Dynamic Duo Strikes Again!

Bradley and Guard are like flint and steel! They can be very dangerous when left unattended. They always get into trouble when we visit and this trip was no exception. They did everything from beat each other, run away together, lock themselves in rooms together, redecorated a bathroom with wet toilet paper, over dosed on children's Motrin together, beat a car with a metal battle, etc...the list goes on and on! They do like each other quite a bit and really enjoy each others company, but they have to have constant supervision!!

Bradley loved this hat that Andy wore to work on the house. I thought it was too funny that he wanted to bath with it on, so I had to get my camera. I reminds me of all the Texas postcards you see with the cowboy in the bath with nothing on but his hat.
Bradley took this picture of Guard while they were locked in Calais room. (We didn't lock the door, they did!)One day I sent Andy to get Bradley up from his nap so we could go visit Aunt Melissa. Andy couldn't find him so he started looking around the house. He found Bradley's blanket by the backdoor, so he went into the garage to look. Then he saw Bradley locked in Turner's dog cage! He just sat there and quietly said, "Dad, Dad, Dad!" Andy was going to take a picture, but he couldn't find the camera and didn't want to leave him in there for too long. Then the next day the kids were outside playing and Bradley and Guard thought they should try it out.
This is Uncle Daniel's car that Bradley beat with a metal baseball bat.

Daniel thought that Bradley and Guard were getting too much of the attention, so he decided to do something about it. He was playing with some little animals that stack inside each other like nesting dolls and tripped on a rug. He landed on it on his face. He had a circular bruise on his face. You can't see the part on the side of his head, but you can see the cut just above his left eye. He was pretty brave about it.

HEB Museum

This little Museum is in Tyler, TX. There is a really cute playground outside where we had a picnic and let the kids play for a while. The inside has animals from all over the world and an old fashioned country store. Everything was set up in the store. It was amazing to see all the fruit bins full of plastic fruit. It really gives you a feeling for how things were.

Bradley outside the country store.
Calais and Guard about to go in.
The boys were checking out the food and trying to decide what they would have wanted. This is an old fashion fire engine. The kids loved playing on it.
Well...most of the kids liked playing on it!
Bradley had to try everything even though there are signs that say "Don't Touch!"
This was their best bear pose!
Bradley was trying to warn this poor deer, but it wouldn't listen!
This little monkeys playing monopoly were so cute. Daniel wanted to climb up and play with them.
Bradley thought it was pretty cool that some animals carry their babies in their teeth. I am glad I don't have to carry my babies in my teeth.

Daniel loved this turtle on the playground.
These boys take their swinging very seriously!
Daniel has decided that swings are one of his favorite things!!
This train car was pretty cool. You can walk through it and see what type of things were on the trains when people travelled by rail.

The boys also loved to drive this old tracker.

Visiting the facilities on the train.
"Wow! It is huge!" Bradley has always loved trains. He ran up and down the car many times and cried when we made him leave.

Thanks Aunt Melissa for taking us!

Grandma & Grandpa Shirley Visit: Part 3

Swimming, visiting & food...Not necessarily in that order.

We did have some fun while we stayed with Grandma Shirley. We went swimming a couple of times, visited with some family & friends, and ate some really good food!

Andy's buddy fro high school, Michael Ridder and his wife. They had dinner with us one night and then we all played "Ticket to Ride." It is a really fun game.
Uncle Matt and Aunt Lily moved in while we were there.
Aunt Lily and the Daniel Piggy!
Saying "goodnight" to Grandma.
Grandpa always laughs when you poke his belly!
This is some of the fun food we had. Aunt Melissa's family was trying to learn about a new country every week during the summer. They were doing Italy, so we decided to have Ratatouille for dinner. We served it with sausage and it was pretty good. These are the cute chefs! (Hunter, Atlas & Calias)
Eating and visiting was one of their favorite things to do!

Daniel loved this little sit'n spin thing. He would go around while we all visited.
We got to have our first watermelon of the reason while we were still in Texas.
Dinner at Grandma's is always good and entertaining!
Like father, like son!

The boys loved the pool! They would have swam everyday had we let them.



Swimming is always more fun when you have lots of people to splash! We are so glad we got to see all of our Texas family!