Victoria Ford, John Henry O'Neill, and Rebecca Davis Zavala: June 2019

And we are just getting started...

Summer has just gotten started and the Zavala gang is going for it! I figured with a middle schooler and a kindergartener I better relish these summers.

Dallas Zoo - We used to come here all the time since V is such an animal lover but it was over a year since we went last!

The zoo just welcomed. anew baby hippo!

clowning around at home... when we are not driving all over town we love hanging out in our home

Practicing his putting...

Dancing with Baron

A little summer kickball playdate with the St Marks boys

LCC SJE crew

The Arboretum - the older they get the more they really enjoy it - actually reading the information and learning rather than just looking at the flowers...

Science lab experiment

Our fair city from the treehouse

St. Thomas Vacation Bible School. Rebecca loved it and is still singing the songs, O'Neill is totally over VBS and woke up every morning not wanting to go and Victoria LOVED being a Volunteer In Training for the youngest VBSers.

SLIME

The day after we returned from Watercolor - Dallas was hit with a serious storm. Winds up to 80 miles per hour just tore trees right out of the ground. Houses were without power for days!! Papa and Cecie went 4 days without power. Luckily the Zavala crew had power just a few 10 hours after it went out. JZ was prepared though - generator and headlamps. We all slept in the living room together with fans from the generator. The kids thought it was the best. Unfortunately, the city lost some gorgeous trees.

Trinity Tree Tops

Just a few miles away from our house in South Dallas lies a ropes course with zip lines. There are four different levels from beginner to expert. Victoria showed us her skillz she learned at camp and went onto the next level on her own. Rebecca showed us that she can keep up completing every task she encountered. And O'Neill did great encouraging his little sis. I was skeptical of this family challenge but it was such a fun family adventure.

Watercolor 2019

Same Time Same Place

The kids were excited to get to the beach. And I think they had the best time this year. They each had more autonomy this trip and loved it!

These two getting ready for the trip to the beach! About face

We made it! This girl was enjoying the beach.

On the way to the beach - we stopped to eat at Cheddar's - O'Neill's buddy's parents own the chain of restaurants and we had never eaten there before.

The fisherman (O'Neil) is back and he had fun with the sea life

Got to have a mermaid tail

So glad friends were there to help make it more fun

Friends and Fishermen

Every time there was a flyover of some aircraft the kids all yelled

My favorite view - watching the whole family bike rides

Bonfire and s'mores

Headlight for crabbing and Lindsay photobombing

The yearly pilgrimage to Ducky's

We did not make this sand castle but we did make a few sand pits

Dusk is my favorite time to visit the beach - I love a good sunset

PARTY

These pranksters came in with fake nose rings and earcuffs - nice try ladies but we are too smart for that one!

Eating their crab they caught during the nightly session of crabbing

I had a great time spotting the crabs - until they bit my toes! ouch!

Some of our cooked crab meat

We had to eat at Pickles but man- this might be our last time. After a $90 lunch with no alcohol the girls went to ask for water in their cup of empty lemonade and they said no! what? Come on seaside

The crabbers

The new pool at Camp Watercolor is so fun! There is a lazy river, a large pool with a tall slide and a shallow pool with a smaller slide for the littles. Super fun! It was not crowded at all - the Lakewood Country Club is more crowded on a Friday night!

I shared my favorite breakfast place with the girls on a morning bike ride. Victoria and Mary Kate traded spending the night over at each other's home. Those two had some fun together.