Easter Weekend In Texas - Part Three

By Sunday, the guys were pretty tired of working on the truck, but knew that it was their last chance to get the transmission lifted, so they made the decision to head out there instead of going to church.   I went to church with Carmelle and the kids.

Right after those pictures were taken, we seated ourselves on the back row of the church and members of the congregation made their way over to introduce themselves to me and to inquire about our relationship, etc.  Each time, as Carmelle explained that I was her step-mother, Michael added that I married their grandpa "a couple of weeks ago".  The church that they attend is a very conservative, Southern Baptist congregation, so you can imagine how startled I was when Adellelyn piped up, using her no-at-all-quiet-voice and said, "You married Papaw.  Now are you going to preggernant???"   Carmelle and I quickly tried to quiet her and assure her that NO, I was not.  But she exclaimed (louder this time), "I didn't mean yesterday!  I mean NOW are you going to get preggernant????"    OH MY!!   I wanted to crawl in a hole, but instead I was able to deflect the attention by reminding her that Callie was going to have a baby soon and they would have a new little cousin.

After the worship service, there was an egg hunt for the children.

The shoes were different this time-----Sunday best (and that means spurs, too)!

When we got back home, we discovered that Ron and Chad had to give up working on the truck so we gave Joy some more motion sickness medicine and enjoyed being outdoors while we waited the mandatory time for it to begin working.

Under close supervision, Talia and Joy even became friends.

Our trip home was uneventful and though tired, we were so glad we had the opportunity to be with them all again.

Easter Weekend In Texas - Part Two

Saturday morning, we decided that the guys should hold off on working on the truck until after the Easter Egg Hunt at City Park.  We met Michael and his friend at the park, along with thousands of other people.  

As they prepared the fields for the mEGGahunt, I began to wonder why the word "hunt" was included---there certainly was no need for hunting.

A better name would have been Egg Pickup, I suppose, but the kids were so excited.   Adellelyn's group was first and as the whistle sounded, she took off.  

It wasn't long until her bucket was full.  

There was a brief break while they prepared the fields for the special needs hunt and then it was Michael's turn.

We watched as the workers scattered eggs on the grass.

Michael dashed from here to there around the field picking up the eggs he liked best.

What a sweet big brother---the first thing he did was run to pick up the "cupcake eggs" for his little sister!

There were all kinds of "bouncy" things around the perimeter of the park.

While waiting in line for the giant slide, they announced the grand prize drawing for a flat screen TV.  Guess who the winner was?!?!

After the hunt and some lunch, the guys left to work on the truck again and we headed to the theatre.  Unfortunately, tickets to the movie were sold out, so  instead we headed back to City Park to just "chill".  It was great---better than any movie, in my opinion.

We watched the ducks

and even found a nest with one egg left in it.

The kids call this duck (and any ducks with the red on their beak) "Duckdog" and they love to try to catch him.  They named him long ago after feeding him and hearing him pant like a dog for more.

We attempted to sneak up on a squirrel that was creeping along the footbridge.

Meanwhile, unknown to us, there was a second squirrel crawling along underneath and he chose the exact moment that Michael tried to get closer to squirrel #1, to jump out and scare the BEJEEZES out of us!!  Carmelle had been sitting down below and could see what was about to happen, but couldn't warn us in time!

Back at the house, we spent the afternoon outdoors while Carmelle fixed dinner.

Michael practiced his hitting against the side of the condo, while Adellelyn attempted to catch a bird.

She finally resorted to posing like this, hoping that a bird would use her as a bird feeder.

The guys got home just in time for dinner (this is AFTER they'd cleaned up).

Carmelle prepared quite a feast for us---steak, shrimp/chicken kabobs, baked potatoes and Corn on the cob!!  Yummy!!!

Easter Weekend in Texas - Part One

We spent Easter weekend in Texas with some of the grandkids.  We drove over late Thursday evening after work and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  Friday, after breakfast at our hotel, we went to their house, with Joy in tow (she still can't quite be trusted at home to go out when needed and not to accidentally hurt Emmi while playing, so she made the trip with us).  The kids were glad to see us and to see Joy, as well.

Ron and Chad left to get busy working on Chad's truck, while Carmelle, the kids and I stayed at the house.  Carmelle had a big paper due that night, so I had the fun of keeping the kids busy while she holed herself up to finish it.  We had such fun.  First we tried out some of the toys that we brought in Easter pails for them.   Adellelyn loved the stick-on "fox" fingernails

And we all had fun with Michael's drawing book--even Joy!   Both of the kids are such natural artists!

On our way to the house, we'd stopped at WalMart to pick up supplies for the truck and a few craft supplies---washcloths, wiggly eyes and rubber bands.  After watching a short Youtube video, we made a menagerie of bunnies, cats and penguins.

The dogs were getting restless (and so were the kids), so we went for a walk in their neighborhood.

They each took a dog.   Anytime I ask them to "look" for a picture, Adellelyn strikes a pose of some sort.

 You know it's spring in Texas when shorts appear with boots.

And if you've ever been with Michael and Adellelyn long, you know how much they love to be outdoors.

If there is a tree nearby, they're going to climb it.   Michael climbed up first.

With my help, Adellelyn scrambled up behind him.

Michael is always willing to pose for pictures---

Adellelyn's pictures usually look a bit more like this:

But, everyone once in a while, I get lucky and get some really great ones of her.

and of the two of them together.

When we got back home, Michael helped me make PB & Jelly sandwiches for lunch before we tackled painting plastic Easter eggs.  I wasn't so sure how that was going to work, but I shouldn't have worried---it was messy, but everything stuck just fine.

Carmelle finished her paper and was able to get it submitted, so after Michael went to spend the night with a friend, we girls decided to do a little bird-watching (for her ornithology class) on the way to visit the guys.

The truck was causing the guys lots of grief.  I don't know about you, but it looks like they are just napping under the car, but they swear they had actually been working for hours.

Okay, maybe Chad's face does tell the story better.---he was covered in grease from head to toe!

We left to go pick up dinner and we all ate pizza on the tailgate in the dark before calling it a night. (no pictures of that, because I just plain forgot to take any).  Needless to say, we all slept well that night---and it was only Friday!!!