Fun Weekend with Family in Tejas!

After seeing some friends in the Dallas area, we went to Granbury to Oliver and Ellen's house for Texas Grammy's Summer Camp. It was our first time to see their place in Granbury. It's really a neat place. We got there Friday afternoon and enjoyed a dip in the pool and a tour of the place by golf cart. There were so many people staying at Oliver's so we had a hotel at the clubhouse. At first I was bummed we would have to leave early each evening, but I later realized it was great. We were able to leave and get Emma to bed and have a great night of sleep while Maddi and Cade stayed at their house. Saturday morning, we met back at their house for breakfast and then went to a state park with dinosaur tracks. Here we all are sorting out all of our stuff.
I should note that all of these pictures are courtesy of my wonderful momma. We took our little camera since the big one is breaking and I never took a single picture with my little camera. Ugh! My mom and Al drove up for the weekend so we could visit with them. Our Texas visit was too short to make it down south this time. I am sooo happy they were able to come up to Granbury to see us!

Maddi is pointing out one of the big dinsaur prints before getting in for a swim at the blue hole.

Cade with his boat, enjoying the blue hole. I didn't plan to swim that day and was glad I didn't after the man next to me told me there were alligator gar in the hole. Yikes! They didn't bother anyone, but I didn't like knowing they were in there.

Emalyn and Daddy contemplating going in for a swim.

Our crew trying to figure who's going in, who's not, etc. After a swim and hanging out for a while, we went out for lunch. It was good Texas food and we enjoyed good company too.

Later that afternoon, the kids painted a shirt. Emalyn really enjoyed this summer camp activity! After her shirt was painted, she painted on paper. She asked to paint every day after that too.

Al and Oliver getting to know each other.

The boys grilling fajitas for dinner. Yummy!

Emalyn being a fussy pants back at the hotel later that night. All I wanted was a picture with her Omie :(

3 of the most special girls in my life!

The next morning, Emalyn wanted to go see Omie after she got dressed.

The kids waiting for me to take them on a golf cart ride. It was fun, fun, fun driving those kiddos around on the golf cart! They loved to go fast and loved the bumps. They would scream and cheer when they liked the ride.

Janet and Sharon came up for a visit Sunday. I am so glad Oliver and Ellen opened their home to my family as well as Janet. We are lucky that we have such wonderful and loving families. We enjoyed some time visiting together while the rest of the crew was on a river float/walk. The river is really low so they said it was more of a walk than floating, but they still had a good time. Even Emalyn floated and had fun!

Uncle Todd and Cade. I pray we get to move back to Texas...soon! My kids love being around Todd and I know he loves it just as much. He's such a good guy and has such a great sense of humor.

Omie with 3 of her 9 grandchildren.

Omie and Al with the kiddos!

Maddi, Cade and Emalyn with all of their grandparents. This is the first time in Emma's life that she's had all of her grandparents in one place. I think everyone might have been all together for Maddi or Cade's dedication at church, but I can't remember. I know they were all together at Joel and Sara's wedding, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get a picture of them all. Lucky kids with grandparents who love them so much!

The 5 McDonald cousins.

All of the McDonald grandparents and grandchildren.

Grammy with her 5 grandchildren. Sara is expecting again. She has miscarried the last two pregnancies, so we are praying that this will be a healthy pregnancy for her. She's due in April. If things go as they have in the past, they will have a little girl. So far we had Maddi and Cade 21 months apart and then they had Grace and Will 21 months apart. Now they just need a little girl and we will be the same!

My little monkey boy climing the tree for the big family photo.

Oliver and Ellen with their children and grandchildren. What a crew! The rest of that day was spent swimming, fishing, eating, golf cart riding and hanging out. Monday morning, we spent some time watching deer on the golf cart and then I lost my phone. We spent quite a while searching for it and then Brett and Emma found it. Whew!

We made our way back to DFW later Monday afternoon. While waiting for our flight, we saw this girl get off a plane at the gate we were sitting at. Some people took pictures with her and got her autograph so Maddi decided to get a picture with her too, even though we didn't know who she was. Turns out she's Eryn Wilson and she has a few pretty good songs on her website. I'm curious to see if she becomes a big name. If so, we'll have this picture of her. If not, we'll have a picture of some Lady Gaga wanna be!

Our flight home was smooth and uneventful. We were all glad to be back at our house, but a little sad to leave Texas.