One of our favorite places

The Fort Worth Zoo is one of our favorite places here. We have been members for nearly 4 years now (ever since William turned 3, which is when you have to start buying tickets for kids), and we go at least 10-15 times a year. It's AWESOME. We don't normally go in the summer because it's just too darned hot, and even if we wanted to brave the heat, the animals would all be sitting in the shade or sleeping, so it wouldn't really be worth it.

A couple of weeks ago we had a major break in the heat. It was like 80 degrees for a week! Granted, it rained nearly every day, but it was nice. The 1 day that it didn't rain, we decided to head to the zoo. And I am glad we did! I had heard, but forgotten, that a baby elephant had been born. When we drove up to the zoo there were pink bows tied on all the trees leading up to the zoo. So, we decided the elephants would be our first stop!

We found out that she was 1 week old!!! How cute is she?

Crew loved watching them:

People who know me well know that I do not like birds. Well, I don't like being in a confined space with them. Gross. Anyway, because all of my kids love it, and I didn't have my sister here to pawn them off on, I had to brave the bird habitat. And actually, it wasn't too bad.

Of course we saw all the other favorites: monkeys, gorillas, Zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, etc... It was a great day, especially for being mid-July, and we didn't melt!

Swimming

I'd venture to say that we spend a portion of just about every day at the pool. It's refreshing, it's fun, and it wears the kids out! Plus, it's pretty much the only outdoor option in Texas during the summer. William and Hudson have turned into quite the little fishes, and Crew isn't far behind them!

Trying to teach Hudson how to dive:

Not too successful. Ha!

Just in the last week or so, William has finally learned how to dive properly. Of course, Hudson had to get in on the video actions as well. Click on the link below to view:

http://instagram.com/p/btmmS4vAv-/

The other day, I got some video of the kids on the slide.  First, you will see Papa with Crew, quickly followed by Hudson on the left slide, and then Dave catapulting William. Normally, William and Hudson go down alone, but they like to occasionally go with Dave because, as you will see, makes it a bit more exciting. Click on the link below:

http://instagram.com/p/cC_Cu9vAqz/

Summer Shananigans

Besides for swimming at the pool nearly every single day, we've been spending the slow part of our summer playing with friends, watching tv (I'm just going to go ahead and admit it), science experiments, reading, playing, fighting (well, the kids are, anyway), arguing (again, the kids), VBSing, and generally just enjoying the slow pace of summer. 

Here are some of the (iPhone) captured moments:

The boys got to climb into and on top of a real tank at the fireworks show we went to on the 4th:

What kid doesn't love playing in laundry baskets?

and boxes....

William made himself a laptop, and below he is skyping with his baby cousin, Mailey.

biking to donuts and the pool:

We discovered a yummy Tim Love restaurant down on the Trinity River. The boys had fun exploring while we were waiting for our table:

Crew is no longer satisfied to share ice cream with his brothers at Chick-Fil-A. He now requires his own (and he couldn't be happier!):

8 boys (2 not pictured), 2 girls. It's about time my boys aren't outnumbered by girls!!

Crew is super excited about his new school backpack. Yep, that's right. Crew is going to school in the fall! (only 1 day a week...)

Crew LOVES dressup!

Crew smeared ketchup all in his hair. I used a wipe to clean it off, and it created hair gel. Maybe he needs a trim?

Doing science experiments with friend, Dane.

watching tv:

snack-time:

Crew is loving his new hat. William and Hudson say he looks like Uncle Garrett now!

Crew loves my new running shoes.

As you can see, we lead a pretty exciting life. Ha! It's ok. I'm loving the slow paced, dog days of summer with my boys. I'm dreading August 13, when I'm going to lose William AND Hudson to school.

Boston

I think I've mentioned it before. Once a year I go away for a week for work. It's our annual user conference, so we spend a lot of time in training classes for our clients. But, we also get to see the local sights, eat yummy food, and hang out. This year my trip was to Boston. I absolutely LOVE Boston. I hadn't been there since Trent graduated from Harvard 8 years ago. It was fun to go back.

I didn't get to see a lot of the sights I would have liked to have seen again, but I did get to experience a few new things!

We stayed right at Copley Square, and I could see where the Boston Marathon finish line was from my hotel room. It was amazing to see the memorial that was set up for the bombing. I was glad I went and saw it the day I arrived- it was cleared out the next day!

Our hotel was right next to the Prudential Tower, and they had a great restaurant/bar on the 52nd floor. It provided a great view of the city!

I'm not really much of a baseball fan. Some of my co-workers suggested going to Fenway to see the Red Sox play, and I wasn't overly thrilled about it. I mentioned it to Dave, and he said it wasn't really an option. When you have the opportunity to go to Fenway, you go. So I went. It was really cool to see such an old Ballpark.

As a company, we went out on a Tall Ship for a dinner cruise. I don't think I'd ever been on a real sailboat before. I didn't have very high expectations for it, and I was greatly surprised. It was very cool...and we had lobster tail for dinner. I could get use to that!!!

I had a great time away in a fantastic city, but I was gone for a week. That's a long time to be away from my babies. I was happy to get home to them!!