Patriotic Beauties

The girls had some pictures taken this past week. We have some buddies that have holiday photos taken with this photographer and I always love them so when she came into town for mini sessions, we scheduled a slot. They turned out so very good!! Fourth of July is becoming one of my favorite holidays! 

Kemah Boardwalk

The next day of our visitor vacation was to Kemah Boardwalk. We had never been and heard it was fun for kids. There were shops and restaurants and....RIDES!!! It was really a perfect place for all ages.

 I love this guy. I have a better picture of this ride on my phone but he is the absolute best dad in the world to these girls and we love him tons. He especially gets a gold star for riding that little ride instead of making me.

 They had a train ride which was a huge hit!

 There was a really terrible splash pad that the girls tried to play in but the water barely came up. But they got cooled off a little and then they climbed the big steps and wanted to pose for pictures. Lord, help us.

 Here they are posing with all the animals they/and cousins won at the carnival booths.

 This picture cracks me up. The pirate ship went slow and Burke was having a grand ol' time until around here when it picked up speed. Things changed.

 Before and during....it went fast. But I think they had fun and no one threw up.

 We had cotton candy while the guys rode the big rides.

 Just us girls....

 Here we are in are tired, hot, sweaty, stinky selves. We celebrated 5 years of marriage last week and love him more and more every day....even when we smell badly.

 The girls rode their own little version of the free fall. It was hysterical to watch. They screamed and laughed and rode it 3 times. A good thing about going during the week and it feeling like an furnace outside...there were no lines. We just rode rides over and over again until we were done. They loved it.

 And then there was a really big roller coaster. A big, big roller coaster. My sister was the one that had to be begged and pleaded with to ride. I agreed instantly because...I can't be that bad, right??

Yes. Yes it can. We got off and Burke had the most concerned face. When he saw me, he asked, "Were you crying??? You need to go look at your picture." I didn't cry but I didn't like it either.

Beach Day

My sister and nephews flew into town this past week for their vacation. It was so good to see them and to try and some places close by that we hadn't been too yet. First stop....Galveston. Now, I am used to Alabama and Florida beaches so Galveston was uh, not really a beach. But the girls loved playing in the rock hard sand and hunting sea shells. The boys enjoyed not being stung by jellyfish. It was a fun day though. We ate lunch at a restaurant with a pool?!?! So we ate our fish taco and then went swimming. So random but fun.

Excited to be in  a mini van and to have her cousins around...

 To be annoying amazing teenagers, they are so sweet with our girls. They play chase and throw them in the air and walk them to the ocean and catch them in the pool and watch Hercules about 12 times while visiting....the girls thoroughly enjoyed their visit!

He, uh,  loves the beach. We actually feel the same about the beach but I think we may have to suck it up because our girls seem to LOVE IT.

Seashell hunting all day long.

A weird thing about this beach, you just drive up and park your car on the beach. It was a little like tailgating. It was nice not having to carry all of our 18 million bags on a long trek. But while we were there....the ice cream truck came.

Do you see the puddle of ice cream she is sitting in????

But it was a fun day and now we know of a great little day trip spot if we need a change of scenery!! 

Penny Pup

It's a girl. 

We have a new girl in the family. Penny is our new puppy and she is the best little thing in the world. And best of all....our allergies haven't freaked out and killed us all. 

Hallelujah. Hollis was about to run away to a new family if we didn't find a pup soon. She was definitely worth the wait.