Chuck E Cheese and Play time with "The Boys"

Grammy had "the boys", our nephews Christian and William, for a week at the beginning of August. They came over almost everyday that week. The first day they came over we all went to Chuck E. Cheese. Kelsie had a lot of fun with her cousins. This was the first time she actually got to play the water gun game against someone instead of just playing against the machine and she really enjoyed that. The boys seemed to have a great time as well.

After CEC, we went home and played outside. We played on the swing set, played red light green light and some other fun outdoor games. We all had a blast and Kelsie just basked in all the attention she was getting from "the boys".

One of the other days we all got together, we went to the mall and Toys R Us, which are two of Kelsie's favorite places. The whole time while we were out she was bossing them around and they were nice enough to let her get away with it. They seem to enjoy her company just as much as she enjoys theirs. Some of the days they came over and just hung out, and played video games. Kelsie really enjoyed seeing the boys so much. Ever since then, she constantly asks if the boys can come over. She is constantly asking us to call them and see if they can come over with Grammy. We are hoping next summer we will be able to keep them for a few days. I know Kelsie would love having them stay at her house!

Kelsie and Sophia Cooking with Mike

Sophia came over to play the night before she and her family left for vacation and the girls decided to help Mike make the pizza. They both loved poking the dough and Kelsie convinced Sophia to eat a little of the dough before it went into the oven. It was so cute watching them together on Kelsie's learning tower that I had to include the pictures here!

Playtime with Mommy and Daddy

Monday evening we came home so Kelsie could have some time with Daddy. It was a beautiful day, so we all played out in the backyard for a while. It was a terrific ending to a perfect day!

The Children's Museum with Grandma and Grandpa

Since Mike was working so much Kelsie and I decided to go spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. We spent the night on Sunday night and we all went to the Children's Museum on Monday. Kelsie LOVED having Grandma and Grandpa with her while checking out everything at the museum. It was the first time that Grandpa had ever gone with us and Kelsie was excited to show him around!

It was so busy at the museum that day that I really thought she wouldn't last very long, but I was definitely wrong. She just pushed her way into everything she wanted to see and she didn't seem to let the crowd phase her too much. She did great! She particularly liked the outside area and the "Tot Spot" (an area for the younger kids). I think she likes the Tot Spot so well because she is one of the older kids for a change and feels like she is in more control of the situation. We all had a wonderful time playing together. After we finished at the museum we went to Culver's for lunch and Kelsie of course got some ice cream, so it was a perfect end to our adventure!

Play date at Our House

The Friday after we got back from San Antonio we had a play date with my mom's group at our house. I was surprised that it went pretty well since we hadn't hosted a play date at our house with more than a couple of kids in a while. Kelsie had a hard time sharing and warming up to everyone being here at first, but she seemed to actually enjoy having everyone over. We had a few incidents, but for the most part it was a nice time. I look forward to hosting another play date soon!

Playtime with Abbie

The day after we got back from San Antonio we got together with our friends Denise and Abbie. The girls hadn't seen each other in a while, so they were really excited when we got together. Mike had the day off unexpectedly so he came out to play too!

We went to pick Denise and Abbie up where Denise was tutoring, had some lunch at Chick-fil-a, and then headed back to our house to let the girls play for a while. Unfortunately the play area at Chick-fil-a was crowded with some very noisy kids, so the girls (especially Kelsie) had no interest in staying there for any length of time. It worked out for the best as it was raining on and off and we were able to get out of there without getting soaked since she wanted to leave so soon!

The girls played so well together. They even decided to put on a puppet show for us. Abbie did most of the talking, but Kelsie did her part towards the end. I think she did a terrific job considering it was her first time!

We all had lots of fun! It was a wonderful way to transition back from all the fun we had in San Antonio. It would have been a really hard Monday had we not had some plans to fill our day.

San Antonio Day 4: Family Day at Aunt Karen and Uncle Presley's

The fourth day we were in San Antonio Aunt Cher, Aunt Barbara, and my cousin Micha came to visit all of us at Aunt Karen and Uncle Presley's house. Kelsie was so excited to see everyone again and get all the attention she feels she deserves!

We went swimming, had some lunch, and then just visited until they all had to head back to Fredericksburg. It was a great lazy, but fun family day!

San Antonio Day 3: Natural Bridges Wildlife Park

The third day we were in San Antonio, we decided to take Kelsie to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. The Wildlife Ranch is a really neat place where you can drive your own vehicle through a wildlife reserve that has animals like ostrich, emu, zebra, longhorn cattle, buffalo, plus many others. They also have a pen with a couple of giraffes, a petting zoo, and an area with some birds and lemurs.

Kelsie seemed to enjoy it with a couple of exceptions. The first one was when Kelsie was in Grammy's lap and Grammy tried to get a zebra come closer by threwing some food down on the ground near the van. Apparently, the zebra preferred to be handfed, so he stuck his head in the open window. That scared Kelsie a little, but she got over it fairly quickly. The second one was in the petting zoo. She didn't like it when any of the goats started moving towards her.

I had my own close encounter with an animal when a longhorn decided he wanted some food. He stuck his head in my open window and when I didn't have any food for him he licked the inside of the door. After we moved away from him, I quickly cleaned the door with a sanitizing wipe. There are some longhorns I don't mind being around, but that one got a little too close for comfort.

After we were done at the Wildlife Ranch, we went to eat at Alamo Cafe. We must go there for mexican food at least once while we are in San Antonio.

After lunch, we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the house.

San Antonio Day 2: Fredericksburg

Grammy's other two sisters live in Fredericksburg with their families, so we headed out there to see them. We met up with everyone at my Aunt Cher's house for some lunch. We had some really good pizza from a new place in Fredricksburg. Kelsie ate all of her pizza including the crust, which she never eats!

After lunch, some of us got in the pool with Kelsie while some of the others sat on the patio and visited.

Kelsie had a good time swimming. She also enjoyed playing with some toys that were there for Aunt Cher's grandson, Travis. One of them was a barn with lots of animals. Kelsie LOVES animals.

After our visit, we went back to Aunt Karen's house to relax for the rest of evening.