A visit from Texas & Car-Car

This weekend Brigham's sister Texas and her little boy Carson came to visit.  They mostly came to see baby Ryan, but I think the girls enjoyed having Carson here to play with more than Ryan did.  We went to fun places everyday, and the kids played in the backyard in the evenings while Brigham, Texas and I sat on the porch enjoying the great weather we had.


Thursday:  After we picked them up from the airport we went to the El Paso Zoo.  I had never been there before and was surprised at what a nice place it was.  It was large enough to have lots of animals and not too big not be able to walk through before the kids got too tired.  It wasn't that busy either, which was nice.

 

 Bird watching

This sea lion was really entertaining.  We watched him for about 1/2 hour.

 It was scary how close this tiger was to us...luckily there was glass.

Riding the train around the whole zoo.

I can't believe this tiger actually let Whitney sit on his back!!  

She is so brave!

Friday:  The next day we went to the bounce-house place in the mall.  It only took about an hour for the kids to get tired and ready to go, which was a shame because we spent a ton on admission.  Before we left the mall we went to eat at Chick-fil-a and then went to the most amazing dollar store ever.  The store has make-up, hair bows, jewelery and much more and all for only a dollar.

 My new triple stroller.  Since we had so many car seats in my car I wasn't able to fit my double stroller, so the single one had to do for this trip to the mall.

 

Saturday:  Texas and I loaded up the kids and went to the farmer's market that is held every Saturday.  We ate hotdogs and kettle corn.  After we had walked around for about an hour we went to the park to play.  Aunt Texas entertained the kids while I fed Ryan.  Afterwards, we went over to the pond to feed the ducks.  The kids started throwing bread into the water and the ducks weren't even interested! :(  I guess on a Saturday when the park is full of people, the ducks get plenty to eat, and probably things that are a lot better then bread.  Next time we will have to go on a weekday when the park isn't so busy.

Sunday:  Brigham and the Texas took the kids to church while I stayed home with Ryan.  After church and naps we broke the sabbath and went to White Sands National Monument.  We got there with plenty of time for the kids to wear themselves out going up and down the dunes.  The kids enjoyed sledding too. The wind was perfect for Whitney to fly her new cat kite.  Before we left we stripped the kids down to nothing and washed them off with a jug of water, put them in their pj's and they were ready to fall asleep on the way home.  Whitney was asleep before we even got out of the park.

 Brooke really enjoyed filling up her bucket.

 Carson and Texas

 Daddy giving the girls a ride up the dune...I honestly don't know if it would be possible even for such a strong guy.

 Ryan enjoying the sand :)

 Brooke kept bringing me trash she found in the sand...luckily she didn't bring me anything too disgusting.

 Riding down the dunes with daddy.

 This is how I spent most of my time there.  Since I'm still recovering from my c-section, I didn't think I should be climbing up any sand dunes even though it would have been fun.

 Brooke and Whitney flying the new kitty-kite.

 Car-car and Whitney had so much fun together.

 This little girl had so much energy it was exhausting to watch.

Monday:  We had to wake up way too early to take Texas and Carson to the Airport.

Thanks Texas and Carson for coming to visit!  It was great getting to know Carson better.  We had a wonderful time and hope to see you all again soon!!!!