Pioneer Day

 In our church we have a special day set aside to remember our pioneer ancestors. That means we get to have a fun party at church where we play classic pioneer games! This is how Kate wanted her hair done for the event. She doesn't think one is ever enough, she is an all or nothing kid!

 We only took pictures of us doing the 3 legged race. I use the term race loosely, because the girls were slow and steady. But it was fun memories!

Bowling

 Friday night Jon came home from work eager to do something fun. I must confess I didn't want to. All I wanted was to put the kids to bed and be lazy, but Jon was wise and recognized that his girls needed a night of fun. So bowling it was! The girls had a blast!! Kate was a huge fan. We pulled up the bumpers, put on the pretty shoes, and had some family fun.

 Kate bowled all by herself after the first few times of Dad helping her with the concept. You could just tell she felt like such a big girl picking up her ball and sending it down the alley.

 Abby also was a huge fan. I would help her roll the ball and she would stand there yelling "GoooOO!" till it hit the pins. Then she would dance/jump around. It was majorly cute. Kate decided a little later that a better way to push the ball was to first set it down, back up and then get a running start. We were afraid she was going to kick the ball, but each time she would drop down at the last minute to push the ball. Silly kid, but whatever works for you!

Truck passing

It is with a heavy heart I report Jon's Green Ford died last week. The transmission went out, and it was not worth putting the money into it to fix. I will sorely miss his old truck. That beautiful truck lived for almost 300,000 miles and was in our family for 5 years. It treated our family well. But alas, we went truck shopping. I was surprised at how quickly I fell in love with our new truck. It is quite sexy, if I do say so myself. It has leather interior and so much space....I find I am envious of the space!! My little car is starting to feel so little. But welcome to our family White truck, I hope you treat us well!!

Gator Country

 Since moving to Texas I have become an alligator fan. I love the show Swamp People, which follows alligator hunters from Louisiana and Texas during alligator hunting season. I find it fascinating! And since we live in an area that has wild alligators, we have an alligator park in our town. I don't know why I waited this long to make it there, but it was worth it!

 You can buy bags of alligator feed to throw to them. It was great! It made it so all the alligators swarmed right by you when you came over. Abby was reluctant to share the alligator food at first--it looked and smelled a lot like dog food. First thing she tried to do was eat the piece I gave her! So typically Abby....my girl who still sneaks dog food from Chance. Once I convinced her to give the gross food to the alligators, she loved it!

 While we were there they were having a gator wrestling tournament! It was amazing fun! They had different divisions for all ages 4 and up. This little boy was in the 4 year old division and i was amazed at him! He dug around in the water looking for a gator and hauled them up to the shore like it was the most normal thing in the world! I would have loved to have the girls do it, but my girls were way too chicken! I wanted to get in on the action! They had divisions for older people too where you had to swim around after bigger gators in a pool. The best part might have been the people in the crowd, it was just like a sporting event but with gator related words "Get that big boy!" "Grab his tail" "Don't let go no!" "Put your weight on him!" "Tape him! Tape him!" (the gators mouths were all already taped closed, but the older kids had to pretend they weren't and retape them once they caught them.) Oh I just loved it! Only in gator country....

 Abby was NOT a fan of sitting on the fake alligator for a photo op. And Kate found these chickens running around (probably fresh gator feed...) and loved them, but covered her ears in case they made noise. So funny.

 This pit was full of big gators that were all about getting food! Abby really loved this spot. So did Kate, but she was excited the whole time.

 Inside they had other reptiles/turtles in cages. And some of the workers would pull the animals out for you to touch. Kate was only brave enough to touch this snake because as she told the lady "this is a pretty snake." The rest of the animals she would get close to and look at--and at best touch them with her t-shirt covering her hand. Such a girly girl! On the flip side, Abby touched most everything, but was afraid of the green snake Kate liked. Funny their different personalities.

 The baby alligators were SOOOO cute! And I mean it was like seeing a puppy and wanting to take it home with you! So cute! But once again Kate refused to hold it or pet it. Silly girl missing out. I'm thinking I will have to take her back again sometime and see if she is more brave the second time around.

 A littler bigger alligator. Still super cute, but you could tell it was already not a baby, it had more power to it! I had a blast getting up close and personal with these guys!

Oh, and this cute gecko was to die for! He was the softest little guy I have ever felt! And he was just so cute! Kate was scared of him, and Abby was when he jumped onto my shirt. They didn't care I thought it was cute and funny, they just stared at it like they didn't know what to expect. Kate finally touched it with her shirt. Silly goose! But despite being sorta chicken, Kate asked us over and over again when we can go back. Although her favorite part might have been the owner's Great Dane on our way out. Not that I blame her, he was a beautiful dog!

Red White and Blue

 My dear friend Gena Davis requested that I give Kate a patriotic hair style for the 4th, and here is the result. Pretty cool!

 For our 4th celebration we just kept it simple with a cookout and small kid friendly fireworks in the back yard. Our kids are still young enough that small fireworks are perfect for them! This one firework was memorable--the poopy puppy, it had snakes that came out of its butt and then gas and sparks at the end. Totally random but funny! We had our good friends the Czubas over and they all seemed to have a blast. Our kids adore their kids, so it always makes our time together nice.

 Jon was awesome and let the kids take turns lighting the fireworks. They loved it! I was amazed at how cooperative they were.

 The girls started using their magical powers to make the fireworks grow. It is always cute to watch their imagination work! I love being a mom of girls! Kate was funny with the sparklers too, so took them so seriously! She had a look on her face that was part wonder and part caution the whole time. Then, the sparklers Jon got were pretty sweet and changed color and crackled differently at different times, and Kate was not a huge fan when it started cracking louder. Abby thought she was hot stuff with her sparkler, but got bored with it before it burned all the way out.

After fireworks and popsicles we put on a movie for the kids in Kate's room so the adults could play a game. The kids thought blowing up the air mattress was major fun! I love how the simple things in life can be the most fun!