Avalyn and Hadley

Avalyn and Gavin absolutely love their cousins and since I've been able to travel so much since they were little (every time Kyle's deployed) they have become especially fond of their big cousins Hadley and Hayden. The older Avalyn gets the more she appreciates her teenage cousin Hadley. They love to do girly things together- painting nails, looking at magazines, shopping, and taking pictures. Christine and I just had to laugh at these pictures- it's a little scary how fast they grow, I can't believe Hadley is 15 and Avalyn is 3.

Hadley took all these pictures on our way to Sea World. We were quite impressed with how well Avalyn followed direction on what faces to make. Such special girls!

Sea World

feeding the dolphins

1st ride of the day- Gavin and Avalyn LOVE roller coasters!

fun in the water

We spent a good portion of the day in the water!

It feels like so long ago we were in Texas- and we've only been home 5 days, but I figure it's about time to put up some of the last part of our trip. On Thurs. (June 18) I took the kids to Sea World, along with my sister Christine, my niece and nephew, her best friend Cami and her 3 year old Cassidy, and my best friend Bekah and her 3 year old Alyssa. I decided life would just be easier to leave Cambria with my Mom. She did so well on the trip and outside, but an entire day at Sea World would probably be a bit much and I knew she would have fun at church with my mom. My mom is a children's minister and of course had to work the week before VBS, but was able to put Cambria in their wonderful nursery. She had a great time being inside and playing with all the toys. Gavin and Avalyn were so excited to go to Sea World, we have taken them almost every year since Gavin was born, but they don't remember that. We just can't pass up the free pass for Military once a year and since Kyle wouldn't be down in TX with us before the year was up we decided I better just use it. It was a wonderful day, with a slightly rocky start from a moody/tired Avalyn- who was over with that after one roller coaster ride. The weather was actually not too bad, thanks to a light morning drizzle and clouds that lasted a little while (once they went away it of course was HOT). I did my best to take pictures, but found myself just relaxing and enjoying the day and probably not capturing everything.

riding with Cassidy- they are so big, did it with no parents

Gavin's newest light saber- he was so excited when he saw them selling them and what's $6 at Sea World

Avalyn with her Shamu Barbie at the Shamu show- her favorite part of the day, she wouldn't stop jumping up and down and yelling "Shamu" (so I didn't get too many good pictures)

Such a good day with cousins Hadley and Hayden!

We are home and so is DADDY!!!

We made it back and it feels great! Now I need some nesting to kick in so I can unpack, get the house put back together and finish some paintings I promised a friend several months ago. Kyle made it home on Fri., so he is a little more caught up on sleep and is studying his little heart out. Please pray for him as he prepares to take the MCAT on JULY 2. He has worked so hard for the past year or so studying for this and spent any spare time during his deployment studying. I know he is stressed about it and now he wants so badly to be with the kids and spend time with us, but the test is huge and is coming so soon. I still have photos from Texas, so those will be up soon and today we welcomed 4 gold fish into our family and I will be sure to have pictures of that up soon. Thank you all for your support while Kyle was gone. We are so thankful to all our family and friends who helped me out over the past 5 months. God has been so good and we are so thankful to have our family back together.

Random pictures in San Antonio.

These are some random pictures from our time in San Antonio (more to come from Sea World and my cousin's wedding). We have been working on painting and doing things around my parent's home, we went to a play center for some great play time and getting out of the house (I think it was called Dynamo's- very clean and the kids loved it), we went swimming one day (no pictures of that), and then Sea World yesterday.

Playing at Dynamos

more fun playing, of course the spoon makes for something fun to carry around

Getting the cabinets ready to paint. My parents home is under renovation and the boys (Gavin and Hayden) haven't been too interested to help so I had to take a picture of them working hard to clean out the island before I began painting it.

jumping on the mattress. Cambria loves bouncing on her knees on our bed at home, so having a mattress on the floor has been great fun for her. She loves it the most when Gavin or Avalyn join her and Avalyn loves to jump with her.

Cambria loves putting blankets over head- on the ground she likes to walk around with them over her head (very scary, we call it the ghost game) and when in the car she plays with her toys under the blanket (she had a duck in her hand). She has never enjoyed peak-a-boo until now and she loves it when you ask where she is, sometimes she smiles at you (like this time, but most of the time she just looks).

I was happy to get a picture of her smiling, it is sometimes hard to capture but she is a happy girl and in her own time she gives you the sweetest smile.

Cousin Briley's 1st brithday- San Angelo, TX

The cake Christine made! We had a fun time decorating and getting ready for the fishing theme party.

Cambria clapping while everyone sang Happy Birthday to Briley!

Briley checking out Avalyn's face.

I didn't get too many pictures in San Angelo, but here are a few from Briley's 1st birthday party. We had a great time visiting my sister Kathryn, her husband Brian and my nephew Briley. Cambria had a great time, she enjoyed every minute of being in a toy filled/ child proof home and hardly made a peep the entire time, just stayed busy. More importantly she began to keep her glasses on ALL the time while we were there, I think she finally discovered a difference and hasn't messed with them much at all no matter what she is doing or where she is at. This is a huge answer to prayer and has been so nice to see. Thanks Kathryn for a great stay in San Angelo and Happy 1st Birthday Briley!

1st swim of the summer!

Playing with pool toys.

Hanging out with Elmo- the big travel blanket sure does come in handy (thanks Mommy, it was a great gift for Christmas)

Avalyn splashing in the cold baby pool.

Gavin doesn't get out of the pool unless we make him, so I didn't get too many pictures- but he does love it!

Gavin swimming with the life jacket- he does love the freedom, but I am looking forward to him learning to swim when we get back to Omaha.

Hadley helping Avalyn swim, she is a great teacher- wish we lived closer to her.

We were able to swim a few times in Dallas. These pictures were at my sisters neighborhood pool. The water was a little cold, but the kids didn't care much. Gavin absolutely loves swimming and Avalyn enjoys it more every time. Cambria has done well, spending most of her time on a blanket out of the cold water, but she enjoys being outside and exploring the pool toys.

Take me out to the ball game!

Another fun outing in Dallas was a Ranger game. My sister Christine got free tickets from the school she teaches at so we decided to take the kids. The game didn't start till 7, so we left Cambria home with one of Christine's neighbors (and my nieces good friend). My niece Hadley (15), her boyfriend, a few of his friends, my nephew Hayden (13) and one of his friends also came with us. We didn't know how it would go, but it was a great time. It was absolutely perfect weather and although our seats were way up high we could see everything. There were plenty of empty seats in our section so we could move around. There was not a single complaint, until around the 8th inning when Avalyn finally got tired, but we stuck it out and made it through the rest of the game.

Ready for their 1st baseball game!

the view from our seats

Avalyn was a little nervous about being so high

Avalyn and Hadley (and her friends) watching the game.

Eating cotton candy! Probably one of Gavin's favorite parts of the game.

Gavin and the big boys! I actually found a clearance stand up near our seats that had reasonable prices on souvenirs, so I just had to get Gavin his 1st official baseball hat (for $10- not to bad considering some of the other stands). He was so excited it was"perfect" according to Gavin and he was even more proud to see that is was just like one of the "big" boys that joined us for the evening.

At the end of the game Gavin couldn't stop jumping up and down from all the excitement of the evening. He immediately said he wanted to come back and he couldn't wait, then he pointed at his hat and let me know that that team had lost. I didn't quite to see such excited from him (it was after 10:30) after such a long night, but he loved it which made me so happy. Hopefully we will be in town next year for tee ball season and he can learn to play himself!

Rainforest Cafe

Gavin has been asking to go to Rainforest cafe after seeing the commercial on PBS. We have been to the front, but never eaten there. My sister Christine and I decided to take the kids for lunch last week. We order a big appetizer plate, which was actually pretty good, and a huge volcano dessert (brownies and ice cream with a sparkler in the top). The kids had a great time and to top it off we headed to the Disney outlet store right there in the mall.

acting like monkeys

Cambria eating baby food (still the only thing she will eat)

Gavin's balloon monkey

Avalyn's pink lady bug

Cambria eating her butterfly balloon, I know not too safe, but we kept watch and it made her happy for quite a while

They were shocked to see the sparkler in the huge dessert, they loved everything about being there.

Avalyn finishing of the vanilla ice cream- her favorite, she didn't even touch the brownie.