A Visitor...

If you have been around my blog very long, then you will recognize our visitor last week! Asem, our exchange student from 3 years ago came to visit! She is originally from Kyrgyzstan but has a scholarship to study in the US this semester. It was spring break at her college so she spent it with us.

The kids were waiting anxiously at the airport for her arrival in Houston!

 Lenna and Asem used to play with a set of these so Lenna wore them in honor of her arrival, it was so funny and Asem loved it!

 Some of the first hugs and smiles of excitement!

 It was late when we got back to the beach house, I couldn't resist posting this picture of my sleeping boys the next morning!

 We had to begin the trek home the next morning but not without one more stop on the beach! Asem had never been to the beach, walked in the sand or played in the waves. It was actually a beautiful morning, we would have loved to have stayed longer...

 The kids were sad to head out as well, so they all got wet one more time leaving footprints in the sand full of memories!

 My kiddos and I... sweet memories but we missed daddy being with us.

 There were thousands of these Wind-by-the- Sailors Jellyfish all over the beach a couple of days we were there. Great science lessons! Our second day there, the Portuguese-Man-O-Wars came floating in! YIKES! You can read about them here, we didn't swim that day and watched where we walked carefully!

 One last walk...

From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised! Psalm 113:3

3-2-1... Blast Off

Our Day at the Johnson Space Center

 We had an awesome time but it was PACKED for spring break, I was really thankful I had pre-purchased the tickets online at the cheaper price, otherwise we would have been disappointed with the crowds!

 On the shuttle heading to the mock-up training center...

 Checking out the training area...

 The kids inside one of the rocket blasters!

 The Apollo Wall... Lenna wanted her picture taken with every crew pictures... Here they are with one of the crews...

 Trying on part of a space suit

 Eli loves the space shuttles, we thought this model was cool!

 Ok, living on another planet might be nice if I could really look like this!

I think it is Neptune that your weight decreases significantly... I can't show you the pictures where I gained a couple hundred pounds on Mars!

It was a great day, especially since we studied the universe last semester in school!

We finally arrived... Tuesday afternoon...

Even before we unpacked we had to go check it out...

 So excited to be in the sand and waves...

 

 the joy of little feet...

 Nate loves the waves and the water's edge...

I am so very thankful for the company that we rented from for our time there. Our place was small and simple but right at the beach. When I called to check on a place, I told the woman I spoke with that I only had so much that I could spend and that I knew it might not get me anything but she was willing to work with me and gave us a little house for what we had, decreasing it so we could still come! The kids loved being able to hear the waves when we opened the windows and doors and to run over when ever we wanted to walk on the sand or play in the water. What a blessing!

Fast fun stop on Dallas before we continued on our way...

The American Girl Doll Store!

 We didn't eat at the Bistro but we took a peek! It looked like it would be fun!

 

Eli was fascinated by the little accessories for the dolls.

 Lenna has Josefina and loves all her different dresses.

 Abigayl is dreaming and saving her money for Ivy Ling!

 Even Nate had a good time with a baby stroller to push!

  

The girls had gift cards to spend so they each picked out a pair of shoes and glasses for their dolls. 

This was our first time in a store, wow!

 We also stopped at the Legos store for the boys! This was the only picture I got there but the boys had a blast looking at all the creations they could make!

 

Turner Falls State Park, Oklahoma

 We needed to "wiggle" on our long drive last week, so we made a quick stop at Turner Falls. It was beautiful and we'd love to visit this park again sometime!

Our first stop before the falls was checking out the "castle." This was originally a home built by a rancher in the area.

 We headed on down the trail to see the falls...

 The kids had a great time climbing up the rocks and trails around the falls for a awhile!

 Then we headed back to the castle trail and the kids wanted to go clear to the top. This was the beautiful view from the top!

 We watched the sunset and then headed on down the road...