Five!!

Guess "how many" the buddies are today!?

That's right...five! We started the day with chocolate chip pancakes. Some of us were so excited that we felt the need to protect our heads while eating.


Then, there were cupcakes and special ribbons at school, followed by an early pick-up and picnic with Mom, some playground time, and a quick trip to our gym where our much-loved kid's zone staffers doted on the buddies even more than normal.

But the best part was a night out at a "real" restaurant.

Ben did a happy dance at the front door.

And Dad pulled himself away from work to meet us!


Happy, happy birthday Ace and Ben!!

A Little History Lesson During Today's Bike Ride

It's always good to stop and read the "hysterical markers" (as my Pop calls them). Especially when they involve trains. This is a cool one and if you are inclined to read more about it, you can do so here.

You Know Your Kid is Hard Core When...

Ten minutes into a bike ride, he takes a header into the creek (bike and all). I fished him and his bike out, wrung out his shirt, picked the algae out of his spokes and asked him if he wanted to ride the 1/2 mile back to the car and go home.


"No Mom. I want to ride some more." And so we did. For two more hours.

Luckenbach, Texas

Luckenbach, Texas
Where Everybody's Somebody

Today's adventure took us to Luckenbach, Texas, a tiny town made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. The little town, population 3, is nothing more than a general store, an outdoor stage, and a dance hall. Blink, and you'll miss it. And don't rely on road signs to direct you there - they are stolen all the time by ornery tourists.

The buddies and their cousins enjoyed exploring the wide open spaces, throwing rocks in the river, climbing trees, and our picnic lunch. We ended the day with front row seats to Thomas Michael Riley and Mike Blakely's Cowboy Sunday. The music was great and we listened and clapped and danced until our little folks lost interest and ran off to chase a rooster.

More pictures here.

Canoeing

Today was free paddle-boat day at our local YMCA. I surprised the buddies with a trip down to the pond to take one out for a spin. But, the nice camp leader filled us in on the scoop. Apparently, the ducks spent much of the winter season in the paddle boats and they didn't think to check them earlier in the week. Shoo-wee! So, they offered us a canoe instead. Even though it has been years since I've rowed anything, we decided to give it a go. Luckily, it was just like riding a bike. We paddled around the pond with ease. The buddies mainly used their paddles to splash me.

Strawberries are here!

After a long, unusually cold winter, we are officially declaring Spring's arrival. Because for us, it isn't really Spring until we had a chance to pick berries at our favorite farm.

Today, as usual, the buddies quickly became the filthiest children there. They were covered in dirt and strawberry juice as they raced from row to row, collecting the ripest, juiciest berries. Someone even managed to SIT on a strawberry, reaching new levels of griminess.


But, I received a friendly tip from a woman in the check-out line who marveled at our grubby clothing. Just dip the clothes in boiling water and the strawberry stains lift right off. It worked like magic!

More pictures here.

The Capitol 10,000

12 weeks of training. 135.5 miles logged. All to be ready to race a fun 10K in a tutu with one of my favorite cousins. The results? 58:42 for me and 57:56 for my faster cousin, who left me in her dust at mile marker 5. The best part? High-fiving our five kids a few yards short of the finish line.

Bluebonnets

Thanks to heavy Fall rains, the wildflowers in Central Texas are spectacular this year! After 2 amateur photo shoots and 137 photo attempts, these are the best. We may try one more time...

Happy Easter!

We've been up since well before dawn. The ten eggs that the Easter Bunny hid in the playroom to buy some extra sleep time for the parents didn't last long. And we've already had a bloody nose all over one of the fancy new Easter shirts so dressed up pics will come later. Until then, here's the one photo I snapped of the buddies before they pulled everything out of their baskets.


And the baskets, minus one chocolate bunny:

Anotther Sea World Adventure

We spent the day with some good friends at Sea World, celebrating the buddies' friend's 5th birthday. Along with the entire San Antonio population on this beautiful Saturday of a holiday weekend. Woo-wee, it was crowded!

We hit our usual line-up of shows and rides and also cooled off with the penguins.


Next trip, we're wearing our bathing suits. Spring is on the way out and we're ready for summer.