Pre-Christmas trip to see the Kenyons

I had to go to the doctor's because had pink eye... I had the kids and the first opening was like immediately so I didn't have time to get everyone dressed so we went to the doctor's in PJs. (I don't know if I have ever walked out of the house with both kids in PJs!)  We were planning to go down to the Kenyon's that night and I wanted to get on medication ASAP.  I didn't want to miss our trip.

Selfie

Later that day I took the kids to the library.  (I know pink eye is highly contagious but I was a good adult and didn't touch my eye and washed my hands OFTEN.  The doctor said as long as I did that, it was fine.)

That night we drove down to Austin.  The next morning, the kids were super happy to be together. 

Natalie and Maxwell working a video for Natalie's youtube channel

It looks way worse than it felt.  Annoying more than anything.

It was better to just keep glasses on both for those looking at me and so then I didn't have to both trying to look normal.

They just kept getting worse.  I have never had symptoms this bad.  It was pretty much not fun at all.

No pink eye could stop all the fun we had together though!

We HAD to go eat at P Terry's.  :)

Playing dress up at the Kenyon's is so much better than at our house!

So much fun when they get together.

On the way back from the park, it started sprinkling and I slipped on a driveway and came down hard on my knee - it ended up hurting for weeks.

Makenna learning all about prepping a turkey from her dad.  

Max decided to try out the rock climbing wall in their garage.

Rockstar concert with Christmas songs

He did pretty good and tried it a couple times.  I was proud of him for being so brave!

We were only there two nights and then drove home on Christmas Eve.  Even though it was a short visit, I'm really glad we went because it always lifts my spirit to spent time with them.  (I felt bad because 5 days after we left, Makenna came down with pink eye and it took weeks for her to get over it.  I promise that I had been really good about controlling my germs but sadly not enough.  :()

Driving home...

Beginning of September 2016 - Labor Day trip to Austin

Maxwell had his first group tennis lesson at the local Athletic Center.  He said he had a great time!

For Labor Day, we headed to Austin to spend time with the Kenyons.  The road trip went well.  The kids are good travelers and I had brought some new toys and books that kept them entertained this time. (With a little ipad time too.)

We were able to go to Natalie's baptism.  We prepped the kids before going in about how to behave during a prayer.  

Maxwell did really well during the services.  (When I asked him if he enjoyed it later he just said there was a lot of prayers.)  Emmalyn was a different story, she doesn't really have an inside voice yet so whether she was asking where Natalie was, or calling out to Makenna everyone else heard her too.  I ended up taking her out of the chapel during the confirmation because she just wouldn't be quiet.

 

Clay and Leanne brought Makenzie and Allison from Seattle so it was fun to have them there too.  We got to see a lot of our Carlson side of the family who had driven up from Houston, plus Richards' parents were in town too.  There were LOTS of kids for my kids to play with.

White dress...eating watermelon.  Yikes.

Cheese

Loving on her daddy

Natalie, Maxwell, and Emmalyn

Love being on "vacation" and getting to spend quality time with these two.

We got some pool time in and the kids loved riding on the golf cart.

I played a little piano, with my helper.

She loved playing the piano so much...might be time to get one for our house.

clapping during "If You're Happy and You Know It..."

While everyone else went to church, we headed out to our favorite Austin Sunday spot - the vineyard.  I took a TON of pictures and now you get to enjoy a photo dump of them all because I love them so much.  :)

This is one of my favorites

This is another one of my favorites. (In my all-time favorite dress of hers.)

Family pic

Cute of Maxwell

Cute of Emmalyn

Going in for the kiss, just not at the same time!

Getting some snacks

A little jumping fun

She was WORN out on the way home.

Maxwell had a lot of fun playing Uno with Uncle Clay and also learned how to play Cover Your Assets.

Emmalyn and Aunt Michelle

Playing with the girls - Makenna, Allison, Makenzie, and Natalie

The girls put on a show for us complete with programs and popcorn.  Love their creativity.

Maxwell tried to play "Heads Up".  It was a hard concept for him to get at this point.

There was a LOT of Uno played this weekend and Maxwell held his own against Uncle Clay.  At first Clay was winning but then he told Maxwell that if he would get a cookie if he won, and all of a sudden Maxwell started winning every game.  Clay didn't always think that Maxwell had the best strategy or played the "right" care, but it worked and Uncle Clay was in the position of losing (which he doesn't like).  :)

We finished up the weekend with a trip to Chuy's for Mexican food.  It was a lot of fun and we loved spending time together!

Tuckered out on the way home

Yeah for naps during road trips!

Everything was going great with the drive until we hit intense rain and that slowed us down a ton.  It ended up being a longer drive than normal.

He's over it.

But...we eventually made it home!  Another fun visit to Austin.