Schoessow Family: Swimming & Calling Cows

I'm a little behind in posting this but the weekend of the 11th the girls and I went to visit Aunt Wendy and her family. They have a few amazing swimming pools that are a ton of fun to play in unlike our neighborhood which, sadly, has no pool at all. Chris had to stay in San Antonio because of a seminar that lasted half of Saturday which meant that I was on "Addie Duty" which is difficult even when shared. The result was that I got no pictures of Addison in the pool but we had fun times - starting with her deciding to sit down in the play pool so that the water would go over her head except for the very tip top of her pony tail (mommy to the rescue), and ending with her fearlessly jumping into the adult pool with her legs straight out so that they typically caught me right in the stomach or ribs if I couldn't move to the side quick enough. She went down the slide, got dumped on by the big bucket and played with the water wheels and noodles in between. Nora loved floating with Aunt Wendy but couldn't stay in long (even with sunscreen I'm paranoid about little baby skin). Grandma was there to take care of her in the shade. Charles had fun jumping into the big pool too but didn't want to try the slide this trip. Abigail made it a little late to the pool because she was doing a buld a bear with Aunt Misty. The best thing was they all took AMAZING naps that afternoon! Our other cousins were on a fun trip in Colorado so we missed having them there but we can't wait for next time - we love those splash days!

A weekend in El Campo wouldn't be complete without riding the toy horse at Grandma and Grandpa's, visiting some of Grandpa's "baby calves" (which Addie says in a tiny voice while cupping her hands like a cradle rocking them back and forth and finishing up with a "I want to pet them - come here baby calves"), and feeding the bulls. We wanted to ride the combine but Grandpa had stopped because of green milo by the time we got back from swimming - hopefully next trip we'll have better luck. Instead of riding the combine we drove out to some of Grandpa's pastures so Addie could see the calves. Grandpa taught her to call them "Sue cow -wooooo" which she immediately started to repeat. I cracked up because she was doing this while wearing her princess crown which grandma had clipped into her hair before we left. Sadly I didn't bring the camera. Picture a two year old with her head out of the Expedition's window (we were stopped on a country road so no seatbelt necessary for a short time) in her PJs with a tiarra on her head saying "Sue cows -wooooooo, come here Grandpa's cows, woooooooooo. Mommy look, it's more cows over there, woooooo. They are walking. Come here baby calves, I want to pet you. Sue cows- woooooo." Her little face showed that she wanted with all her heart to be able to pet those smelly cows. There was one cow and calf right next to the fence so I got Addie out and walked up to them. Of course, the calf ran right away and the cow stepped back several steps before turning around to walk away too. It was enough for Addie though, she was excited and pleased about seeing them up close. Twice during the week she woke up taking about the mommy cow at the gate (which is a fence in Addie speak). She'd tell me all about how it walked away but that she got to pet the baby calf (this part happened only in her dreams). She gets so excited and satisfied with herself after telling me about it that I'm certain she is convinced that she really just saw this cow and her calf again - too sweet! When we got back to San Antonio the girls were so happy to see their dad. Addison was feeling generous and shared her red horse, Rody, with Nora. He's probably a little more appropriately sized for Nora than Grandpa and Grandma's horse. Nora was thrilled when Chris bounced her up and down on that thing - big smiles the entire time:)

Mommy and her girls - all in green suits by chance. Mine is a few years old and the girls got theirs (as did all their cousins) from Grandma on the landcut trip.