Sun May 31st

The girls were coughing like crazy this morning so we stayed home from church. We basically rested all day. By the end of it the kids were jumping off the walls. I'm grateful for primary more then ever at the moment haha.  

Sat May 30th

We were going to have a garage sale this morning, we even stayed up late making lemonade and cookies, but it was pouring rain. We spent the morning trying to decide if we should still have it. In the end we decided to have a family day and go to Dallas. I'm very glad we did. 

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium. There were lots of exotic animals and ironically not that many fish haha. We got a pic with the Mayan dancers. I guess today is the day of the Jaguars or something.  

We went to the American Girl store. Ella is so excited to turn 8! That's the doll she wants to get. It looks just like her. She said she's going to name her Bella (bc it rhythms with Ella).  

Fri May 29th

We went to the mall to pick up my walle. It was fun walking around casualy with Nick. Lisey was being a cute little angel and I just held Link. 

We tried on sunglasses at the Sunglass Hut. The kids look styling. 

After we got Ella from school we went to Walmart for a few things. Nick really wants to start playing catch with Ella to work on her hand eye coordination. 

She's getting really good! Nick and Ella had a grand time playing together. 

Then we watched Monster's University as a family and had pizza and popcorn. It was great having Nick home again :). 

Thurs May 28th

Link had a terrible terrible night. I'm taking him to the doc this morning. No more putting it off. I've suspected an ear infection for awhile, but I wanted to see if it would clear up on its own. Well it's been a week and it hasn't. Two nights of him waking up every hour or two is enough for me. 

He didn't have an ear infection. The doctor did say that he's throat looks red and yucky, but of course there is nothing to do but ride it out. 

We picked Nick up from the airport and then Ella from school. For dinner we went to the hibachi grill as a special treat. 

Wed May 27th

It's bright and sunny today and I love it! I was going to go for a run early but decided to let Lincoln take a nap, which ended up being a great choice. He snoozed from 9 AM to 11 AM, and I cleaned and work and packed. Then when he woke up at 11 we went for a walk. It was pretty warm and I couldn't run much but it was nice getting a lot done in the morning. Plus Lincoln stayed awake the whole time and will now take another nap. And Lisey is taking a nap. (It's early enough that it shouldn't bother your sleep schedule, which is great.) I'm so glad that Lincoln likes walk so much! It would be so sad if he hated the stroller and I couldn't go for my run. It's a nice part of my day and makes me happy. Thanks little link for like in the stroller. And thank you even more to Heavenly Father for giving me such a nice little boy. And two nice little girls. I am very very grateful to Him. 

We found a little turtle on the side of the road towards the beginning of our walk. I let Lisey hold it all the way to the creek and she set her free there. We named her Shelley the turtle. 

We went to the pool after school and the sun started going away. It fooled us all day and made us think it be perfect for swimming. We still had a fun time but it was chilly. We decided to leave at 4:30 from the pool to try and make it to the mall, since that was our original plan before the sun came out and tricked us into going to the pool. 

Taking six kids to the mall was kind of a crazy idea. We took the kids out for dinner then we went down to pick up our iPads. The iPad place was closed for a minute. So we let the kids play at the play place. While we played, we could hear a storm raging outside. I can't believe how much rain we've had the spring. It's been stormy and rainy almost every day for three weeks with occasional sunny days in between. We ended up getting iPads okay and we all made it home alive even though it was very late and the kids were all very tired. 

Mon May 25th

I'm Gloomy and rainy this afternoon. But the morning was bright and sunny. I ran the kids to the park. Lisey played on the playground while I did some core excercises with some sisters from our ward that happened to be at the park also. It was a good workout. My abs are going to feel it tomorrow. 

After school it rained and rained. So we made cupcakes and the girls frostd them all themselves and put sprinkles on. They really enjoyed that. We had three different colors of frosting and they just squirted it out through a little hole I made in Ziploc baggies. 

Then we had FHE on obiedience and we did freeze dance as our activity. I got some more packing done when the kids when to bed. 

Tues May 26

I did not sleep well last night. I kept waking up thinking I heard Lincoln crying but he wasn't. Then the girls came into my bed each at separate times. Then link woke up at 4:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep till 5:30 and then Ella got up at 6:15am. It was a long night :(

But we did make it out early for a run. It was drizzling the whole time but not enough to soak the kids. It felt good to get out and start the day with a bit of excercise. 

Link roughing it out in the chilly air. 

Stephanie and her boys came over to play for a bit after school. Then we ate dinner and went to bed. Poor Link still isn't feeling very well. I hope he gets over this sickness soon.

Sun May 24th

I probably shouldn't have gone to church today bc Link is still sick but I felt too bad about leaving my primary kids in a lurch. Stephanie was kind enough to take Link during the second hour so I could focus on teaching. I taught a lesson on the parable of the sower and the parable of wheat and the tares. I think it went pretty good. At least I think the kids knew what the parables meant by the end of class. 

I'm missing Nick like crazy today. I reread the sweet note he left when he left...

The note made me miss him even more!

I just talked to Nick and he's going to come home for the weekend! I'm so glad I get to see him. I think it's all the stress from moving and trying to plan for the future that's making him being gone worse than usual. I've had this sickening twist in my stomach when I think too much about moving. Yeah! I get to see my love!

Sat May 23rd

I let the girls sleep in my bed last night. Well when I got up to feed Link at 2:30am and I found both Ella and Lisey sleeping horizontal in my bed. I wish there was enough light to take a picture. It was so funny... I have my little 5th of the bed and then my two girls are sprawled out sideways over the rest of it. Like little sardines packaged the wrong way in the can. Funny middle of the night surprise. In my old queen sized bed I wouldn't have be laughing. I would have been uncomfortable and smooshed. But in the king I am content with my 5th. The girls can lay sideways all they want :)

Link isn't feeling well. His poor little eyes are blood shot and he has a fever. I think he has Roseola because he also has a rash that started around his belly button and then spread all over his body. I guess a rash that starts at the belly button and is accompanied by a high fever are symptoms of Roseola. Poor little guy. 

We kind had a lame Saturday. Link was so sick he slept most of the day. The girls played but Ella was dying to get out. We went to chick fil a to get out. The kids played at the playground and we used our coupons we got at the silent action to have a free dinner. 

Ella with a baby sweater on her head.  That silly goof:) 

After the kids went to bed Stephanie came over and helped me pack. We reorganized the baby girl clothes into three bins. And got rid of a bunch. 

Fri May 22nd

Today is field day for Ella. They had to do it inside because it's rainy but Ella said it was still a great time. I was suppose to go and help hand out water but Link hasn't been feeling well and he was sleeping. Even so I had to wake him up to take Ella to school and then I ended up waking him up to go have lunch with Ell. I promised I'd go see her for field day so I figured I needed to go at least for a little bit. 

Ok I am losing my mind. I was putting the kids back in after field day and I just tried to put Lincoln into Annalise's car seat. It took me a full minute to realize that something was wrong (it took looking over and seeing Annalise). I'm going crazy! 

After school we went to the mall and Kohls with Stephanie. She left her kids at home so we just had mine. I got some new shirts and found a new swim suit. After the mall we met Stephanie's husband and kids at a yogurt place.  While we were out Link had two huge poops and Lisey peed through her pull up and pants. Oh motherhood! It's one exciting ride!

Stephanie walking with Lisey through the store. I forgot Lisey's shoes, not that she would have kept them on if we had them... I'm going to miss Stephanie!

Thurs May 21st

There was a huge lightning storm last night and I guess a tornado touched down in Fort Worth. Crazy! 

Pretty uneventful day. I packed some boxes and we went to gymnastics. Lisey fell asleep on the way and took an hour nap which meant a little more trouble putting her to bed. 

Isn't she a beauty? 

I watched the Secret Life of Walter mitty as a folded clothes. The movie reminded me of Ammon. It also made me want to travel the world. 

Wed May 20th

I just had an epiphany this morning at 5:34am. I was thinking back on how the evening went last night. Ella had been cranky and tired and whiny. I had been mad at her for it. What was a lot more difficult to see in the heat of the moment, was that I was ALSO cranky and tired and whiny. What I realized this morning, was that sometimes as adults we expect our kids to act perfectly. We hold them to a very high standard. That is all well and good, but sometimes, just like us, they are just cranky and whiny after a long hard day and need to be given a little slack. 

Poor Ella had told me yesterday that the Texas Motor Speedway garage was so loud that she felt like crying. I should've bundled her up in my arms. Instead I just agreed with her. It's my job as the mom to comfort and help uplift. As mature as Ella is sometimes, she is still just a little girl who needs a mom to comfort her and give her a little slack when she's just tired and cranky. This scripture in 3Nephi 14:3,5 sums up the situation perfectly: "3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye." I had the beam and Ella had the mote. 

Alright. Attitude check. Today will be a good day. 

I woke up very early and took a shower before I took Ella to school. We couldn't find Ella's toe token necklace this morning(it's a necklace with little feet on it for gym that shows how much she's run).  We decided to pray and within minutes we found it. I very much felt it was divine inspiration because I would not have looked there if it wasn't for the Holy Ghost telling me where to look. Oh the faith of a little child. Ella said the sweetest thank you prayer afterwards. She is such a nice little girl and a very faithful little girl. Keep holding to that rod little Ella. 

After we took Ella to school, I took link and Lisey on a walk to the splash pad playground. Lisey had a grand time climbing on the rocks around the pond and running around the playground. She refused to wear her shoes and got bit by some ants. I am not going to miss these Texas ants. They are ferocious, mean and terrible. Lisey is pretty tough about these ants. They definitely don't scare her into wearing her shoes in the future. She's just very very tough. And very stubborn. No crying for her... At least not about bitten up feet.  

There's no bathroom at the park and of course Lisey needed to go poop. So she went in the bushes. This is the second time she's pooped in the bushes at that park. At least we were alone haha. 

The walk back was very warm and I was wishing I hadn't already taken my shower because I got good and sweaty. Lisey had a good time running on the path and climbing on all the exercise equipment that's on the Greenbelt. I talked to my mom on the walk back. Sian got her surgery today. Mom is in Utah with her. Surgery went well. She just has to have a feeding tube for six weeks. Poor Sianny.  

I got a lot done while Lincoln took his nap. I packed a lot of boxes and got the garage organized so I'd have a place to put the boxes once they were packed. I got even more hot and sweaty in the garage. Unfortunately by the time we pick Ella up from tutoring it was overcast and not super warm like it had been earlier. Still we went to the pool so I could  wash off some of that sweat from the day. Not the warmest day for the pool but it was still nice to be outside. Lisey and Ella had a great time running around the splash pad. I got the girls some new goggles and they both enjoyed using them,  Lisey inparticularly. I think she could learn to swim this summer if we get to the pool enough :). 

Tues May 19th

We went with Katherine to the Texas Motor Speedway for Ella's speeding to read field trip. It was terrible. They moved the assembly from outside to this huge car garage (where they usually keep all the race cars). Fun thought, but a terrible idea. No one could hear anything. Wait let me rephrase that. You could hear a ton too well... Just not the assembly. The parents were the farthest away from the speakers. I could see a man up there with a microphone but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. And I found out afterwards that no one except the school in the very front could hear anything at all. All those poor kids! Ella was supposed to be able to ask a question to the race car driver (for being the top K-2 grade reader at JCT) but it was so loud she couldn't do it. Lame! 

After going to the Texas motor Speedway, Katherine and I went to the school to take down some boards for the first grade teachers. Lisey loved seeing Ella and Ella was just in her classroom eating lunch so she got to see Lisey and play for a minute. Then Ella went to the front of the school for a free kona ice snow cone. She earned it by being the top reader. She took Lisey with her and managed to get her sister a free one too.  I asked Ella if she wanted to do her technology hour (another reward for reaching her reading goals) or come home a little bit early. I could tell it was a tough decision. In the end Ella put her arms around Lisey and said "sisters are better then technology". I love that little girl. 

Everyone was exhausted.  I let the girls watch two new barbie movies and I took a 20 minute power nap. Even with the nap I was still tired and cranky and so were the kids. I'm glad the day is over. 

Mon May 18th

Lincoln is learning all kinds of new tricks. He has learned to clap hands (which is so adorable). He can sit up all by himself without falling. He enjoys eating soft foods like puffs, tortillas, and bread. But his favorite food is still frozen gogurts. The most adorable thing he does now is laugh. It's not just a small chuckle, like he used to do before. It's a full body, eyes shining, dimple showing, little kid laugh. And when this boy he laughs he laughs jovially, hard and long... usually long enough to give him the hiccups. The person he laughs at most is Annalise, but Ella can definitely get him going too.

Link, Lisey, and I went for a run this morning to the splash pad park. We met Stephanie and her little boys there.  After playing for a while and chasing around little ducklings we went home. On the way back I called and talk to Sian. Where Sean has to get surgery on Wednesday. They're reconstructing her stomach. Poor Sian has had so many health problems. I hope this surgery fixes them all and that she can be healthy and strong afterwards. 

Lisey came up to me with this goofy smile. She is so funny:). 

Then after school we went to the pool and had a grand time playing in the water. I thought that the water was going to be freezing but it was actually quite warm. Lincoln thought that swimming was the coolest thing ever. And he thought Annalise was hilarious. He just laughed and laughed as she splashed and jumped. 

Look at that adorable little swimsuit. It's a Cosco find. 

Sun May 17th

I taught about Jesus is miracles in primary. Even though Link was tired and loud and distracting, I still think the class went pretty well. They all wanted to hold him which ended up being okay. At least I think they got the message and felt the spirit. 

We went for a walk after Link's nap and the kids ran out a bit of their pent up Sunday energy. 

Sat May 16th

Nick left this morning around 11. I cried. I feel so depressed that I won't get to see him for over 3 weeks. 

We went to the pet store to try and lift our spirits, but all the dogs that wanted to be adopted made us sad. Lisey fell asleep on the way and I had to push her around in the stroller one handed. Then we went to hobby lobby and that did make me feel a little bit better. 

me. 

Ella wanted me to take a picture of her in her patriotic get up. My little cutie :) 

Nick's parents were supposed to come and stay with us for a night after visiting Adam in UT for a week. They flew out of Dallas love field. Last minute they decided to keep driving to Oklahoma and not stop here. It's not a big deal but just a little annoying bc I stayed up late cleaning and setting up the girls beds for them to sleep in and cleaning the room. Oh well at least it's clean. I just feel really sick now. Hopefully sleep will cure me.  

Fri May 15th

Nick gets back today! And then leaves again tomorrow morning :( at least we'll see him today. 

Stephanie, the kids and I went to Costco and krogers this morning. Then we went to Costa Vida for lunch. Nick got home in the afternoon and while he and Link took a nap, the girls and I helped set up for the spring festival at Ella's school. After Link woke up we all went together to the spring festival. Because we helped out, we all had free admission (which saved us twenty bucks...which is awesome). 

They had this huge hamster ball that the kids had a blast rolling in. 

Even Lisey loved it! Then we played some carnival games and won cake at the cake walk (after many many tries haha). I'm glad we could be there with Nick. Everything is more fun with my true love. 

Thurs May 14th

Lincoln slept 11 hours last night! Way to go buddy! He woke up at 5:50am and then went back to sleep at 6:15am. Unfortunately I had to wake him up to take Ella to school. You know a baby is good-natured when you have to wake him up from a deep sleep and he starts smiling at you. 

That's my boy Lincoln. He such a happy little chap. He likes to hold my hand while I'm nursing him. And when he gets really excited he moves his legs up and down almost like he's jumping for joy. He does that especially when he wants me to hold him. 

Link does not like me to leave from his presence. He's happy to play on the floor as long as I'm sitting there right by him. Link loves best for me to hold him, hold him, hold him. He grabs onto my shirt like a little baby monkey and we go around the house doing our work. Lincoln you are adorable!

Lisey's favorite song to listen to is "what does the Fox say?" We were jamming out to that song as we ran this morning. I took Lisey and Lincoln. Lisey had fun running and then playing at the park and pond. We saw several duck families with little baby ducklings. 

Lisey hanging like a little acrobat :) 

Lisey locked me out while I was taking out the trash... And couldn't figure out how to open it for what felt like forever. I have never been so close to spanking her. Hard. She knew not to do it. She's locked me out before and we had a good talk about it. But I didn't spank her. She went to time out. Link's sleep was the only casualty (he got woken up in the process of trying to get Lisey to open the door). Lisey is lucky I took a look at her cute little face before my hand started swinging or else her bum would very sore right now. 

We took a friend with us to gymnastics. The girl was in 5th grade. She was the same height as Ella. Ella is one tall little first grader!

Wed May 13th

Nick left at 4am this morning. I was up feeding Link so at least I got to say goodbye. Luckily he was able to change his flight to come home earlier on Friday. He was supposed to get in at 6pm. Now he gets in on 11am on Friday. Then he heads out to Illinois on Saturday morning. 

Ella woke up early and listened to a chapter in her Magic Tree House book. She has been absolutely loving listening to book after book of Magic Tree House. I really like them too. In each book they go to a different land or time period and learn about it and complete a little mission. It's fun to learn different facts. She played with Link when he woke up. Lisey went potty in the potty. Link had to get shots this morning. Again he didn't cry a drop. He is one tough baby!

At 2:45 I got both kids in the car through the pouring rain and then remembered that Ella has tutoring! Oh dear...I guess I needed a second shower!

Lisey had fun fun pretending she was a baby. 

Link woke up from his nap very smiley. 

Tues May 12th

Lisey is so cute. She's been calling Nick "father" and me "mother". It sounds so crazy cute out her little mouth! Lisey is so sweet. I was being grumpy about something (I had a frown on my face) and Lisey comes over and puts her thumbs up and says "smile. Mother, smile" and then she puts the biggest smile on her own face. 

And when Lisey smiles she doesn't just do it with her lips. When Lisey smiles, she does it with her whole face; her eyes twinkle, her mouth makes a fun half moon, her cheeks plump out. When Lisey smiles you can't help but smile back at her. Lisey may be one very active little girl, but she sure is a sweetie. She doesn't like to see me unhappy. I need her in my life and in our family. She makes our home a better place. I need that reminder to smile. 

We drove all the way down to the car dealership to get a key to unlock Nicks tires only to find it was in the glove box the the whole time. We made the best of things and went out to eat. 

Mon May 11th

I stayed up way too late last night painting.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Hopefully Joan will like it :).  

 I felt too tired to go running even. Link woke up at 12 am and 4:30am and then Ella woke up at 6am.  I wanted to sleep in so bad bc Lincoln was still sleeping, but I decided to get up to take Ella to school as a thank you to Nick for a great Mother's day.  (Link slept in till 10am!) 

I did laundry today. We also went to Nick's  office to clear out his stuff. I guess  we really are moving. It's finally starting to feel real. We went to Costa Vida for lunch/ dinner. 

Then we went to the greenbelt to take some family pics. Stephanie took them for us. The kids weren't exactly feeling it so we'll see how they turn out. 

After the kids were in bed, Nick and I folded laundry and watched the Count of Monte Cristo. 

Sun May 10th

It's Mother's day! Nick really made the day special. 

Nick got up early and made roll up pancakes, showered in strawberries and whip cream, and brought them to me in bed. Yes you read correctly. Nick MADE roll up pancakes! And they were delicious! Add another thing to the list of things that Nick makes super great...eggs, mac and cheese and now roll up pancakes. All these years of marriage and I just now discover I am married to a chef! 

But Nick's awesomeness didn't stop there. Nick got the girls totally ready for church. He made me lunch (a delicious humus ham sandwich on naan bread) and dinner (ribs, salad and rice pilaf). He let me take a nap, read the girls stories and put them to bed. Plus he did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. I had time to paint and rest.

 Nick you are amazing! What a thoughtful present to give me... A day off. Nick you're the best and I love you more than anything in the world! 

Sat May 9th

We had a fun family day. We were going to go take family pictures this morning, but as we were getting ready it started to rain. We're going to try for Monday instead. We went to Costco for some free samples. Then while Link was having a snooze I started a painting for Joan. It's her dog Happy. 

When Lincoln woke up we went to the mall. It was just great spending the day with the family! 

The girls preping to not look at us for pics. 

Ella and Lisey dancing around Costco. 

Fri May 8th

Happy 7 month birthday Link! In honor of this wonderful occasion were taking you to the hospital to get circumcised. Poor buddy :( We're at the hospital now just waiting. We left the house at 5:45am and dropped Ella off at my best pal's house (Stephanie of course). She's going to take Ella to school. Hopefully everything will go well. I cried when they rolled him back. 

A pic before they took him back. Bad memories of the time he was in the hospital for RSV. 

Waiting on the waiting room. It took about 45 mins but it felt like eternity. Nick used him time wisely by reading the scriptures. 

Link seems to be ok. He was very out of it when he came out of anesthesia and I hated seeing that. But now that we're home he seems a lot better. 

We went to the jumping place in the evening. Poor Lisey feel asleep on the way there and slept solidly on the mat for an hour. We couldn't stay super long because Kenny and Joan are here for the night. They're flying out to see Adam for a week. We met them at chick fil a  for dinner. Poor Link had a blow out and his bandage came off. Nick and I weren't sure what to do. We thought we would need to go home bc he seemed so sad, but when we finished wiping him he went back to being happy. Lincoln is so go natured!

Thurs May 7th

Cleaned most the day. Tried to get some packing done, but didn't succed. It's going to be a tough job. 

Lisey playing with her brother. 

After school we went to play at Ayden and Myles house for a little bit before gymnastics. 

Myles was getting Link to laugh. 

Then baby Jay took a turn holding him. I'm going to miss these guys so much. They're like family. 

After gymnastics the kids played out in the warm rain. On the way to gymnastics we hit a wall of rain. One min it was dry and the next I could barely see. We had tornado warnings all day and in the evening we had an incredible lightning storm. Welcome to the Midwest! 

I went with Stephanie to a bday party for our friend Kat. It was very fun. We played games with the moms and then listened to the crazy rain and thunder outside. I'm really going to miss my friends here in Texas. I've really enjoyed living here. The people just tend to be nice here. 

Tues May 5th

We went to Walmart today to get teacher appreciation gifts. I'm going to write a really nice letter to Ella's teacher too. It was so kind of her to tutor Ella this year. Every Wednesday for months she's been giving Ella extra help. I'm so grateful that she was Ella's teacher this year! Ella's reading has significantly improved thanks to her help. Hopefully Ella's teachers in UT will be just as good. 

Wed May 6th

I'm feeling motivated to change my life for the better. (Listening to conference and praying while in my run tends to do that to me :). Here's my plan for the summer to accomplish the things I want to accomplish...mainly consistent family and personal prayer and family scripture study. Come on Brooke! Step it up!

Yes it is written in a scrap of paper. I just needed it out of my head and onto something tangible. I need to plan to succeed in my goals. No more floating. I know what your thinking journal...you said this before....and you're right, but I have to keep trying. As Nick offen reminds me "you only fail, when you stop trying". Keep trying Brooke! 

This morning we dressed Ella up like a super hero for a spirit day at school. 

It's Super Ella! Ella says that her super power is the power of giving. I love it : ) 

Lisey and I took Link to the urologist this afternoon. He's going to get circumcised on Friday. Poor buddy. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and they won't find anything wrong. 

After we got Ella we just played at home for the afternoon. Ella and Lisey had a good time together. We had fajitas for dinner that were very yummy. Nick was great and did the dishes and gave Lincoln a bath. And I got some well needed cleaning done. We even got the kids into bed by 7:30pm! It was great. It makes me think that I try to fit to much in the day. Not going out after school felt so nice. I got so much more done! Dinner actually got made and we had it early and even got the house cleaned up. I'm not saying we're always going to just stay in after school but I think I'm going to try and do it more often. Or at least only go out for a bit so we can still have an early dinner and early bed time. Easier said than done. Boy am I going to miss Nick! 

Mon May 4th

The day went pretty smoothly. Nick had a ton of work to do so we didn't get much done for the move. But we did have FHE, which in the end is what really matters right? 

Sun May 3rd

Joan and Kenny left this morning. 

We almost made it to church on time. But didn't. Ella dropped the bread tray on the floor. I felt my cheeks go scarlet. The poor decon had a look of udder confusion. The kids were pretty crazy in our class and Nick had a short fuse today. After church we were supposed to go to a temple recommend interview but totally 100% forgot. Nick and I tried to take a nap but Lisey wouldn't have that. Then I cried from being overwhelmed about moving and Nick leaving. Yes.  It was one of those days. I think only the morning will help make things right. 

Wed Mar 29th

Today we went with Caroline Sagers and her boys to a place called Fossil Rim. It's basically an African safari in Texas. It was very cool. We drove our van through the park and fed a variety of animals. The coolest thing we fed were giraffes and the second coolest were the zebras. 

Actually I think feeding the zebras may have been cooler for me. I think Ella's favorite part was hanging out of the sun roof while we drove around the park. I think Lisey liked petting the goats the best and probably the sun roof too. We had such a great time! 

Before entering the park the kids hugged the giraffe for fun. Ella has her notebook to take notes about the animals. 

The animals ate right out of our hands!

The kids hung out the sunroof!

The animals stuck their heads right in the window. It was awesome!