Visiting the Texas Dimonds!

We just got home from a great little trip up to Temple, Texas! Brett's cousin and her cute family just moved there from Michigan and we were excited to spend some time with them all! We drove up on a Thursday morning and met up in Austin. We had lunch at Torchy's Tacos, which was delicious! We had to wait in line for awhile, but they had these fun lights for Kayla to play with so we were all happy!

After lunch, we headed to a children's museum called Thinkery. The kids all had a great time and they had a lot of great exhibits for fun learning. 

We took a turn on this cool swing on the playground outside and Kayla was a little nervous, hence the death grip on Brett! They had lots of pigs outside and Kayla loved playing on them. 

 

We played on the giant train track for awhile and then headed into the light and color room. 

My favorite area was probably the water room. There were several different water activities for the kids to explore and discover. Kayla loved it! Unfortunately Kayla dumped a whole cup of water on Henry. 

They had a tot area full of places to crawl and hide. Both kids loved this!

 

Kayla was always much more excited to snap photos with Jack then he was to take pictures with her. haha!

We drove to Diane's house where Kayla got to discover the fun of dressing up as superheroes! She loved playing with Jack and being Captain America. Tyson loved playing with the cars and airplanes. It may be time for us to start buying him some 'boy' toys. 

 

After the kids went to bed, we stayed up playing games with Colby and Diane and I loved it! I miss playing games with people all the time and love any chance I get to play games! Plus, these two are hilarious so that made it even better!

The next day, we were determined to wear the kids out so they would sleep well enough for us to get babysitter and go out on a double date. It started with time at this really cool wooden park. The kids had a blast! We then went to get some treats at a little sweet shop. 

Another happy photo experience! Haha!

We then ran home to change and went to the city water park for about an hour before lunch. 

Recreating an old photo from their childhood!

We went home for lunch and naps for the littles and then headed back for a few more hours. Kayla went down the slide over 50 times and also swam by herself with her little swimmer floaters in the lazy river. She kept saying that she was a big girl and that she was brave! At one point, she said to an older teenage boy that she was brave and so was he! He just laughed and swam along. I loved it. She's such a happy, sweet girl!

 

Our tactics worked and the kids were zonked right after dinner. I was worried because Tyson's teething and has a cold, so he's been waking up more often, but they all slept the whole time we were gone!

We went to dinner at BJ's and had a great time chatting and eating yummy food!

We got up early the next morning and headed to Austin again to do some exploring. We first went to Mount Bonnel outlook. Its a short walk up some flights of stairs, but Kayla was determined to walk the whole way up by herself. At the top she said, "I just walked up a mountain!" Uh, we need to get this girl on some real mountains! Haha!

I love the view from the top! Its so beautiful and the kids all loved watching the boats and jet skis in the river below. 

 

Thank you, selfie stick!

We headed to the capital afterwards and explored there for awhile. The kids even got some dancing in! 

  

I love my little Texas babies! This photo is funny because he's almost as big as she is! Haha!

 

Another selfie stick photo underneath the dome!

We took a few photos outisde too! We never miss a photo opportunity!

 

We went to the famous (or so we're told) Shake Shack for lunch! It was delicious and Kayla made sure to wipe the whole place down while we waited for our food. That girl loves to clean with wipes. 

 

The iconic Austin sign! 

We said our goodbyes to the Texas Dimonds and headed home! We stopped in San Antonio on the way attend the temple. It was wonderful, as always and just what I needed after a busy few weeks. 

Tyson hasn't been the best traveler lately, so I spent some time in the back seat with him and even when he's fussy, his smile melts my heart! I love this guy! Once we left San Antonio, the kids slept the whole way home! It was a great trip and we made lots of memories. 

Temple Square

Springtime in Idaho and Utah can be breathtaking, especially with all the flowers in bloom! My mom drove us down to Salt Lake City, where we were flying out to come home. We realized that we have't ever taken Kayla to Temple Square in downtown SLC. We planned to meet up with a few more friends in Salt Lake and decided to meet everyone there and enjoy the beauty and the Spirit that Temple Square has to offer. 

We started off at the City Creek mall and Kayla had fun enjoying the little fish ponds. Grandma Betsy was wonderful to follow her around and help her explore. We met up with Brett's cousin Camille and her two adorable kiddos, Luke and Ruby.

 

We really love cousin time! And these cuties had a blast hanging out together. Kayla was slightly enamored with Luke! She watched his every move and just thought he was the coolest thing around!  

 

Kayla is in love with all things Princess. Temples are a perfect place for her! Princesses, aka brides, are everywhere and the atmosphere is simply magical for Kayla!

 

I also couldn't get over the flowers! Temple Square is actually quite well-known for the beautiful landscaping and this trip definitely lived up to the reputation. The beautiful flowers with the Temple in the background were perfect!

There were tulips everywhere! They were breathtaking! Tulips are kind of a joke for Brett and I because while we were dating, we visited the Logan Temple. They had tulips that weren't as impressive. I think tulips can be pretty but would never choose them for a bouquet. I took that opportunity years ago to let Brett know that. His response was, "Well fine, I'll never take you to Holland." Uh, what!? Haha! We joke about that whenever we see tulips now. :)

 

There was a big beautiful tree with a bench, so we snapped a family photo. One of the things I miss about home is the giant trees everywhere. We don't have many large trees down here, except for palm trees of course. 

 

I love this man! 

The Christus statue is one of the most impressive sights at Temple Square. As we walked up to where the statue was, Kayla got so excited! The Spirit that resides in the room there is powerful and reverent. 

  

 

We also met up with our good friends the Jenkins! They lived in our ward down here in the Valley and have since moved back home to Utah. we loved catching up with them, and Kayla was so excited to see her first friend, Clayton.

 

We all had lunch together back at the mall while the kids played in a great little play area. It was really fun to sit and catch up with everyone!

 

When we flew out, we had lots of delays and sat on the plane for an extra hour or so. We were really lucky not to miss our connecting flight, since it was also delayed a couple hours. We were tired and stressed and definitely ready to get home. The kids did alright for traveling so late but it was a rough night. We were really relieved to finally get home, but are already missing so many of our family and friends.