Part 4

For anyone (except family) that is reading this you are probably sick of reading all of about our summer.  I am doing this for our family scrapbook.  Every three years I print our blog using blurb.com so this is my way to keep a history of our family. There are still a lot of our summer left to blog about so you can continue reading or wait awhile until I get caught up.

We loved our time in Houston and being able to see so much of our cousins, Matt's bro Don and his wife Jean and Matt's parents Don and Diane. We were so lucky to be able to intern in a city where there was so much family and so many things to do.

Matt was there for 10 weeks and we were able to stay there for 5 weeks which was long to be living in a small two bed one bath house.  It sure beat staying in a hotel for that long though.  At least we had a place to call our own and we didn't share any walls with anyone so the kids could be as loud as they wanted.

Our house was a perfect house for us for the summer.  Our landlord lived right next door and the house was completely furnished with a few extras.  She brought over a bunch of toys, kids books, a baby rocker and a toddler bed for Mallory. She would even stop by and see how we were doing and see if there was anything we needed. The house was built in the 1940's and we liked to imagine living there and raising our kids there in the '40s. 

Me and the kids weren't able to make it to the Mangum Family Reunion in May so we reenacted a mini reunion once we got there.  We all wore our reunion t-shirts down to Kemah Boardwalk which is a small amusement park on a pier on the gulf of Mexico.  It was so cool to be so close to the water.

 Mallory and her grandfather, Dede.

Our great view of the water at lunch.  All of the kids sat together on one side of the table and the adults on the other.  They were all so well behaved.  Don and Diane brought three of Don and Jean's kids with them.  Occasionally we would get comments on how many children we have so close in age. Trevor (12), Haley (10), Jake (7), Max (7), Mallory (3), and Clay (1).  It made us laugh when they assumed they were all ours. 

 Here is Mallory with Mimi/Diane on the Carousel.  But me and Mallory's favorite ride was the ferris wheel.  Most of the other kids (and adults) were afraid of the heights so we went on it by ourselves a few times.  There was an adult on the ride in front of us who had to be taken off because he was so scared. It was so cool to be so high above the ground and all you can see around you was water since you were just feet from the ocean.  It was an awesome feeling and I was so proud of Mallory.

 The water fight with the cousins and Dede.

 My cute babies after a bath on Mallory's Cars bed that our wonderful landlord put in the house just for us.

I LOVE Mallory's face on this slide at Astro's Park.  It was such a long slide that I had to zoom in to capture this photo.  She still had another 20-30 feet left. But she loved it and did it over and over again.

 The Astro's game.

This is what happens when you give a piece of chocolate to a one year old on the way home from church to make him happy.  I think it worked.

I share a birthday, July 8, with my sister-in-law Jean and we have been together for quite a few of them sine we always seem to have reunions over our birthdays.  It is fun to celebrate with her. We had two cakes, presents and of course Blue Bell Ice Cream.

The Houston Downtown Acquarium wasn't the biggest or the best acquarium we have been to, but it did have an awesome White Tiger.  We thought it was wierd too, but it was worth taking the tour to see them at the end. They were so big and beautiful.

Another highlight of the acquarium was eating among the fish and sharks. The restaurant surrounds a huge tank so you get to view the fish while you eat. 

Since we lived so close to Don and Jean, we spent a lot of time with them at their house and at the church building.  It was a great, big place where the kids can run around and burn off their energy. We brought all sorts of toys like balls, parachutes, and hockey equipment. 

Their oldest Michael is a really good basketball player and all Clay wanted to do was play basketball with him.  Thanks Michael for letting him shoot hoops with you.

Next and Last Post: Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory, NASA Space Center, Houston's Children's Museum, Galveston Beach, Matt's Office, and the Houston Temple.