O'Fallon

We got to drive up to Illinois to see Chris' family too!  We made a stop in Memphis to stretch our legs and check out the river walk they have there.  Its a replica of the Mississippi River that you can walk through and its pretty cool.

We had a LOT of fun in O'Fallon.  Nana had an awesome bubble gun that made bubbles INSIDE of a big bubble.  I didn't get a good picture but it was pretty awesome.  

 

 We also got to visit the Magic House!  I'd been wanting to check it out for a while, and I was so glad that Hazel was finally old enough to be able to enjoy it.  

We went to the zoo one of the days we were there too.  There is so much to do in St. Louis!  I love it.

  

There is also a sweet park by Chris' parents house that has a really big splash pad and river that the kids can play in.  I wish we had one like this close to our house.  Hazel LOVED it!  Perfect way to keep cool in the summer.

 Hazel even got to go on the teeter totter with Nana and Amanda.  I think they liked it just as much as Hazel did (if not more).

 

AND... Chris took me out on a date for our Anniversary!!  We went to Fitz's and got awesome burgers and giant glasses of root beer and got to eat and enjoy ourselves WITHOUT baby girl.

 

 Then Chris surprised me and took us to an imax movie at the Science Center that was all about ROBOTS!  I love robots so it was pretty cool and very thoughtful.  We walked around the museum for a bit afterwards and it was so fun to be able to hang out, just the two of us.

 

 

 I love my cute husband!  And our baby girl, of course.  And our family!  I'm so grateful we've been able to visit family so much this summer!

Camping at Dauphin Island and our 3rd Anniversary

Since we were finally all back together again and we didn't have work or school (I got laid off while I was in CA), we decided to go on a camping trip for our anniversary.  We had heard about a place called Dauphin Island and wanted to check it out.  

It was a pretty cute little island with a nice campsite.  The water wasn't quite as nice as it is across the bay in AL, but it was still fun to be out camping and to be on the coast.  

 

 We got our tent set up and Hazel started pressing her face up against the netting.  Hilarious.

 We went on a little walk at sunset and took some pictures.

 

 

 It was all fun and games, until night fell and it DIDN'T COOL OFF.  It was SO HOT and SO HUMID... When we first got to the campsite I noticed all the sites had electrical outlets... I thought that it was cool, but didn't realize the necessity until that night.  They all have outlets because everyone brings fans... or A/C units.  We happened to have a tiny portable car fan, but it wasn't enough!  I guess I should have known better.  I mean, who goes camping in the south in the middle of July?

 Needless to say, it was a LONG miserable night.  We stripped Hazel down to her diaper but she was so hot and so tired that she was just rolling around our little tent, and not falling asleep.  Chris and I were pretty miserable too.  We ended up taking Hazel on a drive in our air conditioned car and when she finally fell asleep we didn't want to risk waking her up to move her into the hot tent.  So we slept in the car all night, with it running so we could cool off enough to sleep.  Ha!  Crazy, right?

 The next morning (our actual anniversary) we took a ferry over the bay and spent the day in Gulf Shores, where the water is a little more blue and a lot more beautiful.  This trip was a little crazy but a funny memory that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Home Again!

Chris got into NOLA a few hours before Hazel and I (on July 2), and was nice enough to wait for us, even after a long red-eye flight.  Our friend picked us up from the airport and we all headed back to Hattiesburg.  It had been a LONG 6 weeks and we were so excited to have our husband/daddy back.  He had grown out his beard while he was down there, and even though we skyped all the time while he was there, Hazel was a little apprehensive about his facial hair when she saw him again. 

He brought back some cool presents for us too.  Hazel got a new little purse and she LOVES it... and she and I both got some really pretty traditional bracelets.  He also brought back a cool instrument that Hazel wanted to play.  We LOVE having him home!  

 

Also,  Hazel finally WALKED ON HER OWN!  The whole time we were in California, she was pretty much walking, but would only do if if she could hold onto your pinky finger or something... As soon as she was on her own, she would immediately drop to her knees and crawl.  She either couldn't get the confidence to do it on her own or she was just waiting for her dad to come home so he could be there to witness her first steps... because on July 4, she did it... She basically started RUNNING, and it SO FUN!

Part VI: Foster Family Reunion in St. George

June 27-July 1, the last week of our trip, we drove up to St. George for our Foster Family Reunion.  We went to the lake, went swimming every single day, went to the splash pad, and played non-stop the whole time we were there.  It was fun to see Chris and Mikelle's family before we headed back to Mississippi, but we missed Trevor and Roxanne. 

Playing games at the house.

The view from our balcony in Santa Clara

Sand Hollow with the family.

Jorli and Drew

Tate and Hazel, and Hazel's belly :)

More stairs to climb!

Hazel with her bff, Jake.

Cade and Hazel at the splash pad.  I wish we had something like this in MS!

Charly and Hazel

Kaylee, Malia, and Kennedy at the splash pad.