December Visit to Jasper/Silsbee

Hey there! Here we are with another update. This from early December - Kinsey and Darin's visit to Jasper and Silsbee. It was about a 4 1/2 hr drive, and Kinsey did ok, as long as Mommy was frequently changing out the DVD selection. If it was on Elmo, she wanted Wiggles and if it was Wiggles, she wanted Boz. She gets restless in the car just like her parents. Anyway, we made it and we had a really great few days - although we both really missed Daddy.

By far Kinsey's favorite place to be anytime is outside, and Grammy and Poppi's house was an outside paradise! So much to see and do. The biggest hit was probably these guys...We have fed several different kinds of ducks at various ponds - usually we take a loaf of bread and toss it to them. But Kinsey was fascinated to learn that these ducks eat corn. Every day she would say "Feed ducks corn. Not bread."

So the ducks live in this pond that Poppi built - he's sort of a master at enhancing nature :). Anyway, we spent quite a bit of time talking to the ducks down at the pond. Then in late afternoon, Poppi would get his duck call and the corn and call them in to eat. Here are Kinsey and Poppi getting the corn ready......and here are the ducks chowing down. Kinsey loved getting the corn and throwing it, and she loved hearing the ducks quack. Her other favorite spot was at the swing down by the waterfall. Here are Kinsey, Grammy, Poppi, and Laser enjoying the swing.For some reason she is really into rocks these days. Finding big ones and "wittle ones" - and these were fascinating as well. Here are some fun shots of Grammy and Kinsey just hanging out. And here they are with Poppi at a bridge he built. Kinsey had a blast walking over it and throwing leaves down into the creek below. She is a serious nature kid. Most of the time she was happy to just walk around with the dogs close at her heels. They are about on eye-level with her so it was kind of a new experience for her since she's more used to Bullet, our cat, who is MUCH smaller and MUCH less interested in her. One of the days we were there, we drove over to Silsbee to visit the rest of the fam. On our way, we stopped in at the First United Methodist Church in Jasper, which is where Douglas and I got married nearly 8 years ago that day, and we visited with Linda and Conya at the office. We took a few pics of Kinsey inside with the pointsettias. It looked very much like it did when Douglas and I got married - such great memories. By the way, this is the "cheese" face. We've got to come up with a new word so we can get an actual smile instead of this sort of pained look :)
So after a quick stop at Sonic we headed for Silsbee. When we got there, we couldn't wait to see Aunt Janel's new house. Her old house was destroyed during Hurricane Rita (the one you don't hear about as much) and it took a really long time for her to be able to rebuild. She and Andrew and Laura and Gregory have done so much to the place - it is awesome and we are so glad that they are settled.

So Laura went a little shopping crazy and got Kinsey a huge Elmo bag of clothes and Sesame Street materials including Christmas ornaments, a lunch box, and coloring books. Kinsey kept saying "nuther present!" and pulling them all out.

Here's one of the outfits. It would take the whole blog to show them all, but you'll see them in future blog pictures for sure! Then it was time to play outside. I have to admit I don't know the details here - Grammy took the camera outside while I stayed inside and took a quick nap on Janel's comfy couch. Here's Laura and Kinsey on the swing. And here they are again with Laura's dog Katie. And here's Kinsey with Ganny - I'm thinking by her face that this is like the 100th picture that Grammy took :).So after the outside fun, we went into Ganny and Bill's house and had some early Christmas. By the way, I wish I could play an audio of Kinsey saying "Ganny and Biullll" - she is SO country!!! Anway, here's Kinsey showing off her ball from Canada. She LOVES balls these days and is really having fun learning to throw and kick. So she was very excited to get a ball in her gift bag. Then Ganny found Santa hats and you know how my daughter loves her accessories!!! Here she is with her new butterfly rack. And then she discovered this reindeer in a corner and totally fell in love. She held it forever and was not as interested in presents as she was in loving on her reindeer.And here's a 4 generations picture from our visit.It was so great to get to spend time with everyone and we can't wait to go back and see them again.

Ok, still more December pictures to come...stay tuned! And don't forget to check in Friday to find out if Kinsey will be getting a little brother or a little sister this summer!