Girls Weekend!

My girlfriends are a little bit on the crazy side. We rented a river house for a much-too-short weekend excursion near Gruene, Texas. We shopped, baked, played games, laid out by the river and laughed a whole lot. The one in the yellow 'stache is a photographer and even though we said there should be no photo documentation of this weekend, we took a few shots to humor her. 

Only true friends would don facial hair for another friend. Just sayin'. I love these ladies! And the funniest thing about this picture to me is that of all that liquor, the Grand Marnier was for a french toast recipe, one wine bottle went home full, we barely put a dent in the amaretto and there were only about three beers to begin with! We just don't party like we used to! But then I never wore a mustache to a party before either!

Cub Scout Crossover Ceremony

The boys' Cub Scout Pack held a crossover ceremony for rank advancement. Ethan received his Tiger badge! 

The biggest part of the ceremony was dedicated to the Webelos II boys who were crossing over into Boy Scouts. Some of the older scouts dressed up and told legends.

All the boys literally crossed over a bridge, received their arrows (of light) as the last badge of Cub Scouts and were presented with new neckerchiefs representing their new troop.

Ethan will stay in Pack 500 and be a Wolf Scout. Jacob will move to Troop 475 and start earning his Tenderfoot rank. There's a lot more camping involved which should be fun! 

R.I.P. Mother NatureSweet

Mother NatureSweet is being killed off! Not sure how she will meet her public demise, but internally, she was booted by the new ad agency. I still have my social media job for them, but my hours were cut back to five hours per week until they can iron out some strategy issues. Watch for a new, yet-to-be-named character...

I am curious to see what this means for our brand voice. Stay tuned...

Young Masters Art Exhibition

One of Sarah's art pieces was selected for the Young Masters event. This is her second year being selected. Her art was displayed with about 200 other pieces from Hardy Oak at an exhibition for the whole district at a gallery event. Art is her favorite class!

With the principal, Mrs. Folkes, and her art teacher, Mrs. Gentry.

The Great Tadpole Release 2012

It all began this day last summer. Six tadpoles. 

Two tadpoles went belly up shortly thereafter. One went missing. We never found him inside or outside of the tank. It's possible the others ate him. How do I know this? Because one tadpole actually made it to frog stage and was breathing air for one day, when he promptly "croaked" and I witnessed the last two tadpoles gnawing on his little frog's legs! 

It was terrible. I felt so bad. Well, as bad as one can feel for a nameless, hand-me-down pet that you can't play with. I got his body out of there before they ate him completely. Sort of a punishment for their naughtiness, even though I'm sure this is totally normal tadpole behavior.

Tadpole #5 (now known as Hannibal) also ended up belly up. Not sure why...he seemed to be growing alright. The last one, known as Lasty, after a fierce name debate between the children, looked like he was going to make it to the air-breathing stage. I warned the kids that as soon as we saw him on the bridge, we were going to have to let him go. There was no way I was going to bring live insects into the house to feed him. 

So the day came...  

We released him in the pond at the entrance to Waterford Heights, a ritzy part of our neighborhood with two fountain pools, rocks and lots of nooks and shade to hide in. I told the kids we may never see him again. He might not like this pond, or he might hide from us, (or he might get eaten, or he might die of shock from the difference in water temperature).   

But in that moment, when he swam out of the Tupperware and we saw his little legs flex and he darted across the water, we were in awe of his awesomeness and I was a little sad to see him go. 

Good luck, Lasty.   

Kinder Round Up

My baby is going to KINDERGARTEN in the fall! I can't believe how fast time flies, but Lucas, and several of his little classmates from KDO went to Kinder Round Up for a preview of what Kinder will be like. They played with PlayDoh, sat in desks, got to draw on the overhead projector...totally fun! 

Fire Station Visit

Spring Break was full of Cub Scout activities to help Jacob and Ethan earn some badges. Ethan had to visit a fire or police station and lucky for us, there's a fire station right down the road. And since it was St. Patrick's Day, we brought them a little something - chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting! 

The boys got to sit in the fire trucks, see themselves on the heat-seeking infrared camera and shyly ask questions that were practiced, forgotten, and ultimately prompted. The guys were super nice and willing to talk. We appreciated our visit very much! 

Road Trip - Tyler, TX

For spring break, I had checked out the Great Wolf Lodge resort near Dallas (booked) and beach-front condos in Galveston (rain in forecast). Ultimately, we ended up taking a road trip to Tyler, Texas, east of Dallas, to visit an indoor waterpark. At least we knew that if there was rain or cold, we'd still have a good time. 

We coordinated this trip around the Traveler activity badge that Jacob needed to earn for his crossover to Boy Scouts at the end of the month. We looked at different routes on the internet and printed a map. We also used an old-fashioned, folds-out-to-an-unmanagable-size paper map of Texas for Jacob to help navigate and learn about map legends. We passed by through lots of small towns on the way and really got that Route 66 experience seeing the old main streets, dilapidated buildings and barns, roadside antique malls and junkyards. We even saw "Mater!"

We made it to Tyler and stayed at a Marriott. The next day, we drove to Lake Palestine to the WaterPark at the Villages. The lines were long and the place was packed, but my kids loved it. There was a big climbing structure with lots of faucets and sprayers, slides and a giant bucket on top that emptied every 10 minutes or so. There was a lazy river, a wave pool, two body slides for bigger kids and adults and two slides where you sat on tubes. 

On the plus side, I thought the place was pretty clean, the lifeguards were plentiful and on top of things, and it had activities suitable for Jacob on down to Lucas. It wasn't so big that I couldn't find Jacob, Sarah or Ethan quickly, but they had freedom to go where they wanted. There were lots of families and not too many rowdy teenagers (who would have been disappointed with the place after an hour). The myriad of tattoos on display were umm... colorful? 

The negatives - it was crowded (Spring Break, duh) but the lazy river and wave pool appeared over capacity at times and there was still a line of people waiting outside to get in the park! The small cafe had huge lines...we didn't eat lunch until almost 2 pm and still waited 30 minutes. The food was overpriced but we expected that. 

Lucas loved this little green slide. It was an open slide that curved in a circle and had a big landing chute. He must have gone down the slide 100 times that day. Perfect for him! 

I would go there again if we had another reason to be in Dallas or Tyler, but probably wouldn't make the trip just to visit the water park. I took most of these photos in the first 10 minutes of us being there and then hid the camera in a locker the rest of the day - too nervous about it getting wet!

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Spent Mark's birthday cheering on the Spurs. It was a great game and we squeaked out the win! 

Fairy Tale Bowl

Every year, the second grade hosts the Fairy Tale Bowl. The students have to take a test on fairy tale knowledge to determine who gets to participate in the actual bowl. Sarah just missed the cut and was named alternate for her class' team, but she still got a medal. Most of the participants and the teachers dress up in fairy tale costumes that day. 

The bowl set-up...

Sarah's team and teacher, Mrs. Tiller (as the Evil Queen) and her student teacher, Mrs. Leora (as one of the dwarfs). 

After the bowl, the teachers put on a skit, loosely based on the story of Cinderella. It was hilarious!

With fun teachers like this group, I wish I could have a second-grader every year!

Mrs. Churn (Jacob's kinder teacher now 2nd grade) a.k.a. Cinderella.

Sarah and the evil Mrs. Tiller.

Bike Rodeo

The annual bike rodeo was held on a blustery day here in South Texas. The kids go through an inspection station with the SAPD and then a series of riding tests to determine the grade level winners that move on to the city-wide bike rodeo. I was at the scorers table most of the day (trying to hang on to a million sheets of paper in the wind), but Sarah's teacher snapped this pic of Sarah waiting her turn. I know Jacob placed fifth in his grade level but only the top three move on. Sarah and Ethan were in the middle of the pack. 

Hollywood, Florida

Mark and I just returned from our fourth NAPA reward trip in a row (boo-yah!). This time, we were in lovely Hollywood, Florida, between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at the Westin Diplomat right on the beach. Here's the views from our room - canal side and ocean side.

     

Thursday night was a reception and dinner on the veranda. Friday morning, the guys had a business meeting and a game of golf scheduled for the afternoon so Cathy and I went to the spa and then took a trolley to the boardwalk where we rented bikes.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a good time riding, shopping and eating our way up and down the boardwalk. 

Saturday, we took a coach bus about an hour into the wetlands of South Florida to ride an airboat. The Miccosukee Indian tribe were our hosts and we saw how they are working to maintain the wetlands and rescue wildlife, including alligators.

This one is tame enough (and so used to this particular guide) that she will let him pet her and rub the underside of her snout. He is constantly giving her raw frog legs and never takes his eyes of her. 

I was able to hold two little gators...a two-year old, and this one, a four-year old. 

 Riding the airboat.

Exploring the beach near the hotel.

It was a great trip but all four of us (Mark and I and Cathy and her husband, Kelly) all agreed that we liked last year's San Diego trip better. NOT that we are complaining!

Field Trips & Fun Days

While Mark and I were away in Florida, the kids had a lot going on! Ethan had a field trip to Natural Bridge Caverns ...

Jacob attended a church carnival with a friend ... and hit the target on the first try in this almost-3D pic!

Sarah had a fun day with her friend, Camryn. 

And Lucas partied with his buddy, Blake!

Leadership

The kids' school is a Leader In Me school that teaches leadership curriculum based on Sean Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Happy Kids". 

On Wednesday, Jacob, Sarah and Ethan all got to participate in a Leap Into Leadership night that presented the seven habits to parents. The each had speaking parts in their various skits and Jacob even made these letters out of LEGOs to display.

On Thursday, we participated in a Fun Run to raise money for our school track. The Fun Run team spent two weeks at our school prior to the run teaching 8-minute leadership lessons in every classroom every day! Here's our principal taking a pie in the face after a successful challenge. She's such a good sport!

Sarah's class photo after the run showing the kids' shirts with laps crossed off. Most kids ran between 30-40 laps on the specially-designed course. Sarah is in the middle of the back row between the girl with the knotted shirt and the boy with the khaki shorts.

The Fun Run will likely raise about $40,000 for our school ... an amazing program!