Trick or Treat

Two little fairies went Trick or Treating Monday night. This year was so much fun because they were old enough to enjoy it and understand what is going on. However, I have eaten around 10 pounds of candy this week:(

Braelyn and Bailey's first donation

So, I'm so proud of my 2 year old daughters for making their first donation. Twain and I are very big into donating our time, money, and things to help those less fortunate. Probably why I spent my entire career (all 6 years of it..ha!) in the social services industry. When Bailey was 10 months old, she had a rare problem that shut her system down and she spent 3 days in the pediatric unit in the hospital. They had one wagon for all the kids to share so my mom brought Bailey her tribike that her Grandpa had bought her for Christmas. She was so miserable and so fussy that Twain and I pushed her on that bike all around the hospital for the bulk of the day. She loved it and all the older people that were on the same floor would just clap and cheer when she would drive by. Well, she has outgrown her bike and her and Braelyn took it up there today to donate to the hospital so the "sick kids" as Bailey called them could use it while they are in the hospital. Of course, they are 2 so their first reaction was No that is my bike but by the time we were finished, they were saying "we give our bike to sick kids:)" Proud moment for Momma!


Bailey in the hospital in the one wagon they had for the whole pediatric unit

Braelyn in the tribike from her Grandpa

cousin time

I know I have been very, very behind on blogging this summer. We have been really busy so I will probably just do a big summer post updating on all our fun activities the past few months. The scorching heat has kept us in most of July though:( I had a house full of kids this last week and enjoyed every minute of it. Some of the girls' cousins came up from Texas and spent 4 nights and 5 days with us. I don't think the girls have ever had that much fun. We went to see Smurfs. It was the first time they have stayed until the end of the show so the boys definetely came in handy there. We went bowling, played basketball at the YMCA, hit up pink swirls, and went to the community water park. Twain decided that he is old and isn't cut out to bowl one night and play basketball the next..ha! Here are some pictures with the girls with our nephews. We have been getting them every summer and trying to do something fun with them for about 5 years now. I guess when the boys get to old to come see us then Twyla will just have to have some more because we have so much fun. We also have a niece and two other nephews that we go see every summer in San Antonio and I will have to post some pictures from that trip next:)


Coloring with Trey


Watching Open Season for the 50th time - poor trey:(

Tyler, Trey, Travis, and Braelyn and Bailey

Travis playing hair - he might kill me for posting this!

Watching movies! The girls liked staying up with the big boys to watch movies.

Fun Times

It seems like I have been asked a lot lately, how is it raising twins. Well most of the time it is a lot of fun and pretty hilarious. There are some very frustrating parts though like everytime I'm shoe shopping,they never carry two of the same size shoe in the toddlers. Yes, famous footware has got an ear full many times until I finally just quit going in there.
Then, there are the times when they go to the potty and one poops and you don't have time to turn around before the other one says I get it and comes up with a hand full of their sister's poop! The potty training has definetely been interesting:) We are finally pretty well trained where we are in big girl panties all the time at the house. Now, I just have to be brave and try it in the car!

Precious Times

Do you ever have those times as a parent that you just think that nothing you say to your kids sinks in, that you are failing to teach them what is most important in life? As I am driving down the road the other day, this is what I hear from the girls in the back seat, Bailey - "Ji Ji loves me, the bible tell me so." Braelyn - "This I know" They were singing it with all their heart and although they were about as in tune as I am when I sing, I still had tears flowing because I thought to myself - if nothing else I ever say ever sticks, at least they know part of the words to Jesus Loves Me:) I wonder how big Jesus smiles when he hears a 2 year old calling him Ji Ji. Must be the most amazing feeling in the world.

Summer temps are definetely here!

It feels like summer! The temperature was around 95 today so when we got up and around, we decided to hit up our splash pad. It only takes about an hour and a half to get everyone in their bathing suit, sun screen on, hair pulled back, water for the road, and loaded in the car!!!!

The girls enjoyed it. They wanted dada to meet us there so he took a lunch break with us today:)

Playing with my new camera

I have had my camera for 6 years and it finally gave out on me so we stopped on the way home from Waller yesterday and purchased one. I had to play with it a little bit today while we were playing outside!

Jellystone Park

We just got back home from our vacation to the Lone Star Yogi Jellystone Park in Waller, Texas. It was a 5 1/2 hour drive for us and went pretty smoothly. About as well as a long trip like that can go with two year olds!

We got up at 5AM and headed out around 6 so the girls would sleep most of the way!

Ready to head out!


We made several stops to let the girls out of their car seats for awhile so we didn't make it down to Waller until about 2:00PM.




Here are the reasons why we chose the one in Waller and not the one in Fort Worth which would have been a lot closer!

Waller had a water park with lots of slides that were perfect for toddlers!




We put the new floaties to good use lots of times!


Bailey liked lounging in the pool! She is a little more cautious when it comes to the water though then her sister!

Braelyn has no fear and would jump in by herself if we didn't watch her like a hawk!

Completely exhausted after our first day! Not sure if it was the long car ride or the 2 hours spent at the water park, but they weren't the only ones completely worn out!



Ready for Day # 2



Yes, we had to bring mammy along because well you just need as many extra hands as you can get with these two!



The main attraction! Yogi Bear






They had craft time where you could make anything from a tee shirt to a bear bank!






They had a toddler comfy land where everything was padded and the neatest toys for kids the girls age. Of course, we liked it because it was air conditioned and it stayed about 95 degrees the entire time we were there.


Braelyn played with everything at least twice.....



Bailey spent the entire time at the computer glued to all the kids games on it!

The other main attraction!!!! Cindy Bear! Funny because the girls were all psyched up to see Boo Boo and Cindy ended up being their favorite! Probably because Boo Boo never came out and Cindy came out twice:)




We also enjoyed the petting zoo!


Braelyn AKA The Camera Ham

Bailey

Day 3 consisted of miniature golf.....




and a slide down the dinasour slide.....


Braelyn and Twain - Bailey decided she had enough of it on Day 2 and there was no need to climb to the top of it again!

Cookie Decorating.....




Another visit with Cindy Bear....





and more swimming...



Attending the ice cream sundae social....




and karaoke to finish off the night. We didn't sing but did plenty of dancing while the other kids sang!



Of course, no vacation is complete without making a pitt stop at McDonalds on the way home for a happy meal and some play time!



If you are looking for a vacation spot for your family, here is my short review. Remember, this only reflect the Lone Star Yogi in Waller. Jellystone Parks are all over the nation and I haven't been to any of the others.

What I liked about it: They had a ton of activities for toddlers. They also had a couple of slides that we enjoyed!!!! I didn't get any pictures of those - sorry:( The rates were pretty decent and they rented out golf carts so you didn't have to walk the park all day. They had a schedule of events they gave us so we always knew where each activity was and when the bears would be out and about for picture time! I really liked the fact they had activities all the time and a lot the girls could participate in. Alot of places don't have so much for the younger ones.

NOW, here is the reason we will never go back to this one. On Saturday night, the park lost power at about 5:00pm. They somehow rigged up some electricity to still have karaoke night at 7:00. The girls had looked forward all day long to seeing Boo Boo at karaoke because he hadn't been out at all the 3 days we had been there. They announced that since the park didn't have power they wouldn't have a bear sing. The girls were upset and cried (this made me upset). Then, they told us it would be 4 more hours until power was restored. Our cabin was almost 90 and we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep with no air so we went to check out Sat night instead of Sun morning. The staff was very rude about it and would not give us a partial refund even though we only left because there was no power. i was very upset over this. I would have thought it was an isolated incident but one of the other ladies there said it happened last year when she stayed as well. Other than this incident, we loved it and would have gone back, but not after that:(