TEXAS...Part 3 Beautiful South lake!

After leaving Tyler Texas we made our way through Dallas and up to SouthLake which is a suburb of Dallas, and it is beautiful!! I feel in love. I called Larry after a few days and said I wasn't coming back he better find a job here! We stayed with our friends the Richardson's who our like my second parents. I had not seen them in almost 8 years once they moved from EDH. They had gotten back from their mission in Africa and it was perfect timing to see them. They were so generous and let us take over their guest house that they stay in 6 months out of the year and they stayed in the big house. It was like being on vacation for real! Heather cooked for us, played with the kids, and spoiled us rotten. My kids were in heaven! Here is the shot of the guest house that we stayed in, it was beautifully decorated! I gave Larry a face time tour so he could see my dream house ha! 

This is the main house that their son owns and it is the most beautiful house. It has to be at least 10,000 sqft and it is beautiful and rustic with some country flair. The house sits on a long 5 acre lot with a barn in the back and the horses graze from the back to the front of the house all day long. It is breathtakingly green and feels like heaven even in the humidity! 

The kids wasted no time and hit the pool multiple times a day. Their bird dog Levi would come in a swim with the kids and chase lizards 

The boys drove around the property many times a day in this sweet pink barbie car. They spent hours exploring the property and jumping on the trampoline. It is so beautiful with all the green! I loved watching the boys in their element outside and playing the day away.

One of my favorite things on the property was this beautiful huge tree that had a swing in it. It was perfect swinging Noah or Scout as the horses would graze. I really felt like this was  a dream and something we hope to have one day! The best part of it all is that you were still right in the middle of a housing development. Everyone has these long lots with acreage but your still right in town!  

One day we hit the aquarium that was inside a mall just to cool off. Noah ran wild through the place but Max really loved looking at all the animals especially the sharks! It was the perfect size and you can go through the museum in about an hour. I'd highly recommend going if you are in the area! 

 

We also hit up LegoLand discovery which is just a big lego play place kinda with a really fun splash pad outside. I didn't do too much research and didn't bring their swim suits but we made do! I liked the place a lot it was just really busy and Noah couldn't do as much as Max due to hight restrictions  which I hate trying to explain to him because he doesn't get it but we spent about 3 hours there and Max is still talking about it! 

 

One other thing the boys got to do every night was feed the horses at the house! Glen was so nice and patient with them as he let them feed them which Noah loved!! He thought it was the best feeding them apple treats from his hands! I love watching the boys get exposure to new things and am grateful Glen did this every night with them! 

They have 3 horses and as you can tell Noah was thrilled every time they took an apple form his hand! That face just lights up around animals. He learned all their names and knew where the food was and the treats by the end of the week! 

 

Max as normal was very tentative at first about the big animals but he got comfortable eventually and loved moving the hay around. I was pretty proud of him over coming his fears and learning something new.   

 

  

We had such a fun first couple days! I'll post about the next few days soon!! Just to much fun to be had here in Texas! 

Texas..Hanging with the Taylor Girls!! {Part 2}

Tuesday we swam the day away at Nanna and Daddy Taylor's house (Jills in laws) We weren't sure we were going to because there was a lot of rain forecasted but the rain settled and we did get some good hours or swimming in. Michael's brother and sister were in town because he, Benjamin had just gotten home from his mission so it was fun to see him and hear about his new life post mish!

Here is the group swimming, eating popsicles and warm cookies in the pool! Living the vacation life! Also what I love about these pictures is that Carmen and Nora know how to pose for a picture, my boys not so much! haha they had a blast swimming together and exploring the Taylor's big back yard! 

Max is getting brave doing the water slide and cannonballs off the diving board! Go Max! 

  

Eating fresh cookies from the oven from Uncle Benjamin! What I love about Michael's family is that they take you in, and treat you like their own. It was so nice of them to let us come swim. Scout took a great nap in the house and I got to talk to Hildie Michael's mom for a long time and Jill too. So fun catching up while they all played and swam. 

We walked around Michael's parents property that has some lakes, everything is SO green here it is hard to get over coming from dry and drought california. Max loved it him and Noah were exploring it was very Huck Finn and Tom Swayer esq. We tried to get him to do long horns and all we got was a pace sign...awesome Max.  

The next day was going to be super rainy (tropical storm Bill) so we went to a fun little museum that reminded me so much of the Monty Bean museum at BYU. The boys loved to run around and see all the stuffed animals. Noah had a hard time not touching and in the end had to be strapped into a stroller which then he cried loudly for a long time and kept saying "I promise I won't touch" yeah right buddy! Sometimes I get frusterated at my boys for not being less active but then I remember they are mine, and normal kids and we try harder to tame the wildness out of them. 

 

They especially loved the Polar bear and there is a peak of my awesome mom! 

Noah, Jill and Nora (just 2 months apart!) She is sweet as can be and totally hit it off with my mom and Noah wild as can be can barley pose for a picture! 

These 2 Max and Carmen just crack me up. They are just a month apart and similar and different in a lot of ways. They got along really great, all the kids did but these 2 were buddies at the end! We played outside on the fun play ground as it rained off and on, trying to get kids energy out before our 2 hour drive to Dallas. We were sad to leave the Taylor's but were so happy that we finally made it to Texas after talking about it for so long! I feel an overwhelming love for Jill and am so grateful she entertained us and put up with the messes and craziness of my extra 3 kids! It was such a fun trip, we want a repeat next summer! 

 

 

These 2 crack me up, they might never get married chances are one in a million but I hope over the years we can foster the relationship and they can meet back up at BYU 2025 or something like that ;) 

TEXAS...We take on Tyler!! {part 1}

We had an early flight and it was crazy getting on board. The airport was a mess and we barley made it to the flight, I am talking yelling at people to go faster at security and running through the airport type of craziness. I ended up leaving Max's booster seat, and my carrier at security on accident because we were literally going through security at the time our flight was suppose to take off. I grabbed Scout in one arm, 3 backpacks in the other while I had my diaper bag and backpack on and told the boys to run...I looked like a crazy person but I was NOT missing this flight. When I got to the gate I threw everything on the ground and started to cry! Thank goodness for all the nice flight attendants and my mom who stayed at security and waited for them to pat down my stroller ( insert *&@!& bad word here). Anyways we made it and the boys and Scout did great for the 3 hour fight! 

What would we do without ipads??!! 

We landed in Dallas around lunch and headed straight out to Tyler Texas where my best friend Jill lives with her 3 daughters! It is about a 2 hour drive, we got into our hotel and then hit the pool for awhile...a huge thunderstorm rolled in later. I put the boys to bed and went to see Jill who has just gotten back from the lake for her husband Micheals 30th birthday! We spent the evening talking and she showed me her house. So fun! We went to church the next day in their ward then spent sunday afternoon at their house.

 Hanging in the mothers lounge with a sleeping Scout! 

Weekly church picture in Tyler Texas! 

The Taylors have lots of girl toys so the boys finally found like the one gun that they own and Max was super excited to find a boy toy. We took a nice sunday walk, it is so green and lush here I can't get over it. It reminded me a lot of Virginia especially the humidity. These kids play well together I just love it! 

The next day we went to a fun indoor play thing with lots of little quarter rides (without needing them) at a church it was fun. The interesting thing about Tyler is there isn't a lot of city parks they are all associated with a church so this place was connected to a huge church. It was cool for the kids to play inside and outside even though it is humid! Here is cute little Afton and Scout playing oustide they are one month apart! 

 

After that cool place we decided to hit the zoo because it wasn't raining at that moment and it felt a bit cooler. It was stormy here and there, the clouds would come out and rain for a second then clear up. There was a tropical storm Bill that was making all the crazy weather. Max kept saying why is it so wet here! haha! Anyways this zoo was SO amazing. First they had this fun bird area that you could get a stick a feed birds. Max of course was a bit nervous but finally cought on. Carmen was pro catching birds left and right!

Noah who has been napping in the stroller woke up just in time (he is an animal lover and I didn't want him to miss but I wanted him to nap) He loved the birds and thought feeding them was the best thing ever. 

 

We walked around this awesome zoo and saw white tigers, penguins, alligators, a huge rhino, I was really impressed with it! It was the nicest zoo we had been to in a long time with so many different animals. The kids went wild in the reptile house! We had to grab a few shots of the kids while everyone was happy...thank goodness we did because no more then 10 seconds after Noah fell and split his lip, their was blood everywhere! 

Max, Scout, Carmen, Nora, Noah and Afton! All our kids line up perfectly in age! We are so lucky to have kids the same age and play together so well. Nora has a soft spot for my mom and kept wanting the map and to show my mom all the places we were going it was great. 

Later that night we had FHE with the Taylors and learned about snakes coming into your home, the boys still talk about that lesson. They got to eat a snake dessert after and thought it was so awesome. I'll blog about the next 2 days in Tyler in part 2! There is just so many fun things I don't want to forget!