Throwback Thursday: Lydia comes to visit!

My younger brother Jeff and sister in law Kelly have a beautiful little girl, Lydia, who is 4 months younger than Louisa. These two are at such fun ages so we were SO excited for them to come visit us in Texas for a long weekend over Mother's Day.

They drove down from Iowa on a Thursday and didn't get in until about 10:30pm, so the girls were already in bed, but they got to wake up to this!!! So much fun!

Wearing matching headbands.

Unfortunately for Lily, she had to go to school on Friday, so she didn't get to play with these cuties, but they sure had plenty of fun without her.

We decided to take the girls to the brand new splash pad that opened up in our neighborhood. I'd taken then girls a few times and they LOVED it, so I thought it would be fun for Lydia as well. I mentioned that just about every time I've gone, it was really busy, so we should go early to avoid the crowd, especially because any older kids would still be in school. Well, we definitely avoided the crowd! It happened to be a VERY cool morning in May and NO ONE was there! Haha! The girls were shivering as they played--torn between their desire to play as long as they could and the discomfort of the freezing cold water. Jeff, Kelly, and I were actually cold sitting watching them, and we weren't even in the water.

Check out those cutie booties!

You can tell they were shivering! Haha! But even though it was cold, they had so much fun playing together!

Finally after about 15 minutes we decided to take them home. We convinced them to leave by telling them they could play in the bounce house when we got home. They were okay with that, and had even more fun bouncing with each other in warmer clothes!

We let the girls play all morning then we headed to Chick-Fil-A for lunch--perfect for these toddlers! The girls had fun eating and playing while the adults chatted. After lunch we all came home and took naps until it was time to pick up Lily for school.

For dinner we decided to take the girls to a fairly new place nearby called Rock n Brews. From the outside it sort of looks like just a biker bar with loud music--not the place for 3 little girls. But it turned out to be perfect! We sat on the patio where they had a bunch of yard games for the kids--giant connect 4, bean bag toss, and a foosball table--where Lily found a very patient older gentleman to play with her for a few minutes. The girls had a great time and it was so nice to have a place for them to play before the food came, and then after they were finished eating, so we could still enjoy our food and talk without interruptions. I'm so sad, though--I didn't get a single photo from that night!

On Saturday, Kelly and Lydia drove down to Waco to visit Kelly's best friend who lives there, so it was just Jeff hanging with his sister and two nieces. A friend of mine is part of a boat club and he let us rent a pontoon boat for the afternoon. We had a blast (although we definitely missed Kelly & Lydia)!

Chillin' with the paci (yes, I know I need to get rid of that thing)

Not sure what Lily and Jeff were discussing here.

The girls had a dance party on the boat with snacks!

Both girls got to drive! The lake was actually pretty empty so it was fun letting them get behind the wheel.

He's such a good uncle to these girls! (He's had lots of practice--he has 4 nieces!)

I made him get in the water the whole time but he was a good sport about it. The weekend before a burned my leg and I still had an open wound, so I didn't want to get in the water.

I mean seriously, I know I'm biased, but how cute is this?!?

Awwwwww! This one is so sweet.

She kept trying to escape. This girl is a fish!

What a fantastic afternoon! We were all exhausted and ready to relax, but it was SO much fun!!

That evening, I got a babysitter to watch the girls (they went right to bed after we left) while Jeff and I walked down to our neighborhood town square. They were playing live music so we bought some Texas beer and sat on the lawn to enjoy the beautiful evening! It's been a very long time since my little brother and I did that--in fact, maybe never!

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day with a fun lunch out. I got gifts, cards, and snuggles from these two cuties. I just love being their mom!! #bestjobever

We enjoyed dinner the last night on the patio with pizza and the girls dancing and jumping in the bounce house. Once again--I failed to get any pics! Ugh!!! I'm going to do better next time!

The last morning right before they left, I did get a few pics of Louisa saying good-bye to Uncle Jeff. These were the sweetest!

And of course she's armed with TWO pacis. Ha!

We had such a great time with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kelly, and Cousin Lydia! We can't wait to see them again in Iowa later this summer!