The VanCleaves Visit

The VanCleaves came to see us last weekend.  We went to the Dallas Zoo early Friday.  We hadn't been to this zoo and thought it was really neat.

 

 

 

Carter wasn't sure about these elephants.

 

There were tons of real elephants.

The Navigators with their Maps

We bought some lettuce to feed the giraffes.

Their long, black tongues are amazing.  The girls went nuts when one licked my hand.

 

 The girls had fun running around in the misters.  Surprisingly, we had a breeze most of the morning and left shortly after lunch so we didn't get too hot.

We saw a cheetah demonstration.

 I think the monkeys were a favorite.

 This one put on a show for us.  The kids liked watching him swing around.

 Time for a Tram Ride

 

 The tram was a nice way to end our adventure.  We gave this zoo a thumbs up.

The rest of our time with Cousin Carter was spent playing and swimming at home.

 Abby gave him a coloring lesson and quizzed him on his colors.

 

 

Abby and Caroline had a tea party with Aunt Haley one day while Carter was napping.

 They were proud to help babysit Carter one night while Haley and Phil went to dinner.

Road Trip

We set out July 3rd on a big road trip!  We had a blast visiting friends and family.  Our first stop was Aggieland.  We had Freebirds for lunch and checked out the progress on Kyle Field.

It is looking good!  Whoop!

 The next stop was Montgomery!  We hadn't seen the Smith's new house.

 The girls were excited to see Anna and Jeanie.

 After a couple of hours with the Smith family, we were on to Spring.

 GiGi got out her washboard and played Little House on the Prairie with Caroline.

 She also had lots of little prairie figurines.  The girls enjoyed looking through them.

 Caroline was in heaven with a jar of cherries just for her!

 Abby got her game on with PawPaw.

 July 4th we headed to our final destination, Seabrook.  But first, we stopped to see Aunt Haley's new house in Katy.

 A Kiss Goodbye

 At last, we arrived at the DeLeon's house in Seabrook!  Brent was in the corps with Stevan and we always enjoy getting together with his family.

 Their house and pool are gorgeous!

 

The girls adore Paige.

Milam's family was there also.  We were excited to meet baby Margaret.

Relaxing in the Shade

Ben is Milam's little boy on the left and Paige and Parker are Stevan's kids.  They all get along really well.

One day, we went to a fish market with Stevan to get shrimp.

 

Abby was not crazy about the smell, but finally went in to see the crabs.

We learned how to play Rummikub and it is our new favorite game.

It rained Friday, so we didn't go on the boat to see fireworks as planned, but we saw them from their balcony.  I forgot to get a picture, but it was easy and we had a perfect view.  Stevan took us on a boat ride Saturday morning.

 

The girls were excited to drive the boat.

These Aggie buddies had a great time looking at old pictures the last night.  It was a great trip!