The Larrivieres Come to Town

We were thrilled in July when Thomas' brother, Andy and his family came to visit us for the weekend.  It had been 4 years since their last visit, so we were beside ourselves!  I had teased Andy for months about when they were going to make the trip to see us.  We finally got a date booked, and looked forward for their visit for months!  (One of the good things about family visiting after not being at your house for a while, is that you get some things "fixed" around the house prior to their arrival!)  We also planned activities for the weekend so that we could get the most our of our visit.  One of the first stops:  The American Girl Store!!

Jackson and Lauren were excited to take cousin, Jena, to the store!

Bath time, anyone??

Jena and Lauren with their dolls!

Alicia with Jena - time for tea!

Jackson with his friend.

Lauren with "Lauren Baby". 

Jena with her doll. 

Jena enjoyed the food as much as Jackson and Lauren did!!  We can't wait for her to come back so we can visit the American Girl store again!

On the way home, the kiddos were tuckered out!

The next day, we headed to the Ft. Worth Zoo.

The Larriviere boy cousins.  Quite a height difference, right?!  It is hard to believe that when we got married, Trey had just turned 4.  He has changed a lot!!  He is still a very bright, thoughtful, kind and loving soul.  Jackson just adores him.

The brothers. 

Catching a ride with Daddy.

Feeding the birds.

Jena and Trey feeding the birds.

Just hanging out!  It was a VERY hot day! 

After eating lunch at Burger King, the kids got to feel a snake.

Leave it to my daughter to try to kiss a frog to turn it into a prince, and to let it kiss her too!

Uncle Andy took Lauren on the carrousel. 

She loves her Uncle Andy. 

Jena rides the carousel.

Jackson and Daddy

There was a water feature in the western part of the zoo.  It was a VERY hot day (around 105 degrees).  Lauren actually wanted to play in the water.  I figured that she was young enough, so I stripped her down to her panty covers, and turned her loose!  One day, she will be horrified that I did this, and I'm surprised at myself, but it was a hot day!  I didn't want her to be miserable in wet clothes either!  She had a great time though!

  

Time to ride the train!

Trey's birthday is in July.  With the Larriviere family living in the New Orleans area, we never get to be with each other for birthdays, so I thought we should celebrate Trey's birthday while we were together. We surprised Trey with a homemade cookie cake.  He was surprised and grateful.  We have a pretty special nephew!

Singing Happy Birthday! 

What a great visit we had!!  We can't wait to spend more time together soon!!

Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics are finally here!  I LOVE the Olympics!  To mark the celebration, my BFF/neighbor, Krista and I decided to have a celebration for the Opening Ceremonies.  We had All American burgers of course.

Jackson and Avery got into the spirit and dressed as their favorite sport:  soccer and gymnastics!  It is funny how much these two are alike.  They both decided to dress up!

We tried to do a layered drink, but the white ended up mixing in.

The kids watching the Opening Ceremonies.

The dessert - strawberry and blueberry shortcake - we had to get in the red, white and blue!

Of course we had to get in the Olympic rings made out of fruit!


We had a great time teaching the kids about the Olympics.  Both Avery and Jackson almost made it to when the Americans walked in.  Avery finally decided to go home right before they showed the Americans.  Jackson just couldn't keep his eyes open.  He fell asleep literally minutes before the United States entered the arena.  Thomas and I tried to wake him, but it was just to late in the evening!

We had a blast watching the next 14 days and teaching the kids about the various sports featured in the Olympics!

Summer Rain

We haven't had much rain this summer, but it has been more than last year!  One of the rare rainy days, I sent the kids outside to play in the rain.  They didn't play in it as long as I though they would, but it was still fun!  Both kids had to get decked out in their rain gear.  It was too cute!

Notice the winter hat on Jackson!  And the backpack of course!

Fun Times in Chase!

We love any opportunity that we have to go see the Larriviere side!  We all met up in Chase, LA for Honey and Poppa's 50th wedding anniversary!

Lauren and Jena playing together.

Jackson was pretty pumped to get to shoot a BB gun!

Uncle Andy shows him how it is done!

Playing in the yard.

Lauren with her oldest cousin, Sara.

Enjoying a little porch time.

Lauren adores her older cousins!  The girls talked about their favorite princesses.  Abby loves Sleeping Beauty just like Lauren!

Uncle Nolan gets out the bow and arrow for Jackson.

Playing with sidewalk chalk.

More shooting time -- this time with the bow and arrows!

Everyone is lined up for target shooting.

Lauren wants a turn too!

During the weekend, we had family pictures taken in honor of Honey and Poppa's 50th anniversary.  It was fun to spend the weekend celebrating their anniversary by spending time together.