We planned to go camp a few nights on Mustang Island, on the Gulf of Mexico - unfortunately a hurricane came along. Although the hurricane made landfall far south of Mustang Island the beach was flooded due to high tides and closed for the weekend we were planning to go. We ended up on the rainy side of the hurricane.
So....12 kids cooped up in a house...what to do? Christina and I attempted to take them to the free summer movie playing in San Antonio. Unfortunately we arrived just behind the last group to be admitted. Now what??? Why not go play in the rain at a cool park? We repack the kids in the vans and off we head to Landa Park. The beauty of it was that the rain was intermittent and very refreshing and we were the only people crazy enough to be there.
First stop: Naeglin's bakery in New Braunfels. This is our favorite place to stop for doughnuts. Our dentist office used to be located across the street - so my tradition was to take the kids after a dentist visit. Yep - right after getting all their teeth nice and squeaky clean. The dentist has since relocated but you better believe our tradition still holds. So - we decided to introduce our cousins to this charming little spot. As you can see we pretty much fill up the small outdoor eating area.
Our pack of 12 hanging at Landa Park.
What follows are multiple collages of all the fun we had. It really was a beautiful day to be there. I went back with the kids a few weeks later and the heat was so awful - sweating just from sitting around doing nothing...brutal sun - so the cloudy, rainy day was perfect.
Amelia was so funny on the slides. They were wet - which made me think she would just fly down them. However, Amelia would drag her shoes as she descended - making her slide extremely SLOW...so much that she would have to push herself down. This made it safe for her to tackle any slide in the playground all by herself - much to her delight.
We got a bit wet. These four girls got the wettest though. Liz, Lauren and Abagail thought it would be soooo funny to douse themselves with water bottles...repeatedly...and then go bear-hug the moms (who had so far managed to stay fairly dry). Bella thought that was a pretty good idea but didn't want to wait for her turn at the drinking fountain to fill a water bottle - the nearby puddle was good enough for her. Not sure how Amelia got so wet - maybe it was the rain.
Cousins Simon vs. Nathan and Oliver vs. Bella in slide racing. This went on for quite awhile. Abagail and cousins Liz and Lauren had a great time hanging out - they were inseparable.
Katrina and cousin Madalynn formed their own group and spent the day playing away. Of course everyone took a turn loving on Baby Lily - she was such a doll.
There were some cool climbing trees around. I wasn't around for this part - getting food from the car. Gabriel was nice enough to give a boost to the higher limbs. Somehow poor Lauren got stuck in her tree and no one realized that she was stuck. Good thing her mom was around to rescue her. Aren't mom's the best?
For some reason it began a steady light rain right when we set up a picnic to eat. We were somewhat protected by the large trees over us. Enough rain to get wet - not enough to drive away the MILLIONS of pesky flies. I guess since we were the only source of food there all the flies for miles decided to hang out at our picnic. When we were almost done we did look behind us and notice other people picnicking in the covered pavilion - guess we could have gone there...
I also love the top photos in this last collage. Gabriel was pushing Amelia in a swing. Simon, Oliver and cousin Nathan were acting like she was knocking them over. Amelia thought this was extremely funny - and the boys had a ball too.
Right as we were packing up to go to the car the rain REALLY came down - it was a total downpour. Those who were dry or had managed to dry off by that time got totally soaked. That was pretty much all of us. Even still - it turned out to be a great way to spend a day.
Right as we were packing up to go to the car the rain REALLY came down - it was a total downpour. Those who were dry or had managed to dry off by that time got totally soaked. That was pretty much all of us. Even still - it turned out to be a great way to spend a day.
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