It's Independence Day!

I love July 4th and always have.  The chance to be with family, enjoy some good food, and watch fireworks is so much fun!  What a blessing to have such freedom here in the U.S.A.  Thankful that we live in a land of the free only because of the brave.  We should never take for granted the freedom of our land!

This year we were invited to celebrate at a number of gatherings.  As we traveled Texas from Temple to Spring to College Station, we got to see family and enjoy many fun times together!  Check out the pictures below:

 

At Nana & B-Bob's Oasis in Spring

With the A family in our red, white, and blue!

Daddy and E. pulling mommy on Lake Louise

After 2+ years without skiing, the slalom ski was calling my name!

W. totally brought it completing the slalom course on his first attempt!

Can you believe that these beauties were within a ATV ride away?  

E was talking about his Papa and his love for the Longhorns when spying them.  

I guess now that A&M has transferred to the SEC they are free to roam!

I can promise you that nothing was in my scope in this opportunity to learn and shoot a gun.  Thanks to Uncle R & Aunt L & B-Bob for sharing your knowledge and insight into shooting. 

Uncle R and his "pardner."  They were quite a team having fun at any and all times!

Red and white and a blue bucket.

 

Nana and her water boy!

 

Uncle R and B-Bob holding E's hands to the launching pad aka the dock for E's big jump!  Speaking of launching pad, we had the opportunity to meet a NASA astronaut while at Lake Louise.  Richard Linneham came out to watch a friend ski but I can tell you that the conversation could have gone on learning all about him and his experiences.  Having spent 58 days total in space, he is a highly recognized and notable astronaut who now works with A&M.  After meeting him, there was talk and time spent reminiscing about  the work that W's grandpa once did with NASA.  What an exciting day for us all!

So thankful that the "sky is the limit" for the potential of this boy!

The Lord's Prayer

After a couple months of E reciting the Lord's prayer with me each evening, he has got it down.  His memory is truly awesome (he must have gotten this from his dad)!  What I have found is that he does well learning verses, songs, prayers, and maps through singing.  Although I can't carry much of a tune, it is fun to try together!  The embedded link is a video that we took of E saying the Lord's prayer when he was just 3 years and 2 months old.

E reciting the Lord's Prayer

Manor Ghost Town

This past weekend we ventured back to the Manor Ghost Town.  E loves this Western World as he can wander and explore all of the town's many buildings and even the maze.  Since our last trip about 6 months ago, the maze was updated and rerouted for a new adventure.  While my M and I got lost in the maze, W, E, and H, fared much better.  Check out the pictures below which show some of the fun:

 The gang at the ghost town (minus the photographer)!

 Are these two keeping the peace or breaking the law??

 Good thing dad was around the follow after these two and get them through the maze.  

As E said, "It was a-maze-ing!"

What a great chance to roam through the many abandoned buildings!

Thank goodness we had a water girl and boy as it was definitely HOT.

Month of May

May was a busy month with E finishing up his second year at Pecan Street Preschool and T starting to pull up on any and all objects.  T went from scooting to crawling in no time and is set to beat his brother at walking in the near future.  Here are some of our happenings from the merry month of May:

 "Check out my two, bottom chompers!"

"What is going on up here?"  T

Dinner and date to hear Martina McBride (one of mom's favorite artist) at the new ACL venue!
Thanks Gigi and Papa.

 Here is a great picture of the Birthday Girl aka Nana and her sweet grandson!

 All smiles!

 What a fun birthday celebration!

 Happy Mother's Day 2012!  Thankful to have these mothers in my life and to be the mom of E & T!

 Mano-e-mano.

 Check out the islands that are still apparent on Lake Travis.  Praying for rain!

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

 Meeting new friends aboard the Oasis' spaceship.

Group Shot!

The Dinosaur Park

It has been a long while since our last post.  I have debated on whether to start back from 8+ months ago or begin today...After such a fun time at the Dinosaur Park this morning, today won out for a blog update!

The Dinosaur Park is an outdoor museum for dino-crazed children and adults alike.  With a 0.5 mile nature walk filled with life size dinosaurs, this was a hit for the boys!

 T-Rex enjoys a tasty snack!

 Our tour guide, talking about the Triceratops.

 

The brave one leading the way to the Brachiosaurus and T-Rex. 

 Daddy's favorite dinosaur, the Stegosaurus.

 "This dinosaur is very long."  

 Not all creatures were extinct.  Check out this Jack Rabbit! 

 Our own "T-Rex" loving the swing set while his brother dug for dino bones.  We took a second loop and scavenger hunt after our picnic lunch under the shade trees and misters.  

What a fun way to spend the day with dinosaurs!