Trip to Dallas

Brinley and I went to Dallas for a week last week!  Dallas is where both my sister and Karl's sister lives (to make things more confusing, they are both Lauras!)  We had a great time with the "Lauras" and families, and even though we are so happy to be home to Karl, we miss Dallas (and everyone there) like crazy!!!  Here are some fun moments from the trip!

Jackson's school bus!  If you look closely, you can
see Jackson getting off the bus after a full
day of kindergarten!  We're so proud of you Jackson!!

Jackson's 4-wheeler!  Pretty awesome!

Anna having a turn too!

Anna's pink, Barbie jeep!  Somehow we never got a good photo
of Brinley and Anna in the car, but Anna was super sweet to
share the jeep with Brinley.

No worries, B didn't actually drive the jeep by herself, but she
enjoyed pretending that she was driving.  I never did
get a good photo of her facing forward :).

Brinley is borrowing the neighbor's car to take a drive in something
she's a little more comfortable in :).

Jackson is helping Brinley learn how to get some speed when
she drives....

More driving

 

We got to eat lunch with Jackson at school!  What a treat!
Jackson's school is really nice and Jackson does a great job
of following all of the cafeteria rules!  It definitely didn't make me miss
teaching kindergarten, but I do wish that I could have a room full
of Jacksons in my kindergarten class.

After lunch, all the kids were cleaning up and
preparing to go out to the playground...
Brinley was ready to join everyone!
She looks so big here!

So...this might be the true reason that I went to Dallas....

This is Honey, and she is the greatest dog ever--she's a cross
between the greatest dogs ever known--Chardonnay, Champagne, and Bear,
Kaella, and Belle. She is extremely well-behaved....and only gets on the couch
late at night to snuggle--what a perfect dog!

Somehow she doesn't shed either....
hopefully Karl and I get this lucky one day!  :)

Going to the park with Aunt Lala--we had great weather!

Anna and Brinley did a great job of fixing Aunt Lala's hair

Brinley was REALLY into using Anna's pretend hairdryer.

Matching outfits!

Out to dinner!

Another day at the park!

Jackson learned how to climb a tree!

Anna is very focused on her painting :).

Trying to keep Brinley busy while I shower....

Snuggling with Uncle Mike

Cousin Jonas at the park!

Having a fun time swinging with Kara at the park!

I have to admit I was hoping to meet my new niece or nephew when I was in Dallas....
but that's okay, we're just happy that Laura and baby are healthy :)...and we
are looking forward to the arrival of Brinley's new cousin!
We love you guys!

 Thank you to the Manes for letting us live with you for a whole week--we absolutely loved it!!  So fun to spend time with the Petries too--and best wishes with the new baby!
Can't wait to see everyone soon!

Uncle Tim came to visit!!

Over Labor Day Weekend, we got to visit with Tim and his girlfriend, Catherine--what a treat!  We went hiking in the Smokies, ate a delicious dinner at Big Ed's, and Tim got to meet Lady at our house.  We can't wait to see them again!

Tim and Catherine in front of a big Chestnut tree

Apparently the Smokies has two REALLy big
trees--this was one of them.

Family Photo (Brinley slept most of the way up the mountain-
she woke up for the picture and then the hike back to the car).

Big snail

We thought this was going to be the "wild life" that we saw,
but no, we definitely saw a bear.  Unfortunately our camera
was out of batteries when we saw the bear--but we really did see it.

Taking a break--Ramsey Cascades (I think that was the name
of the hike) is pretty tough!

Hugging the tree

Hopefully we'll make it out to San Francisco before too long to see Uncle Tim and Catherine again--but we also hope they'll join us in Oak Ridge before too long too!  Love you guys!

Cousins!

A few weeks ago, Aunt Lala and Anna and Jackson came to visit!  We are so glad they came to TN again :).  Brinley was very excited to play with her cousins again!  I was pretty happy to see them too!  

We did several fun outings--in addition to the pictures here, we also went to the bounce house, went shopping in Turkey Creek, went to the Children's Museum (twice!!), and the beach here in Oak Ridge.  Wow!  What a fun time we had!!

Brinley's first miniature golf experience!

Anna and Mimi playing

Jackson and Aunt Lala

Brinley and Jackson

Hole in One! (okay, not really...)

"what? I'm not scared of the haunted house!"

Jackson and Aunt Lala did the go-carts

Aunt Lala spent the night at our house!

Silly Brinley!

Mimi and Dow set up a tent on the deck.  Jackson and Anna actually used it...
Brinley had fun the next day screaming and jumping
in it with the big kids

Family Photo in Market Square

Playing in the fountains at Market Square

Jackson

Anna

Brinley

The kids

Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of weeks AGAIN (plus Uncle Mike and Honey!)  Love you guys!