New Cousin!

Precious little Penelope June arrived in the world
today. Congratulations Brad and Megan!

Arctic Spies

Nothing beats the heat of summer like pretending to be arctic spies. Tyler came up with the idea and Daphne thought it was fabulous.

Showing off the spy gear

Such Good Big Brothers...

Tyler and James helping Daphne and Grayson with the tire swing

Surfside

We capped off our week in Houston with a day at Surfside.

Houston Zoo

I'm not sure if we went to the zoo to see the monkeys or if we took the monkeys to visit the zoo. But we had fun nonetheless.

Snack time. Ms. Mary spoiled the kids by pre-packing snack
packs for the week containing goldfish, pretzels, animal
crackers, mini Oreos, M&Ms, and Reese's Pieces.

The new gorilla exhibit is really nice. It was pretty hot though
so the gorillas were hanging out in the cave.

No trip to the Houston Zoo is complete
without the animal carousel

Riding a mandrill

Cooling off at the zoo's splash pad

Daphne threw a fit because I wouldn't put her on the head of the
sea serpent. It would have meant I would have gotten pretty wet!

Bath Time

Although they are getting bigger, these four were still able to squeeze into PawPaw's tub for some bath time fun!

The kids squealed with delight when we turned on the jets,
which also really made the bubble bath extra soapy.

Backyard Fun

The kids enjoyed running around with water guns and diving on the slip and slide in PawPaw's backyard.

Wiped Out

Who is more tired? The kids or PawPaw?

 

Camp PawPaw and VBS

We spent last week in Houston for Camp PawPaw and Vacation Bible School (VBS). Cousins Noah and Damon also spent the week at my Dad's house. Michael and I worked a few days from my Dad's house but also took a few days off to relax with the kids during the day. VBS took place in the evenings. Tyler and Noah were old pros after having attended VBS last year and enjoyed being in the same class. Damon and Daphne were old enough this year but ended up in separate classes. They both seemed to enjoy it though.

Tyler and Noah

PawPaw, Daphne, and Damon

Eating dinner at VBS before the kids go off with their classes

PhD Party

Michael's cousin Joseph recently got his PhD in neuroscience and so Joseph's parents threw him a party last night.

Some of the Hurtado cousins: Ed, Michael, Eddie, Jennifer,
Joseph, Debbie, and Nicholas

Daphne was one of the first ones on the dance floor. Another

little boy started off the dancing then he stopped somewhat

to watch Daphne's moves. Tyler informed us that he does not

dance in public, which is a shame because he has moves.

Daphne, Cristian, and Drew

Fun in the Sun

Grayson and James reached the top first

James and Tyler pretend to be American Ninja Warriors

Daphne is fearless!

Waterfalls vs. water cannon

Spray time

Push Ups & Frog Jumps

The night before last it was nice and breezy so we took a walk through the neighborhood. Well, Michael and I walked, Tyler rode his scooter, and Daphne rode her bike. At one point Tyler set down his scooter and started doing push ups in the middle of the sidewalk. Apparently he wanted to do them because many of the backstories on American Ninja Warrior show people doing push ups. Not to be outdone, Daphne got off her bike and did some frog jumps on the sidewalk.

McKinney Falls State Park

We went to McKinney Falls State Park on Sunday. The Eaves family has camped there before and Michael camped there a number of times growing up. I actually didn't take any photos because we mostly swam and played in Onion Creek. We spent quite a bit of time playing in the waters above Lower Falls. The kids loved it, especially since there are quite a few shallow areas where the water is a little higher than ankle deep. Then we went to Upper Falls and explored the pool at the base of the waterfall. Tyler, despite wearing a life jacket, was not a fan of the Upper Falls pool because it got deep fast except near some of the shorelines. Daphne thought it was fantastic. Granted, she was also wearing a life vest and is pretty fearless. There were a number of adults who jumped from the rocks at the top of the waterfall into the pool below. Daphne probably would have gladly joined suit if she were allowed. Don't worry- we didn't take the kids anywhere near big drop-offs. Lydia and Andrew felt pretty comfortable in the water.

Lower Falls (source: Wikipedia)

Upper Falls (source: Wikipedia)

Independence Day

The Eaves family visited us over July 4th weekend. To celebrate the 4th we went to the Hill Country Galleria Festival and Fireworks.

Daphne running through the inflatable slip and slide

Tyler on the water slide 

Andrew's turn

A piggyback from Lydia

Waiting to ride the Ferris wheel.
Tyler was disappointed that the ride
was so short after a long wait in line.

The kids enjoyed the fireworks.

All tuckered out