Newton and Jennifer's Wedding

My brother and his lovely wife got married this afternoon.  The wedding was uniquely casual.  Everyone, including the bride and groom, wore t-shirts they had made stating their relationship to the happy couple.  Ella and Emma were honored (or should I say ecstatic) about being the flower girls.

The original plan was for Emma and Ella to sit by me after they walked down the aisle.  That's how we rehearsed it.  Then, after they walked down the aisle, they turned to me and said, "Mommy, when do we get to stand on the stage by Jennifer?"  What could I say?  "Ummmm... right now."  So, they sat on the steps for most of the ceremony and really did a very nice job.

 The ceremony began with the preacher quoting from "The Princess Bride." He did a great impersonation, which had everyone cracking up.

The reception was lovely, with lots of nice visiting.  After it was over, most of my mom's family came over to our house for pizza and more visiting.  It was a wonderful day!

Handing out the bubbles:

June Swimming and Crafts

Our young families group at church had a night at one of the area public pools.  What a great night of swimming and fellowship.  Ella really loved the water slides and went down them several times.  Emma was not so sure about them.

 The girls have been begging me to teach them to sew.  So, I decided to start with loop loom pot holders.  We had fun learning how to make these.

Ella persisted and completed her pot holder:

Port Aransas Day 6 & 7

Family time at the beach:

Cousins: Emma, Ella, Price, Caroline, Annie

 Family Picture:

 Playing in the sand:

 They convinced Uncle Micah to let them bury him, with a little help from the dads.

 Brothers:

 Then came fun in the pool:

 One of the few times Emma let Daddy throw her into the water:

 One of the many times Ella begged Daddy to throw her into the water:

 Day 7: Cousins Photo shoot wearing the new clothes Memaw bought before everyone headed home.

 Saying goodbye to this lovely place:

 Sunset on part of our 12 hour drive home:

Port Aransas Day 5

Today we took a little trip to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi.  We all had fun watching the animals, and even getting to touch some of them.

 Petting the Sting Rays:

 Emma's Wing Span:

 Ella's Wing Span:

 Looking at the sharks:

 Dolphin Show:

 First picture they wanted me to take:

 Looking at the seahorses through a bubble in the aquarium:

After we'd made our way through the entire aquarium, we let the girls play in the Splash Zone for about an hour.  (Emma is wearing the blue Ariel swimsuit, while Ella has on the colorful striped swimsuit.)

 Digging for fossils:

 Back to the water:

The large bucket just tipped over:

 They each got to pick a toy to bring home.  In the car, we actually named the stuffed animals (a first for us.) I helped Ella come up with a name for her seahorse- Shelly.  Emma didn't like any of my suggestions, but after I mentioned the name Daisy she said, "No Mama, her name can't be Daisy because it is Rose."  We were just ecstatic that they had a name other than dolphin or seahorse.

When we were all worn out, we headed home, taking a slightly longer route so the girls could experience a ride on the ferry.  (Of course, we had to wake them up to see it, but they really did want to see it.)

Next, a stop for some tasty ice cream at a cute little shop.  Emma, Ella, and Mommy took a moment to pretend to be mermaids on the way inside.

And we ended our day with a  sunset dip in the ocean.

Another great day of vacation!