As the younger sibling, Emma is frequently forced to go along with whatever is happening with big sister. She's been such a trooper with all of the trips to The Woodland's Children's Museum when she had to just follow along with whatever Clara wanted to do, but Emma lucked out this past Tuesday. Clara was at school, we just made the drive to the airport and back to drop off Tyler, and I needed to drop off the deposit to use TWCM for Clara's birthday party. Emma was sick and tired of being in the car so I decided we would just stick around for a little while so she could play whatever she wanted to for a change :)
She immediately went for the fire truck and drove it
Then roamed all over the kitchen, taking out everything and putting it back.
this face cracks me up :)
And then we did her favorite thing: the lights!
And then we finished up with a few rounds on the slide and some choo choo trains.
By then we had to get home so Miss Emma could sleep off all the fun she had playing at the museum :) I bet that was a treat!! She certainly seemed to have fun!!
While Bryan took Tyler to the airport the first time, the girls and I stayed with Lulu and Papa at their house and facetimed with Auntie M, Uncle G, Molly and JJ.
"Hiiiiii"
And then while Papa was grilling some ribs, Lulu and I took the girls to the nearby park.
It was SO crazy humid, so when we got back we suited up and splashed in the pool!
It was a little chilly, but totally worth it, especially for Clara :)
Then we had dinner, and sang "Happy Birthday," and Clara helped blew out Papa's candle for him :)
Love this :)
Snuggles, kisses and hugs for Papa before we had to head home:
We had two very sleepy rugrats.
Thank you service men and service women, and Happy Birthday Papa!
The weekend before this one (I'm super behind on blogging) our dear friend Tyler came to visit us in Houston! He was actually in Amsterdam for a week and then in Jerusalem for a week before flying into Houston, so he was feeling a bit jet lagged. He stayed with us Saturday through Monday before flying home to Colorado Springs.
Before he arrived Clara took a little siesta under the rug in our living room:
And then our friends Logan, Michelle, Zacahariah and Jonah joined us for pizza and a game night. Tyler has always been one of our favorite people to play games with, and actually the last time he visited we played games with the same friends! Tradition forming :)
Clara and Riah and the itty bitties played outside for a while in the swamp of our backyard (we are in the middle of a South Texas monsoon season!)
Had some dinner:
Did a little coloring:
And then put the 4 kiddos to bed so that we could play the extended version of Settlers of Catan (cool!) and Ticket to Ride.
On Sunday we overslept church because of the precious night's activities :-/ but enjoyed some yummy Jason's Deli with my parents.
Emma was really warming up to Tyler :)
Then, because the rain was STILL falling, Tyler and the girls watched The Little Mermaid together :)
Yes, ladies, he's single and a catch!
Reading Batman Clara "What Do Dinosaurs Say When They Are Mad?" over and over.
And then Tyler and Bryan were able to bond while Clara and I did some tractor crafting for her party.
The shirt I "painted" with fabric markers, modeled by Clara:
Monday we ended up hanging out and then going over to my parents' place for a little while before Tyler had to catch his flight.
And then they wouldn't let the plane fly because of the weather so Bryan actually picked Tyler up and we had another night with him! Emma and I had fun with Tyler before we took him to the airport for round 2 on Tuesday. There was still flooding but it was considered safe to fly so we had to say bye for real that time :(
So much fun to see you, Tyler!!! Thank you for coming to see us!
I am in the process of switching to my new laptop (hooray!) which means accessing pictures has been an adventure. However, I am finally getting the hang of our new system (which Bryan says will be much more hard-drive friendly) so that's good :) Also, today was my last day of school so I will finally have some free time.
So rewinding a few days and skipping around, let's start with Kyle and Kori's wedding:
We met Lulu, Papa, Meemaw, Papaw, Uncle G, Auntie M, Molly and Baby Jessica at my parents' house before the wedding to visit without the crowd. We also managed a few quick photos:
Meemaw & Papaw and their 4 great-granddaughters!
Auntie M with Clara & Molly
Family photo op
We had an incident involving a sippy cup and a dress, so a quick stop at Carter's on our way to the wedding was in order. You'll notice Clara is wearing a different dress at the wedding than she was in the previous pictures (ahhh!) but it happens.
Molly looooves her Lulu
I felt like the Meloy family side show during the service. We had 4 children under the age of 3 who were NOT interested in sitting still and quiet during an hour+ service. It was a beautiful service, but the kids just didn't fully appreciate it. Both Papa and I took turns taking Emma outside or the back of the facility to keep her occupied.
Emma making a break for down the aisle - catch the baby!
LOVE this photo of Clara praying during the ceremony
After the ceremony there was a cocktail hour outside while the wedding party and family took photos. The girls kept themselves entertained by wrestling over a water bottle.
love this!
Awkward toddler hugs are the BEST!
Emma was one cranky chica
No matter who held her :(
This cracks me up- love these ladies!
Emma playing peekaboo with Emma while Clara asked for chicken.
Lots of Jessie love (here with Aunt Jana)
And with Papa
Clara desperately wanted to meet the "princess" so she and Papa went to say hello.
Meanwhile Clara had ZERO compunctions about dancing with no one else on the dance floor during dinner.
Luckily for her, Papa joined her for some of the time
I LOVE the way she feels the music and moves accordingly.
I took several videos and none are perfect, but you get the idea :)
Dancing with Daddy:
Dancing with Papa:
This one is probably the best illustration of her dancing by herself:
The ending is so sad here but otherwise it's super cute:
Sweet Mama and Baby JJ
Uncle G with Molly and Clara
Papaw having a chat with Emma
Clara kept attempting the splits - WHERE did she learn this!?
Kids and their kids photo - the littles were OVER the evening
Lulu and Papa and their pooped out and ornery grandbabies :)
