Today was the last day of the Jays series against Texas, so we were able to take the kids to the 1:00 start. We tried to tire the kids out for an early nap in the morning by walking them to a park 2 miles away, but only succeeded in exhausting the parents. It was over cast today but still uncomfortably hot.
A new furry friend appeared in the house last night. Charlie the wiener dog is staying with some of the room mates for a while. Jasper was interested, but too scared to give him a pet. He enjoyed watching him chase a ball around in the back yard.
This is as close as Jasper made it to Charlie
Fun times at the park.
After a delightful lunch at Jimmy John's the kids finally fell asleep five minutes from the stadium. We carried them in and kept them asleep for as long as we could. The cheers from the crowd as Texas got off to an early 6-0 lead woke the kids up shortly after.
Kids arriving at the game
Walking from the parking lot
Sleeping through the first inning
Grouchy from a short nap
Jasper was excited when he woke up and realized he was at a Blue Jays game
Jasper trying some of his mother's chocolate milk shake
This morning started with Patrick and Jasper going for their daily 6:00 AM Starbucks trip to avoid waking up the entire house. Yesterday Jasper insisted on "riding" the concrete swan in front of the grocery store, today he had to go for a spin on the mobility scooter. Ellis and Kristin caught up to us as we were leaving, Ellis got her first espresso and looked like she loved it.
Going for a ride on the swan
There were no keys in the scooter
Mmmmmmmm
The weather was back to hot and sunny today, so we didn't stray too far from the house except to go to another splash pad. We spent the morning at the house with Kathryn before she took off for a few days. The splash pad was fun, Ellis got in this time, I think I recognized some of the kids from yesterday's splash pad at this one again.
Hanging out in the back yard
Splashpad #2
Splashpad #2
Ellis continues to flip out if she sees anyone eating and isn't given something to chew on, so she tried yogurt, broccoli, and bagels for the first time today. Jasper continues to be jealous if Ellis is getting her photo taken instead of him, so we had to take some close ups of him saying "cheese" at the dinner table too.
Eating broccoli for the first time
Desperate for attention. He gets that from his mother.
After supper Jasper and Ellis settled in for story time with uncle Andrew before watching the first inning of the Blue Jays game. Ellis promptly fell asleep, and Andrew was stuck on the couch for the next hour.
Today we got to hang out with Aunt Kate all day to explore Dallas. The first stop was the Dallas World Aquarium downtown.
It was more of a zoo than aquarium, with just as many land animals as water animals. Jasper could have spent all day looking at the tree kangaroo eating a carrot.
Ellis got to ride around in the carrier and look at the exhibits.
Jasper was lucky to have his Aunt Kate to show him all the creatures.
There were even blue penguins, like the ones we saw in New Zealand.
Eventually, Ellis got tired of the aquarium and took a nap.
She perked back up again when it was time to eat. Today she turned 6 months old, so she'll be eating all the time now.
She is a very eager eater, but is still getting the hang of it. Today she tried cauliflower, a waffle fry, banana and carrots.
After a nap break, we went to a sprayground in Irving. They call them spraygrounds instead of splash pads here, which I think is a pretty clever term.
Ellis opted to nap instead of partaking in the splashing. Pat, Kate and Andrew's sister Lindsay are at the Jays game tonight. Andrew and I were on dinner and bedtime duty with the kids.
We tried to take a nice photo of Pat and the kids for father's day.
It started with "don't touch your sister's face",
then Jasper's terrible new "cheese" face,
back to "don't touch your sister's face",
and finally, a "that's good enough" photo.
Happy father's day Pat, the kids are so lucky to have you as a daddy and I am grateful to have you as a partner in parenting these little monkeys. Happy father's day to our dads and grandparents at home too, see you next week!
Jasper didn't understand what a lake house was, so we told him that we were going to a cottage. This place doesn't look anything like the cottages we'd seen before so I think it might have just confused him more.
Front of the lake house
The house has five bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. Pat and the kids and I are in the master bedroom, that has a bathroom/ dressing room the size of Grandad's whole cottage.
Back of the lake house
We are on Lake Bob Sandlin, in East Texas near the town of Pittsburg. It is in a gated community that can't be found on google maps (which is why we got lost on the way here).
The boat house
The house is owned by a client of Andrew's, the owner of Bob Thompson homes. Apparently this is just one of many vacation homes he has, so he lends this one out to friends and family most of the time.
Snap chats with Aunt Kate
It has been a relaxing weekend of jumping in the lake, playing games and watching golf on TV (mostly Uncle Andrew).
Happy girl
Some friends of Kate and Andrew also came up for the weekend. Jasper likes to meet new friends.
Hanging out on the deck
There are also two boats and two Sea Doos. Luckily there was a boat coat in Jasper's size. There was no way we'd have been able to fit the life jacket in our suitcase!
Sea Doos ready to go.
Ellis has been trying out some new foods at meal time. She likes strawberries, eggs, toast, peppers and apples so far. I think she is going to pick up eating real food pretty quickly- she is a hungry girl!
Ellis at the table
Luckily the house is so huge that the kids can wake up early and play without bothering the other guests.
Early morning playtime with Aunt Kate
It has been nice to have a relaxing few days without any travel.
