One Busy Week

Dan, Darcy, Kate, and Abby came over for dinner one night. We ate pizza and Popsicles and had a great time.
Jer and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We went out for sushi and to try a new bar that just opened in Frisco called the Londoner- good beers, but a little too claustrophobic for me; Jer loved the cave-like/ keg-room atmosphere. Later we watched our new favorite miniseries Battlestar Galactic and the movie Julie and Julia (two thumbs up.)

Carol and Dick watched Victoria and Bella for our date night. They also spent the night there. Carol fixed their hair the next day- so cute. Victoria is trying to grow out her bangs and I liked this look- off swept to the side and held with a barrette. I think she looks like one of the Olsen twins (from Full House) in this picture.

We went over to my parents house on Saturday night to let the kids play in the sprinkler and hang out. Mom also made yummy baked asparagus, cantaloupe, strawberries, and potatoes. Dad grilled steak and hot dogs. We had a blast watching the kids play in the water!

Our little puny sprinkler would only shoot two beams of water out and didn't turn that great on grass, so Dad stopped it, and put out his regular sprinkler- get ready for the blast of water!

"Hey, where'd the water go?"

"Now that's some serious water!"

Good times.

Lake Travis

The Lunn family ventured to Austin this past weekend for a wonderful time with our dear friends and tons of time in the sun of Lake Travis.On the first day there, we did a quick canoe trip, then headed out on a double decker boat that had a slide on it. I am the proud parent of a water baby. Her name is Bella. She really amazed me; she was one of the first people waiting in line to ride the slide. She went numerous times and loved it. She spent the entire time that the ship was docked swimming in the water. There was also a ledge that you could jump off on the top deck. Jer and I both took the plunge:)

On the second day, we rented jet-skis and did some more canoeing. Once again, Bella loves the water and loved to jump too.

Victoria was not as enamoured with the lake water. She was a little scared that there were sharks and snapping turtles in it. She liked the pool water, but I was able to persuade her to go jet-skiing with me. After that, she did much better on the lake.

She even enjoyed taking a canoe ride with Daddy (and dangling her feet in the water.)

Later she braved up and went for a swim- in the lake!

Ahhhhh! Relaxation!

Victoria's funny story- I decided to take Victoria off by myself to swim with her. As were swimming I ask her, "So what's your favorite part of vacation?" Her response- "Playing with Sandy, my new sister." My response- "Hugh? Who's Sandy?" She holds up the 6 foot long pink swim noodle (you can see it in the background of this picture.)

Bella's funny story- My friend Chris was having a conversation with Bella. She told her, among many other cute things- "Do you know what a knuckle sandwich is? It's when someone slugs you!" Luckily, Bella didn't demonstate:)

My amazing, beautiful friend Chris!

Lake Travis

One of my favorite parts of vacation is actually the long drive home and all that time to think. I start to miss my house and the routine of my life. I start planning goals for myself and for the next week/summer(whether they get done or not.) A good vacation makes me love my life, and I had an spectacular one. Thank you my friends and family for such great memories!

Family From Iowa

Two weeks ago Jer's family from Iowa came down to visit. Aunt Mary and Aunt Jeanie came down, along with cousins Sandra and John and cute baby Micheal Patrick. Jer had a good time talking and reminiscing about his childhood. I wish I could say I had a good time playing cards, but I completely lost to Jeanie, John, and Josh in a (long) game of "Hand and Foot", but there's always next year:)- game on! The kids had a great time playing with Micheal Patrick. They even got to play in the water slide/bouncy pool- what fun! Victoria was so big cousinly and protective of everywhere MP went, while the others just dotted on him "hand and foot." :)

Dallas Zoo

We went to the Dallas Zoo this weekend with my parents. The girls had so much fun. There were statues of all the animals throughout the zoo that the girls loved to pose with.
Victoria is so funny. She loves for me to take pictures of her now. She pretends to pose like a model. Bella goes along for the ride and just cracks up at whatever Victoria does.

The gang poses in front of the new African safari exhibit. It was so nice to see the elephants and other animals finally had lots of room to play around. They also had a really neat giraffe area where they came right up to you to eat treats out of your hand on a walkway/bridge.

The girls loved playing on these statues. Victoria walks/balances on the alligator, while Bella tempts her fate by sticking her hand in his mouth.

We also went into a bird aviary, but Bella was more enthralled with balancing on a log with two leaves. She has become so independent lately. After walking across the log, she asked for Grandma Mary's hand to jump down. Grandma Mary tried to hold her hand then going down the 20 stairs to the ground level, but Bella would have nothing to do with that. To add insult to injury- Grandma Mary even said, "Bella watch out for that last step with the puddle of water." Bella jumped straight into it with a giant splash.

Monkeys see, monkeys do.

This is probably one of the last times Bella will be getting a piggie back from Grandpa Joe:)

Victoria was so excited to see the butterfly exhibit (along with her other favorite- the kangaroos.)

After 5 hours the kids and us started to peter out. It was a hot day, but it really didn't start to bother us too much until the afternoon hours. On the way home we stopped at 7-11 for Slurpees. A great time!

Memorial Day

A special thanks to all the people who serve in the armed forces and those who have died for our rights- Thank you! God bless America!

On Monday, our family headed over to Grandma Carol and Grandpa Dick's house for family time and grilling. They had the splash pool with blow up slides set up. The kids loved it! Jeremy's cousins Mark and Julie and their two Zachary and Luke also were able to make it. It was so nice to see little ones again, especially boys-cuties.

The picnic- hamburger, hot dogs, queso, guacamole, chips, watermelon, strawberries, veggie tray, and cookies- Yum!

I got to see my parents this weekend too. They came over to our new house and we had brats, corn, beans, and hot dogs for the kids. Then went for a walk around the neighborhood, while Victoria and Bella rode their bikes. A great weekend!

Funny Stories

Last night Bella had a dream.

Bella- "I was a beautiful princess."
Mom- "That's great. Was I the queen?"
Bella- "No. Victoria was the queen.... And Daddy was the king. And you were the maid."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry :)

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A couple of days ago, Carol and Dick came by the house and we played a card game. As we were playing (Carol and I on one team, Dick and Jer on the other), we were doing some serious bantering- "Take that!" "How dare you!" "You're so mean!" etc. Well, the girls movie ended and they decided to join us. Victoria was surprised by what we were saying to each other and I had to explain to her that we were joking with each other. At that second, Jer plays a "Take that!" move, and Carol screams, "That's not nice!", I say, "What should we do?" Victoria thinks for a moment and says, "Let's take away their beers." My kind of girl! :)

Victoria's Graduation

Victoria had her last day of preschool on this Wednesday. Last Friday, Friends in Christ Preschool had a cute ceremony were she wore a graduate hat and walked across stage. Grandma Mary, Grandpa Joe, Grandma Carol, Daddy, and Mommy cheered for our little girl, who is no longer not so little. She is amazingly smart- can read a couple of books, writes a couple of words, and is pretty good at using "big words." We love her!