Houston

 My parents came and got me and the kids in Austin. We stopped and did a little hike at Bastrop Stake Park.

 We had a few days with just my parents and little brothers.

 We spent a lot of time in the pool!

Austin Time

 Cute baby Simon walking with his Pregnant Momma. 

 water guns with Uncle Johnny

 It was great to hang out with Ryan's Sisters. 

 Grandpa Time for both boys. 

Cousin time in Simon's Room with Grandma

Fireplace

(previous owners picture check that awesome light)

I went on a 5 week trip this summer. LONG time to be away from my house and husband. I posted some of my trip already and still have more to blog. My boys had an awesome time seeing 95% of our families.  Anyways while I was gone I knew Ryan would do something awesome. I was a little worried because I love my green walls and he tolerates them because they make me happy. BUT they are still green! Happy days.  He found some fireplace inspiration out there and came up with a perfect fireplace for this house. I love it!   

Before                                                                    After  

 I love the slate. 

Amarillo Zoo

 Grandma wanted to take the boys too the zoo. We only had one day to go and it was SOO hot but it was fun. 

 Yeah for air conditioning and watching the snake eat.. gross. 

 Madisyn climbed over the fence her friend held her feet and she was able to pick up some peacock feathers. 

 It was so hot! The mister didn't help much but Carter really liked it. 

The boys loved it even if it was hot! Thanks Grandma. 

Amarillo

 Day one in Amarillo we headed to the new splash park. I was having too much fun to take any pictures and then my brother and his family surprised me! Reed ran up behind me and picked me up! So happy. I have missed my brother.

 King of the Rock!

Denver

We stopped in Denver on our trip and saw my Grandparents! It was so wonderful to see them. We got up early and sat with Granddad for a bit then we went on a walk.

We found a small park and then came back to the house to say goodbye. 

I love my grandparents!

Their house is a little less then childproof! So happy I finally have a cool phone to entertain the littles in hard spots.

Traveling

 oops chopped off Madisyn's feet in the picture but she was walking on the slack line.

 Careful! Pop at Great Grandparents means Mom needs to be extra vigilant about empty bladders at bedtime!  

They boys and I left our house for long trip to spend time with lots of different family members and spend some time at my parents house before they retire and leave my old stomping grounds. We started with visiting a lot of Ryan's family. These are really the only pictures I got but it was only a night or two in town.

Island Park

 We drove to Island Park we were all excited to see Uncle Tommy again! We all have really missed him since he moved to Idaho. Tommy set up his slack  line and showed Landon how to walk on it. Carter too but he lost interest faster. Landon even insisted on sleeping in Uncle Tommy's hammock the first night- we moved him to the tent after he was asleep.

We got up on the 4th and decided to head up to Cliff Lake seems to have turned into a tradition we have been there almost every 4th for 4 years. wow. I love the above picture (bottom right) It's totally mom I don't trust him!! I don't want to get wet and cold! SAVE ME. And Tommy looks like too bad. Ryan found a craw-fish and passed it around. Carter was brave enough to hold it as well. And a few snakes. 

 There was this man made raft there. We were all gonna get on but I was too slow taking pictures and it started to sink you can see the dogs bailed out. We got there and the whole area was empty but we left when our empty beach changed to over filled.

Carter wanted a picture of him looking freezing and then one of me and dad. I love that series. He is so silly arms up are part of the act. Ryan's aunt took some cute pictures while we were with them too.
Check it out.

The evening party was fun too. We all did a talent more or less. Sang some songs and had a good time. Carter wanted to tell some jokes so I suggested that he sing Down by the Bay and his eyes lit up when everyone joined in and helped him sing it was very sweet.

Camping

After the bike ride we drove to our next camping spot. We got there pretty late set up camp and headed to Weir Hot Spring. We crashed a college group and an old naked man (luckily Ryan was the only one who witnessed that.) We soaked for a half hour the hurried back before it was pitch black.

The next morning we got up early. Carter is an early riser. We put on our wet swimsuits and hiked back to the spring. This time we were there for at least an hour maybe hour and a half and totally alone. We saw three families hike up when we were on our way out. awesome! We got all packed up and hit the road by 10 am. Onward to Island Park in time for the 4th and our third night of sleeping on the ground. :)

Ride the Hiawatha

Ryan emailed me a few days before our trip with this link http://www.ridethehiawatha.com/
I was so excited. Is he not the best?? Picking out things he knows I would love to do!

I packed a sweet lunch all ready to go so when we got to the bike trail all we had to do was reassemble the bikes and make some adjustments and get on our way. The first tunnel is 1.7 miles long. about 30-40 degrees inside. So being a fool I put my jacket on and then sun-blocked my legs and through the bottle in the car.. oops my poor arms got burned when I got to the other side and took off my jacket. Luckily I packed aloe too just in case and half a bottle later and two days I was healed. I hate getting sunburned it's embarrassing for me like I forgot to take care of my body. shame. anyways.. Half way through the tunnel you see this sign:

and then we took a corny home video about how I was in in Montana and Ryan was in Idaho! It was silly but happy. 

There were nine tunnels. I may have gone into one with my sunglasses still on. whoops. There were high trestles to ride over too. Then at the end -Carter was so excited he got to ride the "magic" school bus his words not mine. So then we headed back to the top and got to go back through the long tunnel. 

Then we headed towards our next camping spot. 

Camping Again

Sunday we headed out towards Idaho. We decided to take the long way just in case Carter got sick from Landon.. Night one we stayed near Wallace, Idaho. Ryan kept driving up this mountain and I kept thinking he is crazy.. I knew the boys won't get too cold but I didn't pack warm clothing for myself. Luckily we got so high that we couldn't drive any further (too much snow) and we turned around and went back down. Still camped next to the snow. Sleeping conditions were not good but the food was great! :) Steak and potatoes.

 I am very glad I grabbed their coats at the last minute before we left.

 In lieu of staying up by the snow for breakfast we headed down to the town of Wallace, Idaho. Our entire camp was cleaned up and packed and we were in the jeep before 7 am! We went to this cool diner and had a great time looking at all the cool decorations. The boys LOVED the space ship outside. We went out and played while we waited for our food. It was a lovely place for breakfast.

Next stop the bike ride.