Aunt + Uncle + Cousins = FUN!!

We were so lucky to have Allison and Jeremy and their cute kids come to San Antonio for a visit this summer. Unfortunately for them, the came during our record breaking heat wave. If they were looking to warm up a little, we sure cooked them!! They arrived Wednesday afternoon and after the airlines lost their bag and the rental car company didn't have a car big enough for them, they made their way out to our house. It was great to see them and we began to plan what to do for their trip. They wanted to do SeaWorld and SixFlags of course and also go to the temple, swim at the pool, and visit the riverwalk. Their first day they headed out on their own, armed with directions to David's work downtown (to get the discount tickets from a military friend) and on to Sea World. They were in for some record breaking heat and some unfamiliar (to them) humidity. I believe the record was broken from 1918 and it was 104 degrees that afternoon. Somehow they managed to enjoy themselves...maybe thanks to Shamu for the cooling off and for an extra long car ride home with A/C. As if that wasn't enough they were up for SixFlag the following morning!! What troopers. We had a sweet deal for them for SixFlags (since we're season ticket holders) and they were able to all get in for $32.50!! Thanks to Ethan and Evan for earning free passes through a reading program and for some $10 vouchers from our coupon book! This day was almost as hot, but the Smith family joined in for some real fun!! We hit the water park and stayed cool for 4 hours there...then we were on to the rides...interspursed with water rides to cool off. It was over 100 degrees again, but we had a blast. There were more hands to pass off Camden too and more cousins to ride all the rides with. Everyone got a chance to ride pretty much everything they wanted and the lines weren't too bad for anything. Here's the kids while they were waiting for Allison, Jeremy, Dave, Austin, and Holden to ride the Superman (voted the family favorite!!): Two cute boys ready to swing high:

Evan was so glad to find someone who likes to ride the Waverunner. Allison, McKinley and Jett also rode on this one in another car.

Uncle Jeremy broke down and bought some onion rings and french fries when we were at the back of the park and everyone was getting hungry.

After a long, HOT day and night we left the park and had a great BBQ in the pavillion. We had packed hamburgers and hotdogs with fruit and packed it in a cooler...figuring we'd save about $75 over the cost of park food. And it was wonderful! David's roadside grill from a few years back was again put to good use and we had a great, tastey BBQ to finish off the day. I think we packed into our cars around 9:45 and headed home...a full 12 hour day!!

On Saturday, David had a work project in the morning while the rest of us relaxed!! We had plans to go to the temple, but were just too plan beat to go. We opted for laying around the house and doing not much of anything. The kids enjoyed themselves and played a few games of Sorry with Uncle Dave and Aunt Allison.

That afternoon we had recooperated enough to head to the pool. It was again over 100 degrees but the pool was the perfect place to go. Unlike the pools at SixFlags our neighborhood pool was refreshingly cool and it was a lovely afternoon swim with everyone.

That night the adults headed out for a night on the town. We went to our favorite Mexican restaraunt, Papasittos, and then downtown to the Riverwalk for some tourist fun. It turned out it was the Houston Street Fair that night and so we enjoyed some music (and 1/2 a dance) and street vendors before reaching the riverwalk where we walked and walked in the cooler (90 degree) night air. We got some ice cream at Ben and Jerry's and headed home. Thanks to Ethan and Holden for babysitting...it was a nice break!

The following day was church and resting, which was nice. Holden went to Ethans class and McKinley had both Jett and Paige with her in Primary which was lovely. The kids all played well together and we visited after a nice dinner of pork roast and rolls.

Monday came all too fast, but it was time to pack up the Davenport's and let them go home. The kids seemed to sense the end and had moments of tantrums, but the family got off safely and headed off to Utah. We are so glad they came and we had such a good time. Thanks Alli and Jeremy for making the effort to come...we truly loved it!!