Camille and Brandon come visit

Right after getting home from all of our trips, we got to have some visitors come extend our vacation time, haha. Since we had them here for four days, we got a good excuse to do sightseeing and fun stuff that we might not usually do on our own. We had a GREAT time with them visiting, and Dane got used to having Camille and Brandon sleeping in the living room and coming out to surprise them every morning. He loooves them (especially Brandon--he's still got his thing for the men in his life) and he was sad to say good-bye. They were good sports and we had fun going around the Dallas-Fort Worth area doing some fun stuff together. Unfortunately, Tommy had to work most of the time they were here, but he got to hang out with us in the evenings and play TICKET TO RIDE with us every night. (We had several tournaments.)

One of the big things we did was heading to downtown Dallas. We drove past the place where JFK was shot (but it was raining and there was no parking and we didn't really feel like getting out) and then headed to the science museum downtown. It is ridiculous how much it cost to get in there, but we had a good time there and Dane LOVED seeing the dinosaurs and animals. It's definitely aimed at an older crowd than Dane, but he still had fun.

We (stupidly) paid extra to go to this dinosaur exhibit, which was tiny and not worth our time except for this cute little archaeological dig for the kids to play in. Dane had a blast and loved wearing the goggles. He kept saying, "Mommy, I goggles."

One of Dane's favorite animals--the ibex!

Then after the museum, we walked (with some unintentional detours) to Klyde Warren Park, where there were food trucks and some splash pads for Dane to run around in. He was IN HEAVEN. This boy is such a water bug. He would get his whole face covered in the spray and he would just stand there and laugh. He could have stayed there all day (but we left to get him home for a nap after about an hour, haha).

Another day, we drove to Forth Worth to go to the Stockyards. It's the place where most of the cattle came through in the good old days, and at the highest point they had some 5 million cattle come through there in a year (or maybe even more). And now they are down to some 15 cattle that they use for their twice-daily tourist cattle drive. Amazing how things change. But it's got this little street with old-timey stores and several museums and animals you can go see. It was a very Texas touristy thing to do and I was glad we could all go so we could see it!

Dane loved petting the horses.

Dane just riding on a bull. (We had to pay $5 for this picture, although I didn't realize it at the time. . . Oh well.)

Oh man, SO CUTE.

Waiting for the cattle drive...

 Dane was so enthralled by the cows!

And then we hung out closer to home a few days. Dane loved all the extra attention he was getting from his friends. 

One of the nights was 1/2 off cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, so we braved the lines and each got a piece. (Best choice: 'Smores!)

We ate a delicious, DELICIOUS chicken dinner at Babe's with the Myres family. There was a point where they started playing the hokey-pokey and had everyone who would get up and join them. Dane was terrified (for some reason... would not stop clinging to Tommy) but everyone else had a good time.

We got a good one of everyone on Kristin's phone--I just need to get it from her!

 We went to Costco one morning and ate Costco hot dogs for lunch there. Dane ate a whole one by himself. 

He loved playing hide-and-seek with Camille. He's not very subtle. 

After they left, we had to really, finally, truly come back down to earth and get down to the business of actually living here in Texas and starting to get a routine down. It's hard, but it must be done. Can't be on vacation forever!

Trip #4: Murphy and Myres Family Reunions!

Sorry--SO MANY PICTURES in this post!

A week after our trips to NYC and UT, Dane and I packed up for the last time and headed up to Utah one more time for the Murphy family reunion. I had really debated about whether I was going to go, because back when we were planning all of this, I had been really stressed with all the moving and packing and other traveling, and I didn't know if I could handle flying with Dane by myself and being with him by myself all week. But there were lots of good reasons to go to the reunion--getting to see my grandmas and grandpas and cousins who we hadn't seen for a while, getting to spend more time with Austin, etc. And bonus--my Grandpa Myres had a big birthday bash that same week, so there was a mini-family reunion for the Myres side as well, so I knew we'd get to see both sides of my family while we were there. I knew I'd have lots of help with Dane once we were there, and I figured he would be really happy to be there and be surrounded by his adoring fans all week long. 

So we bought our tickets and decided to go--and then a few weeks later, we found out that Tommy was scheduled to be in Richmond for training for that very same week! So I was even more glad to be going, so that I could be doing something fun while Tommy was gone all week. (Unfortunately, Tommy has four more weeks of trainings in Richmond spread throughout his first year, so we didn't get out of missing him while traveling altogether.)

The Murphy reunion was in Lindon this year, at some distant relative's ginormous house that was only about a three-minute drive from my grandma and grandpa's house in Orem (which made it very convenient!). We had a great time seeing all our cousins, swimming, playing basketball and volleyball in the indoor sport court, hiking to Timp Caves, doing family games, making plates, and a few other activities I didn't do because of Dane and his schedule (7 Peaks, the Styx/Foreigner concert, tubing the Provo River). It was really, really a blast. We stayed up too late talking and didn't get enough sleep (particularly me and Bethany one night when Dane woke up and stayed up for three hours in the middle of the night talking about an elephant that he'd dreamed about), and it was totally worth it!

Dane surrounded by his subjects, showing them how he knows all of the obscure animals in his animals A-Z book.

Swimming in the backyard pool (Dane and I were out there every afternoon).

Dane and Elliot, the two great-grandchildren. They had a ton of fun together (and were totally the stars of the show all week).

 The house had an indoor basketball court, which was perfect for the Murphy family. Almost every night, after all of the official activities, the whole gang went downstairs for some midnight basketball or volleyball.

We went to G and G Murphys' house for a genealogy discussion one morning. This is just a funny picture of how concerned Dane was to see his face in the camera on the iPad. 

One morning, we hiked up to the Timp Caves, which is something I'd never actually done while living there! I was really glad to go, and even more glad that my mom volunteered to stay home with Dane--because it would not have been a great hike with him. We had a great time.

Not sure why this isn't rotated, but this is what the caves look like inside. Crazy and awesome!

The hiking group of us.

Dane and Elliot playing together at Grandma and Grandpa's house in their backyard. 

Elliot showed Dane how to pick raspberries off the bushes in Grandma's backyard, and Dane LOVED eating them. He's still talking about it now. 

Our family wearing our reunion shirts.

Dane and Elliot giving hugs.

Cute selfie by Dane!

Grandpa took Dane for a ride on his wheelchair, and Dane liked it but was kind of scared. He held this exact position the whole time and didn't move, like he was afraid he was going to fall off. 

Four-generation picture with Dane's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. 

I am so mad that this picture didn't turn out any better--but these are my two cousins my age on the Murphy side: Jake and Jolysa. I was so happy to catch up with them and see them again.

On Thursday of that week, Pioneer Day, it was also my Grandpa Myres' 80th birthday. The family had decided to throw a big bash with all of his kids there, so it was a mini-family reunion with all of the aunts and uncles and most of the cousins. I was really glad we got to be there for this party too. 

No Myres family gathering is complete without a watermelon--or ten.

Dane, mysteriously covered in dirt, with his best friend Joseph.

These are my two cousins, Ninna and Lucia. Don't they just look adorable/a lot of trouble? And can't you see why Dane loves coming here, when my cousins are around his age for him to play with?

They set up a big bounce house in the backyard for all the grandkids to play in, and a baby pool for the little kids. Dane was soooo happy in the baby pool. (He is laughing and grinning in this picture, in case it doesn't look like it.)

He also LOOOOOOOVED the trampoline!

Most of the cousins who were able to be there were the younger ones, but it was fun to see the BYU cousins who were there. This is Gracie! Such a cutie!

The highlight of the party was when Cosmo came to deliver Grandpa's birthday cake!

He even lost arm-wrestling with Grandpa!

We all got pictures with Cosmo afterwards. (We made this pic our computer background and Dane keeps asking to see it, saying "Cosimo!")

Grandma and Grandpa danced for us when an old song came on. So cute.

G and G and all nine of their kids.

This picture was the gem of the day--Grandpa and his brother and best friend Lanny. This picture needs to be framed! 

I had been stressed about how much work it was going to be traveling with Dane for this trip, but really, it would have been harder to be at home this week by myself than to be in Utah for the family reunion. I can't say how glad I am that we went.