Stop 2: Gulf Shores

 We made it to Gulf Shores right at dinner time, so our first stop was a restaurant on the beach!  It was pretty packed, so we took the opportunity to have some beach play time.  Here we are headed to the beach...

First family of 4 vacation pic!

 Jake immediately commented on the beautiful white sand...

 This was Luke's first time to any beach, and he was very happy to be playing in such a large sandbox!

 Finally, we headed to eat a little sandy, and ready fr some seafood!  Here are Jake and Daddy's crab impersonations...

 Yay for making it to our next stop!

Leg 2

Our longest leg was from Houston to Gulf Shores, a little over 8 hours.  Again, I was loaded with lots of road trip fun, and the boys did great.  Here they are with snack/bracelet making...

We decided to stop and take pictures at state lines.  First state: Louisiana...

 Next state Mississippi at a complete rest stop.  This pic was Kevin's favorite:  Luke running across...

 Now Luke's in on the action...

 and Daddy...

Because of construction, we weren't able to get a picture of Alabama on the way in, so we trekked on to the beach!!!

Stop 1: Houston

 Our first stop was Houston to visit the Holmes family.  We became friends with the Holmes before we had kids in the Young Marrieds group at Westover.  Since becoming friends, they have moved to Arlington, and now have settled in the Houston area.  Despite the distance, we try to see them once a year, and now we each have two boys, plus they are expecting a 3rd!  It's fun to visit and watch our families grow together.  Luke definitely loved playing with new toys...

 Here's Jake with Zane...

 Jake was super sweet with Zane...

 They took us to a Skeeters game, and we got the royal treatment with being allowed up in special seating with free dinner!

 Jake and Jake intently watching the game...

 Little brothers, Luke and Zane, would rather play on the stairs than watch the game!

 The boys met Skeeter...

 Just as we were heading out,we checked out the playground at the ballpark.  It was really awesome, so we stopped to play for a while...

 Group shot!

Lawson Family Road Trip Leg 1

We decided to go on our first Lawson family road trip this summer including 4 stops: Houston, Gulf Shores, Shreveport, and Dallas.  We had the best time!  Three of the four stops were visiting friends we don't get to see near enough, and the 4th stop was the beach, so what more could we ask for?  Answer is...nothing, b/c it was awesome.  I worked really hard to prepare for the car rides in hopes things would go smoothly.  I think the preparation paid off b/c the boys did amazingly well in the car.  Here's pics from the first leg of the trip.  Jake holding up his special road trip notebook...

 Big ready-to-go smiles...

Starting work on their first car project.  Luke pretty instantly got marker on his face...

And then we had puppies in the car!

 This is how Luke woke up from his nap just as we were entering Houston...

 Here's the poster child for a road trip if I've ever seen one...

Mt. Playmore

 We recently discovered an indoor play place called Mt. Playmore.  The kids LOVE it.  When Papa and Granmama were in town, they treated us to a day at Mt. Playmore, and the boys had a blast!  The main attraction is a huge climbing area you can see in the background of these pics.  It's too hard to get a picture of the kids climbing in it, but it is big and they love it.  Here's some pics I got of some of the other fun...

Krazy Praizy!

 While Jake was having fun at VBS, Luke and I got to go Krazy Praizy!  It was a farm animal theme, and that was definitely perfect for Luke...

Zoo

 I love summertime!  I love having Jake home, and I love having Kevin home more.  I love spending family time together and doing fun things.  Here are are at the zoo...

Here are the boys roaring like the bears...

 Friendly goats...