Summer Bucket List: Day Trippin' to Waco

On Saturday we decided to make a trip to Waco to go to the Cameron Park Zoo.  I had heard so many wonderful things about it so I decided this would be a good zoo to go to for the letter Z on our bucket list.

We arrived at 9am when the zoo opened so we never ran into a large crowd.  The weather was perfect and both kids had a blast.  Aria got to feed a giraffe which she really enjoyed.  I loved watching Quentin just take it all in. It is so fun watching babies see something for the first time.  

After the zoo, we went over to Cameron Park for the letter H - Have a picnic!  I wanted to avoid going out to eat for lunch on our trip and so we packed up an ice chest full of sandwiches, chips, and fruit.  I was so glad we did!  It was a beautiful day and we all really enjoyed eating lunch outside

The letter I on our list was Ice Cream.  We enjoy going out for ice cream as a family, so I knew that when we decided to complete this one, I wanted us to go somewhere outside of our typical places.  So when I found Heritage Creamery in Waco, I knew we had to stop there before heading home.  This place was so good and if you are ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping here!

Waco really has a lot of neat places to explore (words I never thought I would say)!  If you are ever looking for a place to take a quick day trip, I think you would really enjoy all that Waco has to offer.

Summer Bucket List: Game Night!!

On Friday night we decided to check Game Night off of our bucket list.  We enjoyed a very relaxing evening at home which was a nice change of pace considering we are always on the go.

We started with a nice game of Sorry!

Then on to the always popular Candyland.

And a competitive game of Monopoly.

And finally, a modified came of Uno.

Game nights are awesome because they are free and Aria has the chance to practice her sportsmanship.  She has gotten really good at being excited for others when they win.....as long as she can win at least one game. :)  We are still working on that, but baby steps!

Summer Bucket List: Volunteering at the iHouse Market

One of my favorite ministries at our church is the iHouse.  This wonderful ministry welcomes international students who come to study at Texas A&M and organizes all kinds of events to help get them settled into the states - conversation clusters, pot lucks, Texas style cookouts, camping trips, etc.  Jason and I really enjoyed being involved with this group before we had Aria, and after she came, life got more than a little busy so we haven't spent as much time with the group. :) I have made some of the most wonderful friends from all over the world through our involvement with the iHouse.

The iHouse Market is a free furniture giveaway for new international students.  It is so much fun getting to make new friends and help them pick out furniture for their new homes!  Since the letter V on our summer bucket list was Volunteer, I knew this would be the PERFECT event for Aria!  My heart was so happy watching her help with moving furniture, talking to the students, and learning about cultures from all over the world.  She served with such a happy heart!

On Friday we went to the church to help move furniture from the storage unit to the church building.  She loved hanging out with the college students from the AFC!

On Saturday, we arrived to the church bright and early and Aria was so excited!

We immediately met some awesome guys from India, Ayush and Atul! Aria even got to accompany them to their house to help deliver the furniture.  They were so incredibly sweet to her and invited her to have some special treats from India.  I felt so humbled by their kindness. Here we are trying to welcome them to Texas and they so graciously shared a piece of their home with us.

We also met a wonderful family from Mexico and Aria had a blast playing with their son.  They played with the basketball and raced up and down the hallway of church.

What a wonderful day!  I am so thankful for the new friendships we made and loved to watch Aria totally in her element.

Summer Bucket List: Q, U, A, L

This past week Jason's parents were in town and we had specially reserved several of our bucket list activities for while they were here.

Q was for Quality time with Nanny and Opa!  The kids had a lot of fun with their grandparents and as an added bonus, their cousin Hunter got to come down and visit as well!  We had ice cream, cooked out, and spent lots of time watching Disney movies! 

Our activity for U was to go to U-Paint-It!  Aria picked out a unicorn and made sure with the staff at U-Paint-It that it would be "okay to mix the colors."

The letter A was to complete an Art Project (though I'm pretty sure Aria permanently lives in an art project).

Nanny brought supplies to make tie dye shirts.  Aria had so much fun making the various designs and I was surprised at how easy tie dying really is.  Quentin enjoyed sitting back and watching while munching on a baby mum mum.

We also visited the Library which was nice because we haven't been since before Quentin was born.  We all picked out books and even joined the summer reading club.

We had such a fun time with Nanny, Opa, and Hunter and miss them already!