Texas Family Reunion

The four of us (yes, I said four... David was actually able to get some time off!) headed to the Dallas area for a long weekend with family. My mom's side of the family was all getting together in McKinney, and my aunt and uncle on my dad's side were gracious hosts and invited us to stay with them in Frisco (only about 20 min away). So, we had a wonderful time visiting with both sides of my family. I do not yet have a picture of all of us to post, but in all there were 22 of us. Here's the kids (and our kids).

We arrived just in time for Halloween, so the 5 youngest dressed up and went trick-or-treating in my aunt and uncle's neighborhood in McKinney. They give out the best candy!!! Chocolate and laffy taffy... None of that other cheap junk...

David and I and the kids all headed off to the Dallas World Aquarium while the older kids went off to Six Flags. I really wanted to go to Six Flags too - I love roller coasters, but I couldn't bear the thought of being at an amusement park and not being able to go on every roller coaster in sight, so I avoided temptation and just didn't go. We did have a great time at the aquarium though. They had some HUGE fish the likes of which I'd never seen! I don't remember what they're called, but they looked like koi on steroids - they could've eaten David! They also had an alligator that could have fit all four of us in his belly and still had room for more. It's a really neat set up though - it's 3 stories high, you start up top in the canopy of the rain forest and work your way down to the ocean.

(The huge fish - 3 stories up)

All in all, we just had a fabulous time visiting with all of our family. I hadn't seen either side of my family in just over a year, and it was the first time David had met several of our family members, and hadn't seen the rest of them since our wedding.

The Keyser side - a wonderful perk to be able

to see them too

The Robitaille Siblings -

the reason we're all in Dallas

While we were staying at Dick and Joan's, here's a little mischief that the kiddos enjoyed getting into...

Believe it or not, I did bring bathing suits for them...

This, That, and The Other Thing

Just wanted to share a few odds and ends that have occurred over the last few days and weeks...

David and Tristan playing baseball:

Grace's first trip on her new bike

Slippin' and a slidin'

Our princesses Aurora
Grace got an Aurora costume for her birthday and one day decided to dress her brother up also.

As you can see, Tristan has no trouble making his own fashion statements: shorts, t-shirt, mittens, and snow boots...

Grace started swimming lessons today. We had done a "Mommy and me" class last summer, and I vowed not to do that again... with my swimming and lifeguard background, I expected too much of her and she was very clingy and would have nothing to do with trying to "swim" or float on her back. It really amazes me that she is so fearful of the water since we have had her in the water since she was 9 months old. She loves the bathtub, and loves to "swim" in water that she has no difficulty touching the ground in - to include holding her breath and putting her whole head underwater. We have a really nice indoor pool here that offers swimming lessons year 'round, so David and I decided to take advantage of it.

She was so excited





















Keeping her "fear" of water in mind, I was a little nervous about how she might do in the water, so I really encouraged her to do what her teacher asked of her - even if it might seem scary. David and I both reassured her that the teacher would not let anything happen to her. Needless to say, she did great and even let the instructor hold her to "float" on her back... We'll see how the next 2 weeks go.

And finally.... (drum roll please)

The long awaited doll house headboard! David made this all from an idea in his head - drew up the plans, got the lumber and put it together (with a few suggestions from the missus). I think he did a wonderful job - and I know Gracie loves it - after all, it is her favorite colors!

The Great Outdoors

David had a 4 day weekend this last weekend, so we decided to venture into the great outdoors. He has been dying to go camping since our camping trip last Fall. We headed off post (but not too far) and went to Parker Canyon Lake. It is a beautiful little lake up in the mountains that has several different areas for camping. The day we arrived it rained most of the day, but we had a few breaks in the weather to play outside the camper, and it cleared up nicely overnight.

Unfortunately, I woke up feeling miserable the next morning. The kids went on a hike with Daddy after breakfast since I was only good for sitting around. While they were gone I took a nap. When they returned, David said it was time to go home despite the fact that I was trying to tough it out. So, when we got home and unpacked, David and the kids put up the tent in the back yard and started a "camp fire" in our outdoor fireplace where we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

The backyard camping was unsuccessful as Tristan didn't want to sleep in the tent "I don't like tent!". David and Grace stayed out there for a little while, but then decided she didn't want to stay out there without me and Tristan out there too. So, we all ended up sleeping inside that night after all. Which turned out not to be such a bad thing since it got into the low 40's that night and was pretty windy.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Grace had her 4th birthday on Saturday. We had 4 of her friends from school and AWANA come over for a princess party. It was so cute!!! All of the little girls dressed up in their princess outfits and had a grand time.

Here are a bunch of pictures from this fabulous day.

Amazingly enough, she had no desire to open these gifts all day. In her words "It's not my birthday until my friends get here." I wonder how long that will last...

We had a jumping balloon that all the kids had a blast in, we played a game where you tried to place Cinderella in her castle window, and had a Princess castle pinata.

Now, on to presents, cake, and ice cream...

Our little "cornhuskers"

Just wanted to share some pictures with you of the kids helping me the other day when I was husking all the corn we got from Apple Annie's.

All told, I think they husked about 7 ears of corn, but they both volunteered to help, and did what they could. It's not an easy job for a 2 and 4 year old, so I can't complain and I enjoyed the help.

I'm not sure why Grace was wearing her pajama shirt on her head, but I've learned that there are some things that just aren't worth griping about...

Here is a picture of the swingset that David built for the kids. The one we had in El Paso didn't all arrive, so rather that go buy a new one, we just got some wood and used the equipment we already had.

He's become quite handy since he discovered he liked making Grace's headboard so much...

Apple Annie's

Yesterday we decided to take a family outing to Willcox, Arizona. They have an orchard and a farm there called Apple Annie's where you can pick your own fruit and vegetables. We all thought that was great, and the kids had a wonderful time. We loaded up on Granny Smith apples, Asian pears, sweet corn (yeah!!!), green beans, green chilis and eggplant. We got WAY more than we needed, so it looks like I will be spending the week canning and baking.

We plan to go back in a few weeks to let the kids pick their own pumpkins - and see what else we might need. Unfortunately it isn't any savigs from getting your produce from a grocery store, but we had a lot of fun (and you don't get the waxy coating on everything either).

Bubble time fun

The kids took a buble bath the other night - which we don't do often because they like to "pop" the bubbles, and that means a big mess for Mom to clean up...