Summer Fun - Wet n' Wild (i.e. the lake, the pool and the zoo)

As I mentioned in the previous post, summers in Texas are HOT. Why didn't someone warn me about this before we decided to move here? ;) In spite of the heat, we've had some really fun times outdoors over the past few months. Here are a few of the things we've done:

We've gotten to go down to Lake Granbury several times to spend the day with my parents and to take advantage of their house being right by the water. Granddad just added a new member to the family. We've only been out on the boat twice, but assuming that it rains again, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. We've gotten to spend a number of hours on the jet ski this summer and it has quickly become a favorite family activity. Avalon and Julie both love going fast, and Avalon really likes being towed in the tube.

Julie loves to jump and play in the water; and Avalon loves the water as long as she doesn't have to get all the way in.

We had a little family reunion for the 4th of July. Geoffrey, Suzanne, and Olivia came up to visit and we all spent the weekend in Granbury. It was fun to be together to see the cousins interact and play with each other.

Our church has hosted a few preschool fun days that we've attended. One of the events was a Kiddie Kar Wash. The kids brought their bikes, trikes, and ride-on cars to play on and ride through the wash. They provided lots of buckets with bubbles and sponges for the kids to clean their cars (or in Julie's case, herself). The kids had a blast!

We have also spent many hours in our own backyard playing in the pool and sandbox (or combining the two), eating popsicles, and stripping down to our boots to play on the swingset. Obviously it is just too warm for diapers.

We've braved the zoo two times and I think that will be it until Fall smiles upon us. On one of our visits, Julie unintentionally donated her beloved pacifier to the rhino.  A stop at a sno cone stand, and a visit to the bird pavilion to feed the birds quickly erased any bad associations with the rhino. Next time we go, we'll get to see if he has become as fond of the pacifier as Julie ;)