Take me out to the ballgame

We are a baseball family.



Everyone loves going out to a game.



Last Sunday we headed out to the Ballpark with S#2's family.



We sat in a new section, bleacher seats above the Rangers bullpen.



We had an opportunity for tossed t-shirts but no luck. Cousin E had fun jumping the fence to chase down a homerun but, again, no luck. Maybe next time!

Warning: Bug update

In the past week, the caterpillar has been hanging out, eating parsley and it molted once. Yesterday morning we found it hanging from a branch with silk thread. I spent all day checking on it expecting to see the chrysalis form. I even checked at midnight last night before I went to bed. It was still just a caterpillar hanging from a branch. Of course, overnight it transformed itself.



From all the googling I've read, it should hang out there for the next week or two before the butterfly will emerge. I The kids can't wait.

And for more large texas bugs, we have a huge moth hanging out on our front door. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of moth it is. I'm pretty sure it is an Io moth.

Whiny 4 year olds wear me out!

No need to say anymore! I'm done for the night.

Liberating

This morning I asked A to go get dressed and ready for the day. A few minutes later she informed me, in her "I'm almost a teenager" voice, that she had absolutely no clothes to wear and her clothes had not been washed in weeks.

I, in my "I'm the mother and how am I going to survive the teenage years" voice, told her to find her cleanest clothes, gather up the rest in a basket and meet me in the laundry room.

A has now had a lesson in how to use the washing machine. I presented it to her as a gift. She no longer has to rely on me and my very slow laundry ways. She can wash her clothes whenever she wants. She can be independent. She can be free.

Ha! It is one less load for me to do each week. Even if A doesn't, I feel liberated!

Weekend in Austin

We went to Austin last weekend to visit friends. It was an easy weekend without any true plans, but we filled up the days quickly. Lots of time spent swimming & playing card games plus we took a side trip to Wimberley to visit more friends. We spent Saturday afternoon floating in the Blanco River, playing in kayaks & swinging on the rope swing. Saturday night was our first experience of Texas Barbeque tradition, the Salt Lick. It was way bigger than I expected. There were people directing traffic & the parking lot was like Six Flags.

Fun with homemade playdough



Kids playing by the river in Wimberley while the moms did some window shopping



Silly Dave and his big barn



Our first trip to the Salt Lick



Kids tired after an afternoon of playing in the Blanco.



Food at last!



We had a fun weekend. Now we're home and the countdown to the end of summer begins. 28 days until the start of school!

a friend from the garden

I found this in the parsley



It's a black swallowtail caterpillar. The boys put it in a jar with sticks and parsley and are anxiously waiting for it to turn into a butterfly. We'll keep you updated.

another knit

I started knitting again a few weeks ago. I finished up a quick neck scarf on our trip to the lake. Today I finally got around to taking pictures.









My mother went on a quilting cruise to Alaska at the end of June and brought back yarn and a pattern book. I'm now attempting to make a bolero jacket for A. I'm not sure if I have enough yarn, but I'm going to attempt it while I'm still in the mood to knit.

Sunday afternoon at the ballpark

We drove home from the lake on Saturday. S#4 & family were in town from Houston for the weekend. S#2 had friends in town and decided to go to a baseball game. We all decided to go along. Nineteen people from our family plus 3 Canadians went to a 2pm Rangers baseball game.

What were we thinking? First of all, Rangers are in a bad slump. They lost 3 in a row to the Orioles, the worst team in MLB. Second of all, it is July in Texas and our seats were in the left field, aka the sun.

We drank a lot of water. It was Vladimir Guerrero free t-shirt day so we wet down the shirts and used them to help keep us cool. We took turns standing in the shade. We cooled off with 1$ ice cream cones. We only lasted until the middle of the 5th. Despite the heat & the Orioles sweep, we did have some fun.

the boys went fishing

Brian got bored pretty quick so he decided he was "Worm Boy"









J, after much convincing, baited his own hook and caught a fish all by himself.

4th at the lake, part 3

After 2 active days away from the lake, we spent a quiet day at the dock. It drizzled and rained off and on most of the day. It was still a good day with solitaire, lots of bait fish caught, the dog chased ball and the kids learning stunts on the hotdog. Even B was brave enough to get on this time around.

4th at the lake, part 2

After lunch we headed to Silver Dollar City for the rest of the afternoon. If you go in after 3pm, you get to come in the next day on the same ticket. Kids enjoyed the kiddie rides.


A is sitting next to J if you can see her


DH & A are in the top row


Wednesday morning DH cracked the whip and got us up at the break of day to get back to SDC. We made the line for the first cave tour.





B really loved the cave. I carried him most of the way because he was very slow going down the stairs. He's a spelunker now.

We ran into Gene, a family friend. He's the epitome of SDC.



We did pretty much everything there was to do at the park. Lots of walking up and down lots of hills. Kids enjoyed it.







At the end of the day DH decided to ride the Wildfire roller coaster again and we could take pictures at the observation deck. I of course didn't see him on the coaster. The boys decided they had to go to the bathroom. We got back just as he was getting off. Luckily, A stayed behind and took these pictures.


DH is looking nervous


The first loop


And he survived