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8.16.2009

Hill Country Bound!



Here are some photos from our trip to Texas last week.  We had a wonderful time seeing so many people that we love and showing Ava where her Daddy comes from :) We are glad to finally be home after so many nights away, but it was well worth all the traveling and effort.  We had so much fun with everybody!  We spent the first few days in the hill country of south Texas, in Utopia, and then the end of the week in San Antonio.  The story of the week was how blazing hot it was every single day.  100+ most of the time!  I thought I would melt :) But, Ava was a trooper.  She did so well, napping and sleeping at night, and making everybody laugh!  For our first official long-distance trip, it was a great one!  
What a fun week for Travis.  This trip to Texas was all about seeing lots and lots of family and introducing Ava to them for the first time.  Even though it was 7 am, and we had been up since 4 am,  we were all ready for a Texas sized adventure.
Our first flight as a family!  
Minneapolis to Dallas and Dallas to San Antonio.  
Travis had Ava giggling most of the way.  She was quite the ham, smiling at everyone who laid eyes on her :)
Can you tell this girl was excited??  Note to self, always book morning flights from here on out!
Ava was fascinated with the window and this is how we spent lots of time :) She wanted to stand and look out it for the longest time, it was hilarious!
For her first flight, she was an excellent passenger!
This is the first time Ava got to meet lots of her Texas relatives, like aunt Katy!  
We also got to meet Aunt Shaye and Ava's cousins Addie and Dominic.  What a fun week!!
Trav's Aunt Sue picked us up from the airport and took us to lunch at a really great restaurant in San Antonio before we headed to the hill country.  
Ava's Texie brought her a new book to read and we all read it multiple times throughout the week.  ABC board books are the best!  If you look closely, you can see one of Ava's new things...she loves to feel your face while you read to her or feed her.  It cracks me up :) 
Ava loved that new book!
I love this picture because it explains the kind of attention Ava got all week!  There were always an abundance of arms for her and lots of time to ourselves for Travis and I.  Gotta love that!
What do all South Texans do when it's hot??  Go tubing in a river of course!
Daddy and Ava in the Frio river, which wasn't so "frio" in this kind of heat!
I got in with Ava too.
Floating our cares away :) Well, kind of...
Everything about going to the river is out of my comfort zone.  Everything :)  From actually  getting in the river, right down to the rocks and dirt we sit on.  But, I did it and put a smile on my face :) Sometimes "out of your comfort zone" is a good place to be!
Cooling off at Garner State Park.
Both chewing on something!
This big girl surprised us and rolled over for the first time on Monday night!  She rolled from her tummy to her back, twice!  Travis and I got to see it, as well as Texie and Nana.  So fun!!
4 generations.
Trav, his Granny, his Mom and his baby girl.
Granny made the quilt that Ava is laying on for her.   We LOVE it! 
So sweet!
Aunt Katy got her hands on Ava after her morning run :) 
Katy's boyfriend Brandon was a natural with all those kiddos around!
Shaye and Granny.
Katy and Brandon.
Yep, when it hit 104, we broke out the baby pool!  I bought that little pool for $5 at Target and it was great!  Ava loved it and I was glad to have something for her to cool off in.
Why play with toys when you can play with toes?
Have you ever seen a smaller beach ball??  I just loved it!
Nana loved playing with Ava!  She gave me so many breaks all week, it was so nice to have arms to go to :) And, as the hostess of the B&B, she treated us to a great breakfast every morning!!
Not a bad way to spend a hot day!  We were all wishing we were small enough to fit in that pool!
Texie and Ava.
Ava loves her Papa!  Not only because he built her beautiful crib, but because he helped raise her Daddy :) 
Like uncle, like nephew??
Striking a pose after some football in the yard.  Dominic wore Travis out with his endless energy, but Travis LOVED it!!
2 peas in a pod.
Ava and her big cousin Addie.
It was so sweet for us to be able to introduce Ava to her great-Granny and to spend some time with her throughout the week.  It's a blessing to have a great-Granny, Ava will love seeing these pictures one day!
I love you Great-Granny!!

6 comments:

Rebecca Jo said...

She just always looks so happy!!!! I wish I could be that happy on air plane rides!!! :)

Kate said...

Steph, I love all of these pictures! Joe and I are living in Lawton, Oklahoma right now...right on the border of Texas...so I feel your pain with the heat! Your sweet Ava is precious.

petrii said...

Oh my stars Steph, she is just a doll-baby. I know I say that all the time, but it is so true. And that beautiful red hair, gets me every time.

This trip looks like it was a lot of fun and some great fam time. You gotta love that.

Have a Blessed week,
Dawn

Faith said...

Great pics from your trip! I can tell that you guys had such a great time with Trav's family!

Holly said...

So glad you got to come to our "great" state... you decided it was hot huh? Yeah, I pretty much get mad every time I see the forecast probably similar to you in the winter in MN. It really gets to you after awhile like in October and it is still 90 deg. So sad we missed you all, but I could see why you didn't want to do the long drive from Dallas to Utopia. Ava looks so cute and you look great!

Toni :O) said...

Oh my, she is SO cute! My favorite was her standing at the airplane window! hah! I was just in your town...flew into Minneapolis (first time ever) on the 12th for a Tastefully Simple National Conference at the convention center. Fun town you have there, very clean, very nice. I was impressed! Looking forward to returning next July!