filmed them all. But here is ours
Well, if you do not already know....SURPRISE!!! Tossey #4 is on the way! Jan 25th!
I was really disappointed that we didn't do the skits earlier because I was so tired of pretending I felt fine when all I wanted to do was throw up. Another reason why the trip was not fun...throwing up all along the way didn't make it very smooth. Aaron and I thought for sure everyone knew already with me taking naps and eating toast randomly.
After skits we set the kids down for a movie night to watch "Zootopia" and the adults got to play games. It was so fun! Thank you Shayla and Brock for putting together another great reunion! We had a blast!
