Our Weekend in Kingwood

Ben went hunting this past weekend, so I decided to be brave and load up the kids and take them to see my cousin Kate and her husband Stefo in Kingwood! Go me! It took forever to get out of Dallas. We had traffic, an emergency potty situation that resulted in taking a bathroom break after just 45 minutes on the road, and I was already starting to answer the dreaded "Are we there yet?" question about the time we passed the exit for Dallas Love Field Airport. Really, kids? :) And then we stopped to eat in Centerville, TX, along with some cheerleaders and a ton of high school football fans. :) I had forgotten that! So dinner took about an hour...at Subway.... :) To be fair, it was a Subway/Hamburger place just off the highway, so there were two restaurants in one, but they were both equally busy and equally understaffed! Walker took a good nap on the road and Lainey fell asleep at about 8:45 p.m. when we were about 20 minutes away from Kate and Stefo's house. And I thought she would have passed out much earlier on in the trip because I know that first week of Kindergarten was exhausting. Oh well. Anyway, we left Plano at 3:30 p.m. and arrived in Kingwood at 9:00 p.m. So that was a drive. The drive home took only four hours. Much better! :)

Now onto the fun stuff...

Kate and Stefo's daughter, Lucie! (She is also Lainey and Walker's second cousin. Lucie will be 2 years old in November.)

Lucie likes using this strap as a seatbelt. :)

My kids LOVE Baby Lucie. Walker says that she says "no" a lot. And "go." When she says "no," you better listen...and when she says "go" you better run so she can chase you. :) 

Walker packed lots of choo-choos for Lucie to play with. He was certain that she "loves choo-choos" and even saw a "choo-choo train in Colorado." This was news to her mom and dad. :)

Just singin' some songs...on her little piano. Lucie has actually picked up quite a few songs. Her favorite seems to be "Skidamarink" (-a dink a dink, Skidamarink a doo...). 

She was quite intent on playing the piano. She would pound the keys and "sing" along. :)

This cutie is Lainey and Walker's other second cousin, Charli (3yrs.). Charli and Andi (her sister) came over for dinner on Saturday night. It was SO great to see them and catch up with their parents - my cousin Nate and his wife, Sara. 

Lainey and her second cousin Andi, who is 7 years old. And these two were fast friends. They both love dolls and dancing. Win-win!

Blurry dinner picture...but look at Lainey. She insisted on striking this pose.

The three girls are watching Lainey's dance recital video. Lainey and Charli are wearing matching dresses...and their dolls are wearing the same dresses, too. Gotta love American Girl! And we definitely do!

Outside time! The following night, we spent some time outside enjoying Kate and Stefo's gloriously shaded and beautiful backyard. 

Beautiful, tall trees shade their backyard that backs up onto a greenbelt. Seriously, perfect!

Lainey's leg hold. (Ouch!)

(And these pictures are about to get crummy. The light was going and I had the wrong lens on my camera...just FYI!)

Walker's face is cute. These pictures probably would have been even cuter had Walker decided to keep his shorts on. As I've mentioned before, he always seems to lose them late in the afternoon, and I never seem to force him to put them back on. Good thing Kate and Stefo are family! :)

I saved this because of Lainey's pose. She must think she looks very graceful and poised when she poses like this - looking down at the ground - because she does it often! Cracks me up. :)

She has a cute belly. :)

leaping over the ball

Blurry picture, funny face.

Walker is attempting to leap. 

He did not quite make it over the ball.

cartwheeling fool

Walker is so funny. He is obsessed right now with a new train named "Stephen" but he calls him "Steve-us." He's also gotten very into pretending to "read" his (familiar) books by making up words to match the pictures, and he always wants me to count the items on the inside covers of the books. Whenever I open a book, and there's a picture of something - like a pumpkin, a car, a train, whatever - I have to count them for him. :) A little nuts, I tell you. But I'm using it as a teaching opportunity!

You can kinda see how blue Lucie's eyes are. They are BEAUTIFUL. Just like her mama's. Crystal clear blue eyes. And did I mention that my cousin Kate is having another baby!? I'm so excited. I can't wait to meet him or her!

A series of blurry leaps... Seriously, her flexibility and height amaze me.

Lainey dances around the house to her music whenever she has free time. She creates her own dances or she tries to copy the performances she sees on her dance recital videos. She watches her dance recital videos constantly (when given the choice) and she seems particularly drawn to the older girls' ballet performances. She then memorizes the choreography and "practices" it repeatedly. It's a sight, for sure. And it's definitely a daily occurrence...it's like she can't go to bed without having spent some time dancing. :) She loves the area in front of our front door. It's spacious and she can do anything there except tap. Those tap shoes don't do well on hardwood floors. :)

Overall, our weekend in Kingwood was perfect. It was relaxing, there was no schedule, and we did a lot of eating. After lunch on both Saturday and Sunday, the kids and I climbed into bed and while they watched a show (and eventually fell asleep), I took a nap. It was so nice. It was a relaxing, lazy weekend and we just spent the time enjoying one another's company. Thank you for being such wonderful hostesses, Kate and Stefo!! We love you!