I know, I’m late. But, I wanted to wish all the fathers a happy day.

I’m thankful for my kids’ wonderful father who provides so well for us, spends time with us and is so much fun. We all love him, but the kids ADORE him!

Tickle time! Seriously, Britton loves it. And he asks all the time “where’s Daddy?’ even though he knows perfectly well where he is. He is super excited when he gets home from work every day. Kaia gets really excited when he’s around and loves having him spin her around or turn her upside down.

I’m thankful for my dad too and the effort he puts in to stay in touch and visit us when he can. Thanks to my other “fathers” who are always there too!

Man, I’m glad I only told Britton that the day before our trip. I didn’t hear the end of it for days! Every time we left the house he asked if we were going to Texas, or said “We’re going to Texas.” And go to Texas we did! It was a fun trip where we got to see lots of family, and friends.

Here’s the highlights: Kansas and Oklahoma are really quite pretty with gently rolling hills and green fields. It made me wish I had grandparents with a farm to spend my summers with.

After a night in Hays, Kansas we had our first mishap. Miss Kaia rolled off the bed and hit her head on her car seat.

Yeah. Beautiful, huh?

Poor baby! This picture doesn’t even do it justice. But, it is almost gone now. Whew!

The drive wasn’t terrible. Kaia had a hard time sometimes, but we made it. In Oklahoma City we visited Becky’s Gift Shoppe, which carries our Sprout Shells, so it was fun to see.

Then we visited Mark’s long-time friend Ryan. It’s the first time I’ve met him, and it was great to visit with him and his girlfriend Lori.

It was fun just talking and getting to know them. Plus, I learned an awesome new salsa recipe that I’m excited to try out this weekend.

We mostly just hung out in the pool and visited with Mark’s sister Lori and our nephew John on Thursday. Britton liked the raft. We had dinner at his dad’s house. There was lots of room for B to run and roll around and he had a great time.

Being chased by Grandpa

Grandpa, Mark, Britton, Bulbin

Then, Britton decided to take some pictures of his own.

On Friday, we went to the World Aquarium. It’s a really cool place with a lot of different animals, not just sea life. there are a lot of monkeys, as well as a jaguar and

He likes to “read” everything these days.

Mommy monkey carrying her baby on its back.

Crocodile

Pretty Tamarin

I added this just for Mark. These are bats.

We have no idea what this is, but it has a shell like a turtle, but this soft, lizardy like head. And it’s smiling

Brit liked the Manatee.

Super cool octopus

Mark and I with the fish.

We really wish we knew what this bird was. It looks like a prehistoric pelican of some sort.

I never knew that flamingos ate kind of upside down. The top beak goes down on the ground and they gobble backwards.

Later that night we ate at a BBQ place called Rudy’s with everyone (except Lori, she had a trip to pack for). Then we went to my aunt Melissa’s house.  Britton instantly went for Henry’s trains and wanted to play with nothing else. Even though it was like 10 at night.

The next morning we just visited and went to the playground. Later that afternoon we went to Paul’s wedding. It was a very nice, small affair.

Britton loved playing with his cousins. Tommy played with him and taught him Spanish, etc.

Jenna and Laura

Britton with Julia doing “Guppy Face”

Aw, loving Grandma

After the wedding we went back to Melissa’s and went swimming. Kaia was really excited about it.

Really, she loves the water and “swimming”

She also had fun with her cousin Cooper. They’re about 2 1/2 weeks apart, so it was fun seeing the differences between them.

I’m a little bummed I didn’t get pictures with the rest of the family. London and Henry are really cute, and Kaia really loved the attention from Londie.

Sunday was fun, with an extra long sacrament meeting and restless kids (yay). Then we had dinner with Doug and Laura and Jenna, Kira and Tommy. Britton got more play time with his big cousins and had so much fun. We were sad when we had to pack up and get on the road.

We told Britton we were going to Kansas. Guess what we heard the whole night?