** SURPRISE Papa!! **

We did it! We have been planning this trip to Dallas since January to go down to surprise Dave for is 60th Birthday. Cherrie worked so hard to keep it a secret from Dave- and success! My parents flew down with Dan and I and the girls on a Thursday night. Dave walked in suspecting nothing....and all of a sudden Bailey walks out of their bedroom and you should have SEEN the look on Dave's face. Looked like he had seen a ghost. It was so funny. Of course I had my camera ready, battery charged- but I forgot to check my memory card :( I only got this this picture...too funny

Dave & Cherrie have an amazing pool....but I think Dad was looking for the sun! Believe it or not, we had a lot of rain and grey clouds because we were getting residual hurricane weather as it moved up north to Dallas. But, it did not keep us out of the pool :)

Papa & Bailey

Bailey flying through the air

Fort Worth Zoo- Awesome Zoo!

They are sure pretty, but MAN they stink!

Bailey & Papa

Peyton & Grampie

An Asian Hippo- they were so cool looking !

Carter & Julie

Daddy & Peyties

There was his huge bird "cage" that you could walk into- I immediately thought of Elesa- this would be her worst nightmare!! hehehe Anyways, you could go in and see all the birds and Bailey is feeding one with a stick that had bird food on it. Elesa, maybe this would be therapeutic? hehehe

Cousins- So Cute!

Bailey (5), Peyton (3), Carter (2)

such a cool zoo!

Grammie & Peyton

Grammie Jo & Bailey

Happy Birthday PaPa!!

We went to Fossil Rim, a drive through type-zoo....where animals roam. It took about 3 hours to get through and and it was pretty cool to see the animals in a natural surrounding. We had pellets we could throw out and feed them. We saw tons of animals....here are a few of my favorites.

I loved his markings

New Baby- so cute!

Silly Carter!

Cuties!

Peyton, Carter & Bailey

The Gang!

After lunch, ready for more!

Agh- So Beautiful!

One only animal you could feed from your hand was the giraffe. They are so huge! They made the cars look tiny. It started to rain when we got up to them, but finally they came our way! Everyone got to feed them - it was soooooooo cool!!

He felt like a horse. So so cool!

Everyone checkin' out something cool :)

ready for a nap

Ah! How lucky are we!?! The Connors' were in Dallas for a conference and they were only 15 mins away from Dave & Cherrie's house! They came over one afternoon to hang out & then we went out to see them for lunch. It was so so so great to see them! I could not believe the timing ....that we were both visiting at the same time. Love you guys!

The Connors' & Stachelski's

They say, "You are a lucky person if can count the number of good friends you have on one hand..." and it is true. We are so lucky to have them in our lives. States separate us, but they will never keep us apart.

Bed Time! Book Time!

5.5 hours into the trip....get me off this plane!

Peyton's first attempt to climb a mountain

Sweet view of Mt. Rainier! I had to fight Peyton to keep the window open. I think we were both starting to go stir crazy. Just breathtaking!! Had a great trip to Dallas. I feel like we could be down there for a month....so many people to see & things to do. Until next time- See Ya'LL!