Thanksgiving

The Bowman Gang

 For Thanksgiving all of the Bowman side of the family came to Texas to celebrate together. Unfortunately we threw a bit of a wrench in the reunion with car problems and finding out the day before we were supposed to leave that Don needed to stay in town to work on a project over the holiday week-end. But my big brother Bob came to the rescue and drove down from Dallas at 3:30 am to get me and the kids back there in time for the family photo shoot. He is a rock star :-)

 Bob holding his nephew Elijah

We missed Don tons, but had such a great time with all my siblings, parents and cousins. It has been a few years since we were all together and we had a bit of catching up to do. First order of business was meeting this new little guy, Elijah. We all had so much fun holding Scott and Jenny's newest addition. He is such a sweet baby!

Elijah, Jean and Luke

The days went by too fast, filled with good food, visits to parks, family pictures and so much fun with each other. I love my family!!


Ben and Michael catching up



Trevor and Alex




 

Luke, Isaac and Jean at the park

  

Anna, Jake and Veronica



Abby and Hayley at Cedar Hills State Park for Hayley's school project



Pretty Becca



Crazy cousins on Grandpa



Sleepover breakfast with Grandpa

 

Trev and Michael spinning at the park

 

Our models, Ashlynn and Trevor



Uncle Ben taking Jake for a spin

Hayley, Becca, Abby

Luke

Cousins!!







The Beach

Friday we went to Galveston Beach with my brother and his family. It was fantastic! We got there early, found a prime parking spot for the car and our stuff on the beach.

Luke excited to be out of the car at and the beach!

The waves were incredible, bigger than anything I remember in recent trips to the beach. The kids had so much fun riding the waves. Luke was crazy over the "bubbles" the surf make, just giggling and pointing, yelling bubbles over and over.


 


Jake running in the surf

  

Luke losing his suit in the water

Hayley and Luke cooling off in the water



Luke loving the water



Riding the waves



Playing in the water

Of course there were hours spent playing the sand, building and digging, searching and finding shells and partial sand dollars.

Bob and Cynthia relaxing on the beach

Luke building in the sand

Alex and Anna filling their pails

It was a perfect day at the beach!

COUSINS!

What better way to end the summer than with a fun visit from the cousins. My brother Bob's family came down from Dallas Thursday night for a long week-end and we had so much fun.  We played, swam, went to the beach, had sleepovers, ate great food, and swam some more.  Friday we had a blast at the beach in Galveston.




Jake and Anna at the beach


Bob got a fun hotel room with some vouchers he had for a two of the nights which was a great treat.  So Friday night we had a Girls + Jake Sleepover at the hotel and Cynthia painted crackle nails on the girls.  We slept in dreamy beds, had so much fun talking, giggling and playing, and had a fantastic breakfast and lazy morning.

Anna at the Girls + Jake Sleepover

Anna, Jake and Ashlynn at breakfast

Poor Bob's morning wasn't quite as peaceful...Michael conned him into playing three hours of basketball early Saturday morning before heading over to swim with us.  Wouldn't you want a 6'7" uncle on your team?!  But it sounded like they had a lot of fun. Later we had a great time swimming together at the pool, and Bob was able to relax some in the hot tub.



Trevor, Michael, Ashlynn and Cynthia chilling at the pool

 


Jake, Anna, Bob, Abby  and Hayley having fun in the hot tub
while Luke splashing in the shallow part of the pool




Trevor styling with Uncle Bob's shades


Later we went back to the house and grilled hot dogs and played.  We ended the day by having a late night swim at the hotel.  There is just something fun about swimming in the dark by the lights of the pool.  Trevor stayed with Alex and Ashlynn and Bob and Cynthia at the hotel that night & the rest of us headed home.  Early Sunday I took the kids back to the hotel for a fun breakfast of carb overload before grabbing my kids and bringing them back to the house to get ready for church.  Bob and the gang met us back at the house for a little last bit of fun and then they headed home. 




Carb overload...snuggling after breakfast

By the time they left Sunday, everyone was worn out but still didn't want the fun to end. It was such a great visit!

Fun with Cousins

The week after school got out, Michael was at basketball camp and I took the other kids up to Dallas for the week.  We got there just in time to celebrate Anna's birthday in style. 



Getting ready to party!



Anna and Luke excited to get the party started!



Happy Birthday Anna!


We spent lots of time swimming and doing crazy stunts like sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags (Cynthia and Bob might not ever leave me in charge again - ha!)



Abby and Hayley



Abby taking Luke for a swim





Trevor preparing to ride the stairs

Luke loved playing with his cousins and all their fun toys.  This picture was typical Luke for the week, always wearing goggles around his neck when we were at the house.  He loved swimming every morning!

Goggled Luke giving his baby cookies

Trevor, Alex and Bob went to 11 yr old Scout Camp.



Trevor leaving for camp

Alex

We played with Grandpa and Grandma.  



Grandpa



Grandma

Playing Ping Pong with Grandpa

It was a great trip and a fun way to kick off the summer! 

Quick Trip

This week-end we made a quick trip to Dallas, despite Hayley still recovering from the flu.  She was a real trooper & thank goodness, no one else has gotten sick!  We had fun playing with cousins and seeing grandparents and aunts & uncles. 

We got to take in lots of basketball games on Saturday.  First watching Alex, then Abby play in their games. 

Alex & Trevor

Abby

After Abby's game we headed to TCU to watch the BYU/TCU basketball game.  We had a blast watching Jimmer & the Cougars play. 

After the game we headed back to Bob & Cynthia's for a fun pizza party where we ate, played games and even watched a little more Allstar basketball. 

We came home Sunday afternoon, so it was a super short trip, but full of great memories!