Saturday Fun!

Last Saturday we went to the mall. We ate lunch and then let the kids ride the two story carousel at the mall. We also played at the indoor play area. It was a inexpensive way to stay out of the heat!

Fun with Family

Okay I'm not that good at formatting this blog so I will tell you all about our weekend and then I will post the pictures. Two weekends ago my MIL's dad (Papa) came to visit with his wife (g-ma Jean) and youngest bro (Craig). We spent a lot of time hanging out inside since the weather outside was 119. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and also to the zoo early one morning. I didn't get any pictures at the zoo other than of the monkeys. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Muddy Buddies

Last week I was bored so I decided that we would make some Chex Muddy Buddies. The kids loved to lick the bowl when we were done. These are the little things I missed when I was working. We hadn't even gotten dressed yet, but it was time for sugar! Any time is a good time for chocolate.

Crashed!

We have been playing so much over the last weekend and the last few days that Heidi is just worn out! This is what I found today when I went to check on what she was doing. She is asleep in the computer chair in front of the TV in Nana and Pop Pop's room. I only wish she would do this more often! I have a lot of catch up to do on the blog. Hopefully I will get some new blogs posted tonight.

For the 4Th of July Valerie was brave enough to load the children into the car and haul them here to glorious Wichita Falls, TX. Not the most exciting of places to spend the 4Th of July but I was very excited to see her and the kids. It is a long trip to complete in general but with a 4 and 2 year old it probably felt like the miles would never end. I thank Valerie for being so strong and coming to see me.
If you haven't been to Wichita Falls you are not missing much. With a four day weekend and two children to entertain we exhausted all this little town has to offer. Valerie arrived on Thursday evening and we went to dinner and the mall to kill some time. Friday was spent at Cast Away Cove, a small water park here in town. With temperatures in the 100's it was a nice way to spend time together as a family. Heidi and Ryan enjoyed the children's play area with fountains and slides that they could go on by themselves. That also allowed mom and dad to just sit and relax in the sun. Heidi was a bit to quick in the water for Ryan and that would frustrate him but both of our kids love the water. We enjoyed floating the lazy river and paddling through the wave pool. Staying wet was the only way to stay out in the sun and not burn up.
We also went swimming at the pool at the hotel a few times to get the kids out of the room and not spend any money, Mom and Dad did plenty of that over the weekend. We tried to have lazy mornings and just enjoy our time together with out feeling rushed to go somewhere or get something done. I think the earliest we left the room was 11 AM.
For the 4Th of July we ate dinner and started our adventure of finding the Multi-Purpose Events Center or MPEC. At the MPEC they had a sort of expo with booths and 4 or 5 huge bouncy slides and obstacle courses. Of course each one cost money so we let Heidi choose one and watched her navigate the obstacles and slide down this enormous slide at the end. Ryan felt left out and was letting us know all about it. Kids are so fun. We still had a few hours to kill before the fireworks were to start so we wandered around and found a few other things to let the kids have fun. Heidi and Ryan rode on a train made out of plastic 55 gallon drums pulled by a small tractor. Ryan looked as if he was going to fall asleep the entire ride. At this point the wind started to blow and we began to see lighting and hear thunder. In Texas storms come quick so you find cover as soon as you can. Heidi wanted to stay and watch the fireworks so we bought the kids swords that lit up and made sounds to settle them down and began walking to the car to leave. We noticed people sitting on the grass median around the parking lot and decided to spread our blanket and see if the rain would come. The kids had a blast swinging the swords around to get them to make noise. The rain finally came but we were close to our car and ran for cover as soon as we felt rain drops.

We let the kids roam the car listened to the thunder and watched the lightning and rain. It was fun to see others scurrying about trying to get out of the rain. The kids behaved very good for being in the car and doing nothing but listen to the radio and wait for the fireworks. Finally we were rewarded with a fireworks show that the kids enjoyed. It was definitely an adventure Saturday evening.

The rest of the weekend was filled with spending time together as a family, going to church on base Sunday and hoping Monday would not come when I had to be back at my Squadron. It was a very enjoyable visit and I look forward to seeing Valerie and the kids when I graduate in late September.