This year we took a July 4th mini vacation to Austin to visit Mom and Dad. Wendy and Bill took some time off from work and were able to make it too. The kids were ecstatic! Ashlee and Sydney were angels as usual while James...well let's just say it's hard being the only 3 year old boy in the house! Ha!
James and Papa spent quality time creating masterpieces out of the building blocks that I used to play with when I was James' age. Mom still kept some of my toys after all of these years. It's so fun to see my kids enjoying the exact same things as I did so many years ago.
Mexican train is huge in the Hoenerhoff house. Sydney and Ashlee beg us every evening to play. When we do finally give in we have a hilarious time. This time the girls got the giggles and I don't think any of us could of stopped them. I remember when Wendy and I would get the same way when we were their ages. Mom and Dad would tell us to stop after hours of annoyance but as hard as we tried...we just couldn't. We would hold our breath and noses trying to stop only to end up exploding in laughter.
James' favorite part of the vacation was the pool. He has turned into a regular fish lately. He enjoyed showing off his swimming abilities to his audience...floating on his back to the count of 23! Wendy joked (and she is probably right) that this was the most still he was for the entire visit!
On Sunday, we all took a trip to Georgetown to visit Oma and Opa. We had a beautiful visit at their Lutheran Church. It brought back memories of my childhood church that I grew up in. I enjoyed the traditional service and was able to show my kids the Lutheran way. The picture above turned out great but it was missing 3 important people so below I inserted a picture of these wonderful people.
Dad took this picture over Mother's Day at Oma and Opa Carter's house and I thought it was such beautiful picture! So I'm glad I got to use it here!!!
The three muskateer's! Ha! And NO we didn't plan the outfits...really! We all woke up, got dressed for church, drove in separate cars, arrived in Georgetown matching like we were high school girls at a party. Haha! But in all honesty, it doesn't surprise me...and I'm happy about it! I love my Mom and Sister so much!!!
Lakeway has a big July 4th parade every year and this year was superb! The kids, Papa and Gma had a blast standing in the hot sun taking pictures, catching candy and watching all the floats. Me and Darrell...well, it's HOT in Austin! We wimpy Houstonian's had to find shade...did I mention it's HOT in Austin?!
But thanks to Gma, we caught some precious moments on camera. James checking out his loot! Happy July 4th!!!
What's Austin without a little Oasis?! Since the Oasis restaurant burned down a few years ago, the owners have been working hard and in my opinion...rebuilt it bigger and better. There is this overlook walkway that extends far out over the cliff and above Lake Travis. Wendy and Bill look like Top Model's over the beautiful oasis. Of course my fear of heights got the best of me but I still was able to pose for a quick picture...(even though the thing was SWAYING!)
If you take a close enough look, you can see Darrell is talking...yes, in the moment he was trying to comfort me by assuring that we did not put our entire family in danger and that we were not going to die. He is such a good husband.
After lunch at the Oasis we headed back to Houston...except for the girls. Lucky ducks got to stay with Gma and Papa for an extended vacation. First stop...the Sea Ray!
This was the last stay on the much loved Sea Ray! As just a week ago Mom and Dad finally sold it (it had been on the market for some time) to a couple from San Antonio. Many good memories made on the beloved boat...hopefully mom finds the time to make a scrap book!
After the boat trip, Gma and the girls got busy sewing! This is a favorite thing to do with Gma!
This time the project was making banner bracelets. The girls each picked out their own fabrics and Gma taught them how to cut, piece, fit, sew, and whatever else it all entailed.
They even sewed buttons by hand! They each brought home several for their friends, me, and James.
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