What do you do in Texas?

May/June 2014

So many people ask me what do you do in Texas (including me)?  With no mountains many outdoor activities are eliminated but we sure have found some way to have fun.

-Visit family

Brian's family live in a beautifully forested area outside of Houston.  The trip was meant to help Kadee Lynn transition since she would be with family.  Although, she was still whining and not her happy herself, and then her and Kayson just can't stand each other for some unknown reason.  Kayson gets along with most kids, and Kadee Lynn gets along with everyone too, but man do they fight with each other.  Poor kids.  At least Kallie and the babies are there too for them to play with!  We sure do love how we can see them every few months now rather than every few years!

Grandpa & Grandma Stanworth live 45 minutes away.  They have a beautiful house, with a pool, dogs, and horses!

My brother Kevin moved here in June to join a dental practice.  He lives 40 minutes away.  Kadee Lynn loves when she gets to play with Estelle.  We laugh because they love each other but oh do they fight since they love all the same toys.  Whenever I ask Kadee Lynn if she likes seeing Estelle she says "Yes, its so hard leaving."  Maybe once they stop fighting so much we can do a sleepover.  

Or have family come visit you!  We are always happy to have visitors.  Grandpa & Grandma Johnston visited for 2 very short, but very fun days. It's always a party with my mom!

-Do sports!  

Everyone in Texas does sports.  I mean our city high school football paid for a $60 million dollar football stadium! Colleges in Utah don't even pay that much.  Before we left Utah, Kadee Lynn went to 2 Karate lessons and loved it.  So we signed her up for 1 month of karate here.  She was so cute, and caught on pretty quick.  I was proud of her for learning discipline as I know its so hard for her to sit still, I think it helped her a lot.  She was SO excited when she earned her ribbons for learning different moves, she cuddled her belt the whole way home.

Of course we continue to play her best sport soccer.  She has also played
tennis a few times (when Scott and I play we will throw the ball to her 5 minutes at a time).  She is actually really good at it.

Video of 4th time she played tennis

Golf of course!  If its too hot, go to Top Golf where its shaded, there are fans, and lots of refreshments.

This is how we walk 9 holes so Kadee Lynn can chose which ones she wants to play

Go to Parks!  

Texas has so many kids parks, splash pads, sports parks, nature parks, dog parks, etc.  They are huge and everywhere,  We sure are loving it.

 riding scooter 1 mile to the park! (she made it half way then sat in stroller)

 feeding the ducks

 kids love water up the keester!

At first I thought this park was awesome.  Now I despise it because I can lose her so fast so I'm chasing her around from down below.  Way too big 

The sand volleyball courts have a shaded play area for kids!  Yeah for sand.

BMX park next to our apartments.

Go to the Library!

Even though I grew up going to the library, I had never taken Kadee Lynn to one before.  Just because I didn't have time with working.  I thought Orem and Provo had pretty good libraries.  They might be larger than Allen's library, but Allen's kids activities are awesome.  There is storytime every day/night which includes singing, dancing, and a craft.  Every day there is a different theme craft activity for the kids.  All of this is free.  Then for doing the summer reading program, Kadee Lynn got a free book, free entrance to the aquarium and Legoland Discovery, and a free meal to a restaurant.  We love these activities especially on hot days.  I decided I am never buying a book again.  We get the best books at the library - most are brand new.  And we can buy gently used books for $0.25.  

 To kick off the summer reading program the library had a little free carnival.

Waiting for the crafts to start.

-Theme Parks

If you want to pay, there are a ton of places to go.  Six flags, zoo, petting zoos, aquarium, tons of museums, Legoland Discovery, arboretum, etc.  We decided to get a pass to Six Flags since its the same price for daily admission as it is for a season pass.  Kadee Lynn LOVED the fast rides.  Next time we will have to bring high heels so she can be a little taller.

-Swimming

Because it gets super hot here everyone goes swimming in the summer.  Okay it hasn't gotten over 100 yet and I dying!  This makes summer in Vegas seem like cool weather.  I guess I'm just use to dry heat.  I've never done so much laundry in my life with us always sweating....it's a good thing I have the time to do it now.  :).

Instead of doing play-dates, the moms in our ward do a swim swap.  Since everyone has community pools all the moms and kids meet at a different pool each week.  Kadee Lynn is use to being the popular girl, so she has been having trouble making friends since she has to go up to the kids rather than everyone running up to her.  But I don't blame her, I too hate making new friends - I feel like I'm back in college being the new girl.

We found a wonderful man-made sandy beach on the lake.  It is the best.  Kadee Lynn could stay there all day. The best of both worlds: sand and water!

-Exploring

-And being silly at home

And on those extremely hot days when we need to get out we go to ToysRUs for a few hours, go to the mega golf stores where Kadee Lynn loves hitting balls, Cabelas, and any other air-conditioned store we can think will provide free entertainment.