Enchanted Rock

We took the boys on our first official hike to Enchanted Rock.  It was about a 2 mile round trip so we thought we could handle that.

Everyone had to carry their own water, which was a huge relief to the backs of the parents.  It was fun sharing our love of the outdoors with the kids.  We talked about trail preservation, how to hike, etiquette, and beef jerky.  They actually enjoyed that after tasting it.

Crash loved this outing!  He is quite the hiker.

Hooray we made it to the top!

In addition, to their water bottles they all decided that had to bring a stuffed animal hiking.  Don't ask.  My chatty children made friends with some women visiting from the east at the summit.  They talked these ladies' ears off telling them about tadpoles, stuffed animals, and dinosaur bones.  Thank you ladies for listening to my children!

The nice ladies took a great family picture at the top!

We finished off the day with lunch in the park and a little birding.  It was a fun day!  We look forward to doing it again.

Homeschool Day at SeaWorld

SeaWorld had a homeschool day that we attended.  It was a significantly reduced rate than the usual admission.  There were no rides, but there was lots to see.

Here we are in a our "school uniforms"- our Lego Star Wars shirts.  

I had each of the boys carry a backpack with their own lunch and water.  Brilliant plan on my part.  I did end up carrying Wingman's by the end, but still a lot lighter than lugging 4 lunches and 4 bottles of water in my backpack.

There's a diver in the water feeding the fish.  They loved watching him.

Every where we go we have to have a map for each boy.  They love maps.

We saw the home for the sea lions.  They were putting on quite the show.  They were barking loudly and swimming all over.

Instead of the usual theatric shows they put on, we saw a more educational version.  They demonstrated how they trained the animals.  They brought out some younger whales and sea lions that are training to be in a show some day.  It was a fun day for all!

When we got home, Wingman had to make his own stadium out of blocks for all his dolphins, whales, and sea lions to have a show.  I forgot to take a picture, but it was great.  Apparently, our collection of animals does not include beluga whales so the manatees had to fill in as beluga whales.  That boy has an imagination!

Thank goodness for big brothers

Most nights the Captain reads to the boys.  We are talking 45min to an hour of reading.  I don't know how he does it (my voice tires after about 25 mins), but the boys look forward to it every night.  

One night just as book time began, the Captain had to deal with something at the front door.  I can't remember what I was doing, but I came in to find the Test Pilot had taken over and was reading to his brothers.

They loved every minute of it.  Sweet boys!

Game on

Soccer season has been going well.  I am at the part where I am ready for it to be over.  Both boys have been blessed with great coaches and good teams.

Here's a picture of Crash's team on picture day.  The big boy standing to the right of Crash is G.  We love G. He is a good soccer player, which is even more amazing given his size.  But more than that, he has taken little Crash under his wing. 

Let's just say Crash is not the most attentive player out there on the field during a game.  He gets distracted by many things like spectators, clouds, telling super hero stories to another child, etc.  Enter G.  He literally will grab, pull, or point Crash to where he is supposed to be.  Crash loves him and probably appreciates the help.  It just warms this mama's heart to see a child helping out my boy.  

Here's the Test Pilot on Team Newcastle United.  They used professional league team's name for the kids' team names.

Here's our team.  We have great coaches.  They balance each other well.  One guy yells in Spanish and the other in English.  It's pretty funny to watch the kids faces as they try to interpret the yells.

Here's the Test Pilot in his goalie garb.  He loves being goalie and has learned a lot this year.

Wingman is excited, because we learned that he gets to play next spring.  Watch out!

Heritage Day

Our local college hosted a Heritage Day describing life on the pioneer in the 1800's in the this area.  I had planned on taking the Test Pilot as a field trip, but when we discovered that Crash's school was going too, we decided to tag along.  

Here is Mountain Man Moses.  He was very interesting.  He demonstrated setting traps, skinning animals, making clothing out of the hides, knife throwing and much more.  The kids loved it.

There were various goats and miniature horses around to pet, which peaked the interest of Wingman.

Crash's class just looked adorable in their matching outfits.  I am a sucker for that sort of thing.

Here they are making rope.

The whole class plus my kids got roped.  That guy was very talented.

We went in a teepee for story time.

The guy gave a very balanced perspective of the Indian vs. White Man pioneer life.  All these speakers really had the kids' attention.

It was a fun and educational day.  We look forward to going back next year.

Sorry for the absence

We will just have to blame this blog absence on him or her.  We are expecting another baby next April.  I have been feeling pretty nauseated and very tired for awhile.  However, the nausea is now gone and the fatigue is easing a bit.

So far everything is going well for both baby and mom.  I am going to try and do better to check up with some posting this weekend.

Corn Maize

Our local homeschool group took a field trip to the South Texas "Maize".  It's a 7 acre corn field with a maze built in throughout.  

They do split the maze into 2 halves.  The Test Pilot, of course, had to do the longer portion first thing.  That boy loves a challenge!

While in the maze, you have to look for numbered posts that give you directions so you can escape the maze. It took us 35 minutes for the longer portion.  And it was very muddy.  The Test Pilot had a great time.

Wingman loved the corn popper.  A big air bag that you could jump on.  They had fun doing that with their friends.

We took a hayride around the owner's farm property.  We learned about cotton picking, pumpkin picking, and hogs.

What's life without a barrel train driven by a tractor.  The boys did this twice.  Mommy gracefully bowed out of this ride.  I don't think I would have fit.

We finished off the day with some great kettle corn for the long drive back home.  They had fun and want to come back.  Mommy is going to need a few days to recuperate from that field trip.

PS-  I got sunburned in October.  Agh!