Glorious spring weekend

We enjoyed a beautiful weekend! The highlight was a visit by grandma and grandpop McLaughlin, who stayed with us for several days on their way out west (more on that later). We certainly enjoyed our time with them.

John finished the six-week soccer term a few weeks ago and started t-ball this week. Below is a shot of John, warming up and throwing the ball to Scott. This was his first t-ball practice and he did great.

After throwing practice the kids got a chance to run the bases. Here is John reaching home plate, as Scott cheers him on in the background. Who knows if John will enjoy t-ball, but I can honestly say that John is a fast runner so that has to be a good start!

This is what the rest of us did while John was playing - relax and cheer him on. Amelia and grandma were wonderful spectators! Amelai even sounded like a cheerleader at some points shouting out "Go, John, Go!", but we are definitely not going to encourage the cheerleading thing! cheering for her brother is fine though.

On Sunday we drove out to the campground where grandma and grandpop had parked their RV when they arrived on Thursday. We were fortunate in that our geographical location favored a visit from them, as they stopped through Dallas on their way out to Jackson Hole for the summer. Grandma and grandpop report for duty as temporary employees of the National Park Service working in Grand Teton National Park this coming weekend. We wish them well in this stage of their retirement and we look forward to seeing them in Wyoming in July.

So we went out to the RV for a picnic lunch (where we ate our sandwiches in the RV, as you can see the campsite was not scenic!), and how many times do you think the adults had to remind Amelia and John that "YOU DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING IN THE RV!"?? Maybe a thousand? That might be a close estimate. And we were there less than an hour. It was maddening. Even though Amelia and John had been to the RV once in Gainesville, this was their first chance for more lengthy exploration and they basically got in trouble the entire time. So we quickly ate, reprimanded the children constantly, and once they had said they were sorry we went to a local children's amusement park for some fun.

We all enjoyed being outdoors at the amuseement park on a beautiful, sunny Sunday. Amelia and John enjoyed the rides and the adults enjoyed the nonexistent lines for the rides (compare and contrast to the Texas state fair, which can be a nightmare!).

Grandma even got to ride the train for a tour of the park with the kiddos.

Amelia enjoyed the roller coaster, though she declared that it was "too easy" once she got off the ride. I guess we instilled a sense of greater adventure after putting her on more thrilling rides at Sea World last fall.

Amelia was also not afraid of the spinning teacups. Now we know she didn't get that from me as I have one of the queasiest stomachs in our family. Spinning round and round on the kiddy ride might not have been good for me but Amelia had a great time.

Wonderful weekend with family, beautiful weather too! We are crossing our fingers for more good weather to enjoy being outdoors this coming weekend. Goodness knows the 100 degree temperatures will be here soon enough.