Another Busy Month

I always feel our month isn't that busy until I look back at the pictures we took. I guess we were pretty busy in May as well.

I took the kids to the zoo again with some friends before the heat of the summer hit. May was a little cooler than normal, which we gladly welcomed.

BYU Football came to north Houston one day. Joseph and Ashton went up and had a blast. The lines to meet Coach Sitaki were really long so they skipped that. Joseph did say there was a contest for the first person named Tanner to get an autographed picture of Tanner Mangum. No one claimed it and we were bummed that Tanner was at home. He could have won something! In case you didn't know, Tanner's name was brought up during BYU Football season so we always joke about Tanner Mangum.

The next weekend, I took Ashton to Nasa Space Center with some friends. We knew Tanner wouldn't last the whole day there. Ashton loves pretending to be an astronaut with her best friend.

We went to the beach a few times and the kids loved it. Tanner took a while to warm up to the idea of the waves but once the first wave hit him, he was more than okay with it.

Entertaining Tanner at church is a big feat each week. Six more weeks until nursery. For now, Joseph takes him and Tanner finds his own version of entertainment.

Tanner has no fear of just wandering off. Good think we live in a cul-de-sac.

Still loves to fall asleep on me. And I don't mind one bit.

Our garden is going very well this summer. We've made lots of blackberry ice cream and been eating fresh blackberries for weeks now. Ashton loves picking them every day.

Tanner prefers to dump bubbles on the ground or drinking from the hose while we look at the garden.

Preschool ended in May. They did a Red, White, and Blue parade on their last day. Ashton keeps asking if summer is over so she can go back. Next fall, Tanner and Ashton will both go so I will have some time to work more for BYU-Idaho. Hooray! At home, she is now working on writing her letters better and learning lower case letters.

And she demands to dress herself most days.

Setting up chairs for primary after a baptism we went to.

 A nearby town hosted a "Touch-A-Truck" event that Ashton loved. We went with her best friend again and they had a blast exploring all the trucks.

 At the end of the month, our youth had a talent show and Ashton sang in it. She had no fear and I was very proud of her.

 We also had our annual church crawfish boil. Ashton tried one crawfish and liked it but now tells me they are spicy.

 I also ran a 5k Mud Run in north Houston with some friends. It was a fun race.

 Also, the annual video by Ashton for Mother's Day. Such a cute girl.

The Month of April

We started off April with General Conference. Ashton did pretty well listening to a few sessions. I had some key words to listen for and she would get a M&M. We had the young women over Saturday evening of that weekend to play volleyball and hang out. It was a great weekend. It was also the first weekend of the month so we headed to Home Depot to do some building.

The next weekend, I organized a church carnival as a family activity. It was a fun night and I enjoyed planning it all with the missionaries in our area. The next day, I took Ashton to the Houston Art Car parade. It was alright. There were over 250 cars and Ashton got bored about car #125. We hung out a little bit longer and drove home.

Face painting was one station of the carnival.

One of the cars in the parade.

One weekend was the migration celebration at the wildlife refuge. We missed it last year so I was excited to go this year. It was the same day as a Spanish branch beach activity and a birthday party so busy day for us. I wish we had more time to spend there but it was still fun. Ashton loved everything!

The last weekend of the month was Time Out For Women. I went with a group of about 20 women from Lake Jackson. We stayed overnight near the convention center and had a great girls weekend. The speakers were great and I enjoyed a weekend away.

The one picture that Joseph took from his weekend with the kids. Playing hide and seek at the park.

When I got back from TOFW, I took Ashton to the school play of Cinderella. It had two young women from church in it so I went to support them and see their play. Ashton LOVED it! She was smiling ear to ear the whole time. The best part was that she got to meet the cast including Cinderella and the queen. She keeps asking for more plays.

Cinderella wasn't enough for her. "What about Prince Charmin'? I need him too."

One of the young women from church. Ashton makes friends wherever she goes.

Another young woman. Ashton was so excited to see people she knew on the stage!

Another highlight this month is the splash pad opened! Hooray! Summer is coming!

 We also play at the park next to the splash pad. Tanner has yet to decide if he really enjoys the tire swing or not.

 

A wasp stung his ear. Poor guy looked like Dumbo for a few days. Benedryl was our friend.

Huntsville Campout

For the past 25-30 years, the wards in our area have organized a campout in Huntsville, Texas at the state park. This is about two hours north of us. This year, there were about 200 people there, which is great! It is always over Easter weekend as the schools and most jobs have Good Friday off.

We have wimped out the last few years as I couldn't imagine taking Ashton away from her crib for two nights. This year, I decided Ashton would do great but Tanner wouldn't. He didn't really sleep consistently through the night until about six weeks ago and even then, he still wakes up every so often. Unfortunately the only way to get him back to sleep is holding him for a few minutes and letting him cry for a little bit. I didn't want this to happen in a tent surrounded by dozens of families with other small kids. I could just imagine a domino effect of Tanner waking up the entire state park!

So we made the decision to test the waters this year by me taking Ashton and Joseph staying home with Tanner. It worked out well as Joe could get a lot of house projects done with us gone. Tanner is a pretty chill kid around the house.

Ashton couldn't wait to go camping! She was most excited about fishing. Overall, it was a fun few days with her. She slept great in our tent and I was pleased about that. We went swimming in the lake, biking, hiking, paddle-boating, canoeing, fishing, and played with all our friends.

So glad we brought the bike trailer. It made it much easier to carry our stuff everywhere.

Swimming in the cold lake. She made it to the raft/dock but didn't want to jump off.

So happy in our tent.

We got an Anna and Elsa fishing pole. It came with a purple plastic fish to use as pretend bait. Ashton thought she caught a purple fish every time. Maybe next time, we'll buy bait to use.

The scouts put up a rope bridge every year as well. Ashton loved it but made sure to wear her helmet to protect her head. This girl loves her helmet.

Naptime!

Always up for a game of Alphabet Go Fish

They do an Easter Egg hunt as well on Saturday.

Next year, we hope the whole family can go. Joe has a turnaround scheduled in the springtime so we'll have to wait and see on that.