Enchanted Rock

We played hookie from work and school this past Wednesday to take a 2 hour road trip to Enchanted Rock, a bit north of Fredericksburg, TX. The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. The weather was wonderful 70 degrees and sunny, but very windy especially at the top of the rock.Elizabeth is a natural billy goat. I don't think she stopped running or climbing all day. Ava was a bit more timid, but walked all day.

Even Casey tried his hand at bouldering, but I was afraid he was going to crack his head on a rock. So while he walked the entire trip to the top, he did have to hold onto my hand most of the time.

What is a hiking trip without a little bit of adventure? Enchanted rock also has a 1000 ft long cave. Probably not the smartest idea with three small children and one flashlight, but what the heck. Plus, I would never pass up the opportunity to explore a cave.

"In a cavern, in a canyon, Excavating for a mine."

The kids did really well. The girls listened to all our directions, and we were easily able to help maneuver them through the cave. They weren't scared of the dark and there was minimal whining out of Ava. Casey was a bit more squirmy and kept wanting to grab the flashlight, but he was a real trooper. We covered most of the cave, but did take an alternate exit before the official end. The last part was going to be pretty tricky with the kids. Plus, we had already been under ground for an hour and the kids thought it was time for a snack break. So, we emerged back into daylight with everyone intact.

In fact the only bad things that happened all day were that Casey lost his shoe in the cave,

and a tree branch fell Ava's head while we were eating lunch.

TRAMPOLINE!

We have had the trampoline since Easter. I have yet to take any pictures of the kids on it despite the fact that they are on it almost daily. It is so great to have a fenced in yard with lots of things for the kids to do outside. They especially enjoy playing in the sand box, sending their "babies" down the slide, and jumping on the trampoline. Ryan enjoys the trampoline just as much as the kids. His special time with the kids often includes jumping with them and showing them how to do tricks. All I can say is thank goodness for the net. So finally, here you go. Some pictures of our bouncing baseball players.

Progress Pajama Party @ The Little Gym

The girls are half way through this semester of gymnastics and dance class. We did a make up class this week, so it was just all gymnastics. Casey and I got to go in and watch their tricks. Elizabeth heard that this week's theme was Pajama Party. She would never miss an opportunity to wear pajamas out of the house, so of course she dressed up. These airplane pajamas are courtesy of Uncle Austin. The girls enjoyed showing off, but I think Casey had the most fun of all. I wish I had a padded room to lock him up and let him run around.

Wedding

Gerlyn's niece, Brianne got married last weekend, and we fortunate enough to receive an invitation to attend. Gerlyn's family has been so gracious in opening their arms to our family and including us in their lives and special events. Having family around has made our life in Texas so much nicer. The girls were rummaging though my sewing materials and found some fabric that I was saving to make them dresses for pretend play or some other event. It wasn't a project that I wanted to tackle right now, since I was in the middle of sewing Halloween costumes. However, the girls won me over and convince me to make them new dresses for the wedding. Thank goodness this was a fairly easy project that I completed in a few hours. The hard part of gathering the bodices was already done, so all I had to do was sew a seam down the back and add straps. I really liked how Elizabeth's dress turned out. The lady at the fabric store messed up cutting Ava's dress material, so her dress ended up being a little tight at the bottom. At least, the girls are pretty forgiving of any mistakes or imperfections in my sewing skills. They were quite happy with their new dresses. I was happy that they only cost $8. I didn't care if they crawled on the floor with them or spilled food or drink on them, which they managed to do all of the former.

The girls had a great time dancing, running around, and eating crackers and cake. Cousin Tyler took Eliabeth for a turn on the dance floor. She was quite impressed with his moves.

Pirates and Mermaids Halloween Party

Let the fun begin. I feel like the whole month of October has revolved around the kids. I have been coaching the girls T-ball team, shuttling them back and forth to dance/gymnastics class, helping them with school projects, sewing Halloween costumes, participating in play dates, and now the parties begin. One of these days I will get back to the gym and girls night out, but in the mean time, I am really having a blast doing specials things with and for the kids. On my Friday off from work, I took the kids to the Brooke Army Medical Center Auxiliary Halloween Party. It had a Pirates and Mermaids theme. Elizabeth and Casey cooperated in dressing up for the event, but not Ava. She didn't want to be a pirate or a mermaid, just "Ava." The kids enjoyed going on a treasure hunt, making crafts, and gorging themselves on sweet treats. Elizabeth also figured out how to apply temporary tattoos and covered herself in about six of them.

Pirate Bowl-a-Thon

My work is a big time supporter of an organization called Junior Achievement, and I got roped into participating in a Bowl-a-Thon last weekend. The kids had already had a full day of baseball, McDonalds Playland, and dance/gymnastics class. I had planned on leaving them with a babysitter. However, she was a no show (her sister was involved in an accident that day), so I ended up dragging the kids along. This was the girls first time bowling. They had a blast and I think they knocked down more pins than I did. Elizabeth was pretty stoked that it was a pirate themed event. All behaved wonderfully despite forgoing naps, and I was glad to still have Sunday to recover.

Kiddie Park

This past weekend, I met up with my girlfriends and their munchkins for a trip to Kiddie Park. Kiddie Park is America's Oldest and Original Kids Amusement Park. It has been a San Antonio landmark for kids since 1925. Previously, it appeared somewhat run down and dangerous, but they closed for a couple of months for renovations, including getting rid of the roller coaster of death. They recently re-opened under new managment. All the kids had a wonderful time. There are only 8-9 rides and they are all geared towards the under 8 crowd, but it was perfect. Plenty of shade, no long lines, cheap tickets, confined space to let your kids safely run around. The girls would just run from one ride to another, or ride the merry-go-round 3 times in a row. It was so much fun we spent a couple of hours there in the morning, and then came back again after dinner.

Scariest ride in the whole place...the helicopters.

Which they rode 3 times in a row. Even Casey and I took a spin. Elizabeth's favorite ride. Casey hated it.

The bus was another popular ride, the girls loved how it jerked going around the corners.

Casey got a kick out of driving the little cars.

Pumkin Patch

It is that time of year again when everyone is blogging about pumpkin patches and apple picking. We made sure to capture our share of fall fun. The kids were off on Monday for a teacher training day, so we had big plans for an outing. There were some small hick-up due to all the rain we have had lately. We desperately needed it, but it has turned everything to mud. Two of the pumpkin patches were closed, but we finally found a third that was open and we were on our way. An hour later, after listening to "are we there yet," we arrived at Love Creek Orchards in Medina, TX. Then it was sensory overload. Tractor and pony rides, hay bale mazes, shows, a petting zoo, pumpkin muffins and apple pie, plus lots of room just to run around. The kids had a wonderful time. We may even do another outing this season, so that Ryan can join us next time.

Tractor Time

Casey likes anything with a steering wheel. Maybe NASCAR is in his blood. Ava and her new best friend. An pitiful attempt at a family picture. Don't look too close at the strange faces, or the fact that Casey is covered in mud from rolling down a hill. Special treat of the day Casey loved catching chicks and trying to rip their head off or poking them in the eyes. Shh, don't tell PETA. Elizabeth told me, "Mom, I can just sit here all day and hold this chick." True love. They dressed him. Guess who picked out the pink pants.

Project Runway

This was a project that I started before Ava's accident. I found a blog about making these twirl dresses and they looked simple enough to complete with my basic sewing skills. Ryan is always telling me to get a hobby. As if I have time for a hobby while raising 3 kids and working full time. However, the dress looked so cute, I figured I should put my sewing machine into action more than just Halloween. The blog warned that these dresses took a lot of time to assemble. I should have given that statement more merit. It took me about 5-6 nights (with a 2 month break in between) to cut all the squares, sew all the rings of squares together, and then attach all the rings. I think Elizabeth's dress has 140 squares in it, and Ava's only has a few less. Well I am finally finished! I think they turned out really well, and the weather is still warm enough for the girls to wear them. They have plenty of room to grow with their dresses, and if they get too big, I can always pair them with leggings or turn it into a skirt. Bottom line, they are going to wear them forever.Next challenge...the Halloween costumes.

Pre-Season

Ryan will have to come in here and add the explanation to the wrestling pictures. Don't expect me to tell you the difference between a cradle and a single leg. So enjoy the pictures and videos for now, and check back later for verbiage.

"I WANT THE BUM, Rrrr!"