Slipped Away...

School preparation always starts way too early!  This was such a fun summer, I am sad to see it go.  We packed in a lot though!  The last few weeks were spent pretty quietly at home.  Love.

Crafting

Science experiments!

Toe Painting

Quirkle

On our last day home together, we ventured out to the Dallas zoo.  We left at 8:30 and were home by 12.  We were VERY sweaty.  Later on we got all dressed up (just like last year) and went out to eat fancy cupcakes.  A good, bittersweet day.

My fave pic of the day!

Some guy gave us free tickets to the Carousel.
They were so excited!

Pool, Zoo and Baseball- ATL

Megan has a neighborhood pool just down the street, so we went quite a few times.  The pool has a lot of strict rules, the most important one that you cant be alone under the age of 18.  Almost every time we went, we had the whole pool to ourselves.  We usually packed lunch or even dinner and stayed quite a while.

This is where Elia got her nickname "Elia Franch"

One day we went to the Atlanta zoo!  This was the first day they wore their camp shirts.  Too cute!  It was a very hot day, so off to the pool once we got back.

Missing: Brendan was with mom and dad at the ATL aquarium

One night we went and saw the minor league team play.  Very kid friendly!

Tailgate first

Such a good walker!

Deep Conversations

Cousin Love at its very best!

February Flew

My cousin and I got together while she was in town on business.

A chilly trip to the FW zoo- best time of year to go- the animals were so active in the cooler weather!

Happy V day!

Oh and yeah- we bought this beautiful new (to us) minivan!

St. Louis Trip Photo Dump

My mom stayed in AtL for a few days and then we drove back to StL on Wednesday.  We stopped at Patty's, a restaurant in Kentucky that we always stopped in growing up after family reunions.  I felt like it was a right of passage for my girls to be there and eat!  It is very old time, they serve drinks in mason jars, have the most wonderful fried pickles and strawberry butter, and their bread is baked in flower pots!

We were only in StL for 72 hours, but we packed it in with a visit to the zoo, play time with Baby B, and lots of quality family time!

G said the bread grew out of the flower pot!

The girls helping Grandma make hamburgers.

Tummy time for baby Brendan

Photo-op at the zoo!

New Sea Lion exhibit that Uncle Tom's firm helped build!

This orangutan (sp?) got so close to Elia!  Their faces are so weird looking!

Bobby, the ever patient and fun loving Uncle, teaching G to pump gas. 
She held her nose the while time!

Dallas Zoo

Shannon and Tom came in town for NYE.  The only pictures I remembered to take were from when we went to the zoo.  It was such a beautiful day to go to the zoo.

Uncle Tom and Daddy

 

They got so close to this giraffe. 

Tiger in the background

It was an exhausting, but fun day!