A Taste of Independence

It's funny how the children will react differently to the same situation.

Gabriel is gone for 2 1/2 weeks at Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. While he is gone he has given permission for the kids to move into his room. (Which was VERY nice of him!) He is the only one with his own room. In return the kids would take responsibility for feeding his fish. I guess the kids worked out a schedule. Katrina would have the room the first 1/2 of the time and Simon would get it the second 1/2.

The day Gabriel left Katrina moved in. She stripped the bedding, shoved all Gabriel's personal mess into one corner and made herself at home. She TOTALLY enjoyed the independence of having her own room. I can't state that strongly enough. She would lock herself in and read or sleep or listen to the radio and just enjoy being alone. She mostly remembered to feed the fish - sometimes she needed a little reminder.

Abagail, on the other hand, had a difficult time adjusting to not having a sister in her room. On the one hand she enjoyed the privacy too. On the other she wasn't too comfortable sleeping at night alone in her room. However, Katrina had recently returned from a week of YW camp, so Abagail had a trial run at being alone a few weeks earlier.

Now, when Simon took over, he also put his own bedding on and moved in. He also brought activities or favorite books into the room to make the space "his". He too loved having his own space - but mostly the idea of having it. The difference was that he still spent the majority of his time in his own room playing with Oliver. Under Simon's top bunk bed mattress is a cut-out piece of wood that can be accessed from the bottom bunk. The boys set up a big network of trains up there and have been having a ball. They really aren't ready to have Simon's mattress put back - even asking if he can just spend a few extra nights sleeping on the floor once Gabriel returns. Oliver even graciously offered to let Simon sleep on the bottom bunk with Oli on the floor just to keep the play area a bit longer.

These last few nights of Simon's "freedom" Oliver has moved into Gabriel's room too - he made a bed on the floor. Guess these two actually enjoy hanging out and would prefer to be together. That's good, since they usually don't have a choice.

Another difference is that Simon is meticulous about feeding the fish. Once the proper technique was demonstrated he had it down. He can tell me what time each night he feeds the fish and preciously how much. Simon is taking this responsibility very seriously.

6 Flags - More Flags = More Fun!

At the end of July I took some of the kids to 6-flags, Fiesta Texas. The kids had earned free tickets through a reading program at school. Gabriel and Allen were at camp and I arranged for our wonderful neighbor to watch Amelia. So it was just Katrina, Abagail, Simon, Oliver and I - very do-able, even for a 6 month pregnant mom in the Texas heat. We got there at 10 a.m. and left around 10 p.m. It was a very long but very fun day for all.

Oliver and Mom pose with Scooby-Doo as we wait...and wait...and wait for the kids to go on the first big ride of the day - the Boomerang roller coaster. An hour in line...but they said it was worth it. :)

Photos from the Boomerang - in all it's glory. The girls had gone before and knew they loved this one. Simon had never been on a roller coaster...ever...but he fit the height requirement so he decided he needed to try it out. Normally I would have sent a grown-up with him on his first big ride...but I was not an option, so Katrina took him under her wing and away they went. Simon thought it was pretty scary, especially the upside-down loops and going backwards, but he like it. I think he liked the idea of being one of the big kids even more.

While we were STILL waiting for the boomerang Oliver and I watched the train depart the station. Oliver loves trains - this was the one "ride" he wanted to do for sure. The boys were worried that it would cost extra money (like at the park and zoo) so they thought they might miss out. They were very happy to know that the exorbitant amount that 6 flags charges for entrance covers this train ride. They also liked that the train was much bigger than the one at the park and zoo.

Next ride: Bugs Bunny Splash Ride Thingy (not real name). This line was also very long...about 45 minutes. The nice thing here was that the line was in an air conditioned "castle" with themed rooms to look at as you snake through. The kids also had a snack and water while waiting so it seemed to go faster. This time Oliver was big enough to ride, even without mom, but with strict orders to hold on, not stand up, and not have any part of his body leave the log until it was time to climb out. He loved it! He was more nervous about the sleeping dragon in the castle (lower right photo) than the ride, especially since Abagail told him it was real and would sometimes wake up and breathe fire at the people...he didn't know whether to believe her or not.

While the girls headed off to ride their next big roller coaster - the Superman - Simon, Oliver and I went and played in Wiggle World. This was a new addition since the last time I had been to the park. It was in a great location and a perfect way for the boys to spend an hour waiting. The rode on a Wiggle Big Red Car, splashed in the water area (which felt heavenly!) and got a kick out of some western ride that went WAAAAY up and then bounced up and down. I think this bouncy ride was a pleasant surprise for them - they didn't think much of it but once on they LOVED it. They also took a turn or two on the little roller coaster. Oliver thought it was awesome; Simon even had a ball - even after experiencing the thrill of the big coaster.

Photos of the girls joining the boys on some rides. The shoe roller coaster was from Wiggle World. I think the girls had a fun time going on it with the boys. Neither girl could convince either boy to raise their hands around the corners or over the humps though.

Simon also took a chance and rode The Rattler. This is a big, wooden roller coaster that is so jerky that it seems to rattle your brain and body as you ride. They were told that the front of the coaster was more smooth than the back. Poor Simon ended up right near the rear. This time he came off saying that he did NOT like that ride. No upside down loops, but I think he felt like he was going to be thrown out.

Another photo of the kids on the Wiggle World coaster. Katrina and Oliver are in the front shoe; Abagail and Simon are in the back shoe. I'm so glad that the kids were old enough to do all the rides without me...I got to stand around and watch and hear all their breathless, animated recounts of their ride.

In the afternoon we went over to the water park for a few hours. Decided not to bring the camera there. Katrina and Abagail went on a big water ride called the Tornado - which they said was AWESOME! Simon and Oliver and I hung out at some fun themed water pools and areas while we waited. Then the girls took Simon on some of the big water slides. I can't believe he went! He just gained confidence swimming this summer, about last month. He tried two. One was a group ride and he thought that was cool. The other was a solo ride down a huge enclosed tunnel. He said he did not like that ride. I can imagine...he was probably freaking out since he couldn't see where he was or where he was going and being washed up the sides of the tube...poor guy. He was a good sport and thankfully he didn't get hurt. (If I had been with them I would have vetoed the solo slide for him. Height requirement alone does not mean the child is mentally ready to tackle the ride.) I know that the independence he felt that day was a thrill for him. Definitely a confidence booster - for that I was pleased.

Our last ride of the evening was the car ride - can't remember it's name. The kids insisted since this was a tradition - they even passed up some of the other big rides that had no line at this point just to bee-line it to the car ride. It was not to be missed. The line was incredibly short so they were excited. However, with only one attendant on duty it still took them almost 45 minutes to get to the front...it was kind of ridiculous. Once on they forgot all about the wait and enjoyed the 1 minute or so drive. Katrina drove and made Oliver her official horn honker. Abagail was very sweet and let Simon take the driver seat. That made his night.

After the car ride we headed back to the area where the firework/laser show had been in progress. The kids LOVED the fireworks! Especially the grand finale. They were so impressed!

We snapped a final parting shot as we left the park. It was about 9:30 or so. We didn't realize that we had one more line to wait in before leaving...the parking lot. We didn't even attempt to leave until around 10:00, when the line finally started clearing out. Instead we gathered at the car and ate "dinner" and snacks. We had eaten sandwiches before entering and some snacks through the day...thankfully it wasn't until food was again available that the kids really started to notice that they hadn't had dinner. Abagail even found some money at the park, which remained unclaimed, so she treated us to hamburgers at Wendy's on the way home. Hmmmm....grease at 11:00 at night. Maybe not the best plan but it filled our tummies and then we headed home to some much earned sleep.

It was a wonderful day! Of course we wished Gabriel could have been with us - wasn't the same without him that's for sure. A really nice surprise of the day came when Gabriel called from New Mexico, just to say hi! We missed little miss Amelia too - but there was no way she would have lasted the day - it would have been much harder to keep her entertained too. So we are very grateful to Virgie for watching her for the day!

A Day at Mustang Island with Cousins

When Christina, Nathanael and kids were here we did our traditional visit to Mustang Island...barely. Our original plans called for a 2 night/3 day camp out the during the week prior to 4th of July weekend. Unfortunately a hurricane made landfall just south of the Texas/Mexico boarder - flooding Mustang Island State Park - the night we were scheduled to begin our camp. So we waited a day or two - adjusting our trip down to a 1 night/2 day camp out...then to a day trip the following Monday.


I always tell myself that a six-hour round trip is a loooong way to go to spend one day at the beach. However, when it comes down to the only option I always manage to talk myself into it...and it is worth it...until the loooong drive home hits. That's a bit tough.


But we went - and we had a GREAT time!!! So what follows are lots and lots of photos and recaps of our day at the beach.


To begin...the beach was no longer "flooded", but it did have some lingering effects from the hurricane. There was a TON of seaweed. It was heaped in piles along the high tide line. There was not much clear beach to play on. However we kept driving away from the few families that were braving the seaweed and we found a pretty clear spot. I had also learned from past experiences to always bring a shovel to the beach. We made a path through the seaweed to the water edge...had a clearing to set up our shade shelter and blanket...what more could we ask for? (And by-the-way, I have been there where there was much more seaweed on the beach that you had to walk through to get to the water - heaped into piles by trucks, smelly, and infested with biting insects...at least this stuff was still clean!) There was a bunch of seaweed in the water too but we got used to it.

One REALLY positive effect was the waves were the biggest I'd ever seen down there - they were awesome!


I thought I'd start by introducing most of the players...

Some photos of kids digging in the sand...they did this for hours.

Playing in the surf. Most of the photos of kids in the surf will be of the younger set -the older kids spent most of their time waaaay out in the good waves.

We had a pretty good set up - a nice clear spot in the middle of some seaweed. This was our first trip with our shade shelter - it was awesome! Our last one was a royal pain to set up. This one was quick and painless - well worth the investment. I always get lots of shots of people WAAAAY out in the surf. Most don't turn out and you can't ever tell who is in them....but this is where they spend most of their time and I like to capture that.

Now the younger kids found a new place to play...at the shower by the port-a-potty. The beach was only a few yards away yet they found this a very attractive place to spend a good portion of the day. They would shower constantly, then let the water run to create rivers and pools in the sand. We did have to limit them a bit...water conservation and all. Maybe they liked it so much because they could control it themselves.

We hung out and relaxed and had a wonderful day!!! The girls did some beach combing (lower left photo) and found some neat shells. Usually all we find are tiny muscles but they found a few large shells, some partial spirals, tons of sand dollar fragments, and other misc. shells. Not too bad for Mustang Island. I like the photo of Allen and Nathanael hanging out and chatting. I also love Simon's body language in the photo where I am applying sunscreen (top). I found it was easier to bribe the children in order to reapply...like giving them yogurt or a cookie after the application. Simon still looks like I am poisoning him or something. However, no real sunburns - so it was worth it.

Photos of the kids building in the sand.

I love how Simon was such a good big brother to Amelia. He played with her and helped her in the water. So nice. I also like the middle photo...Simon and Nathan would wiggle their feet ankle deep in the wet sand until they couldn't move. Then they would try to jump out. They usually lost their balance and landed on their rears...with their feet still firmly stuck. (It looks like they are pretending to punch at each other...but Nathan is just swinging his arms to avoid falling.) Madalynn and Katrina had a great time together (top right). And of course there is the photo of my bright sunshine girl - smiling away.

Let the digging begin! They had quite a network of sand villages going. Forget a single castle...they had an entire metropolis built. Complete with castles, factories, businesses, residential housing and huts for the laborers and poor - all protected by a series of trenches and walls to keep out the waves.

And of course no sand fun is complete without digging random deep holes and drip castles.

Baby Lilly was the most loved baby on the beach. She was so content. She would scoot around on her blanket and didn't mind the sand. Although I don't think she liked the water much.

Oh yes...one more "must do" on the beach...burying cousins.

Christina always takes such beautiful landscape shots. It's a good thing since I never do. This is one of hers right before we started packing up.

I love photos of Allen playing with the kids. This collage is for him. Although I'm not sure how dragging Katrina along the beach is "playing" - Maybe he's helping her finish her body surf??? I'll have to ask the story behind that one. The bottom photos show everyone ringing a big soft pit - kind of like quicksand. They would stand on the rim and step in. They would instantly sink deep into soft, mushy sand. I tried it - it was a little creepy. I wondered what had created such a sink hole...a sea animal that we were going to disturb...or a leftover pit that a previous family had dug pre-hurricane when the tide was lower. Either way, it was unnerving to me - but the kids thought it was pretty cool.

This is my "beach buddies" collage. Liz, Lauren and Abagail collected a large amount of shells. (I think Lauren was out digging during this photo.) Nathan laid his head on Nathanael's shoulder and I think he actually fell asleep. They laid him down and he took a nice, long nap. I like how Oliver is helping Amelia get her life jacket on in one of the bottom photos - such a nice helper.

While Simon, Oliver and I were out walking on a sandbar I suddenly noticed a flash of movement and color by our feet. I looked closer and saw a group of sting ray gliding around. They didn't seem interested in being stepped on. There were about 5-6 in the group. We were over by the sink hole area and called the kids to come see. Simon and Oliver got nervous and ran, screaming, out of the area - further scaring the sting ray. By the time the kids came over we couldn't find them. Later the older kids caught sight of them again. Then one came too close to the beach and got stuck after the waves receded. Gabriel managed to catch it and Christina snapped a couple of photos. Then Gabriel helped it get back into the water. Swimming with sting rays was our new adventure for this trip. Every time we go there is always something new to experience.

4th of July Fireworks

Our town held firework celebrations on Saturday, July 3. So "technically" it wasn't the 4th yet...but it counts for me.

After a day of crafts and preparations Christina, Nathanael, Allen and I took our pack of 12 to the baseball field across from the city park to watch the fireworks. We got there a bit early and killed some daylight hanging out at the park. It is a small park...I've never seen so many people there before. It was a bit intimidating.



Abagail and Amelia swing with cousins Liz (red) and Lauren (blue) - in case you can't recognize them.




"Hanging out" at the park. Simon opted out of the face paint - he is a bit more conservative and doesn't like people to look at him. I think he felt more comfortable than the others when we got to the park. The girls were a bit self-conscious being so decorated in front of so many strangers. I thought they looked cool - and so did a few of the park people who asked to take their picture. I did have a talk with them that perhaps they should ask a parent before allowing a stranger to photograph them...as it was I was close by and watching - and they did look cool - so I didn't suspect the strangers of anything suspicious. Still - good lesson to teach.



I like this photo - Abagail, Madalynn, Liz, Katrina, and Gabriel at the park.



The younger set watching the fireworks. If you zoom up you can see how fun Amelia's expression is. I love it. They were all suitably impressed by the show.


Our crowd of cousins enjoying fireworks. Love how Simon and Nathan are still "plugged in" to electronics while waiting for the fireworks to begin...even if they are battery-powered games.



More hanging out on the ball field waiting and watching.



Some of the girls enjoying the fireworks.

4th of July Celebrations!

More from our visit with Aunt Christina, Uncle Nathanael, and kids...

We love to have company to help us celebrate the holidays. In truth if it was just my family we would do something small...but certainly not near the preparations/activities we do with cousins. So my kids love it too. Technically these photos are from the 3rd as Saturday was the day our town hosted the fireworks display...close enough.

What could be more American when celebrating the 4th of July than a homemade apple pie - with apples fresh off the backyard tree? Abagail and Cousin Lauren came to me that morning and asked if they could bake something. They came up with the idea of apple pie. So they went out and picked the apples, cut and peeled the apples, prepared the crust from scratch, and came up with a lattice topped pie and a Swedish pie. Both were soooo good. The Chef's were very proud of their accomplishments...and so were their parents! (BTW: I love the before and after photos on this collage - such a transformation took place from the pre-baked pie to the finished product.)

Some of our preparations to celebrate. We made rocket balloons, filled with lentils - that made a HUGE mess when they popped in the house...projectile lentils flying everywhere.... However, they were not meant to be popped in the house so once completed we packed them up to take them to the park. I don't think anyone noticed the mess there...in the grass...until random lentil plants start growing everywhere. (What are lentil plants?) I love how seriously Bella is taking her balloon decorating in this collage. Her face is a mask of concentration. The kids also made some pretty creative hats. The first design was a flop and the girls were very disappointed. So they altered their design and came up with some amazing finished products.

Showing off their zany hats.

Some random photos. Simon and Nathan were glued to the playstation - but they took a little time out to participate in the crafts. Gabriel decided he wanted to make a spoof hat to wear to the park/fireworks that night. He made a British top hat. It bore the message, "British Border Patrol: keeping Yankees out of London since 1776". He's got quite a sense of humor.

After the hats, Aunt Christina did some amazing face paint on the kids. They all came up with their own designs. They loved the outcome! They were so excited to wear their paint to the park and show it off....until they got there. Then they felt a bit self-conscious. People came up to them and asked to take their picture though...they looked pretty cool and our group was the ONLY one sporting some America Spirit (or British - if you count Gabriel).

Sporting their designs.

Park Day with Cousins from Missouri

Aunt Christina and Uncle Nathanael brought our Arbuckle/Bergstrom cousins down for a visit! We love having cousins come stay and play!

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.