Spontaneous Beaumont Trip

I never thought I'd love a minivan, but I doooo.  The kids think it's awesome too, but I'm not sure how long that will last... I remember being embarrassed of our big blue and white van in elementary school.  Anyway, Angie had to go get her car fixed in Beaumont, so she invited all who could come to join her at Mom and Dad's.  I was reluctant to drive the 5 hour trip solo, but I really wanted to go, so I asked Aubrey and Bitner if they wanted to come with me.  Win-win!  It was so nice and fun to have them join us on the road trip.  The kids were really good in the car, and I have to say I love the DVD player.  We only used it for half the trip, but it really helped.  We stopped once at Bucees on the way there and back, and Hazel was happy to take a pic with the famous beaver.  Grayson was not.

Once we got to Beaumont, we had non-stop fun with Grandma, Grandpa, and the cousins.  Our schedule was as follows- eat, play, activity, eat, swim, dinner, play, scripture story, bed.  Repeat 4 times.  The kids were in heaven.

Jumping World

Grayson didn't have any socks, so he wore some of my mom's, and they looked hilarious on his cankles.

Hazel got a little daring on the slide and diving board while we were there.  The first attempt was a pretty bad back flop, but this one somewhat turned into a flip.  We didn't let her try anything else backward, however...

The cousins are SO cute with Grayson.  I hardly have to do anything for him when they're around.  He's also fully entertained by Diesel.  One of our favorite Grayson quotes from the trip was when Aunt Natalie asked him who his favorite aunt was.  She usually makes all the nieces and nephews say Natalie, but Grayson had a different answer after thinking about it -- "Mine fav-it ant is a wadybug!"

I love when anyone plays with my hair, so I didn't mind Aubrey trying out some braids on me.  I love the bottom left... if only I could braid my own hair.  I can hardly do Hazel's.

 One morning we went to the new children's museum in downtown Beaumont.  It was so great.  Not surprisingly, the kids loved the grocery store, the dinosaur digging, and the doctor area.

Another day we went to Chuck-E-Cheese.  Hazel went one time with James, but it was a long time ago.  I'm not sure if she loved it then, but this time it was a big time hit.  She actually mentions it all the time now that we're home.  

Then we went to Panera and Ang snapped this cute pic.  I love how different they are but all so cute!  The best part about this picture is we had to wait for Grayson to put his arm around Miles.  His idea.

It was so great to bond with my sisters and my niece and nephew on our short little vacation!  I just love them all!