SUMMERTIME!

wow... we are already 2+ weeks into summer vacation.

It is hard to believe that we have a 5th grader, a 7th grader a sophmore and one out of school.
INSANE!

Amy has one cheer camp down and two to go. One will be in July and one is at the end of August. She was dropped at camp last week and bruised her tailbone. She is pretty sore but it does not slow her down at all. She still goes full force at cheer and play then wants my sympathy when she gets home.

Aaron will be playing football for the school next year in the fall then on a select team again for spring. He is really excited about playing for school.

Austin will be in intermediate school :( my baby is growing up. Last year he was tested and it was discovered (officially) that he is brilliant. He is now enrolled in the GT program at school :)

Ashley has started a new job at another animal hospital where both the hours and pay is better. She loves it :)

2, 3, 4 and I are going to San Antonio tonight to see family. They boys are going to stay for a couple weeks... we will pick them up on the 4th of July weekend in Shiner when we go out for J & L's big bang bash :)

Both boys are super excited about hanging out with Opa and spending time with Omi. They look forward to it every summer. Mom has broken her ankle and is kinda gimpy so having the boys around to help her out will be great. Dad is still working up at doss trying to get things ready to start building the building. Aaron is excited about being able to help him put it up and drive the tractor. . Austin will love reading and gardening with my mom.

MEMORIAL WEEKEND... tubing the brazos

so this past weekend we decided to float does the river with some friends of ours. Our family of 5 (Ash had to work) Peggys family of 6 plus Kendra and Angies family of 6 plus a friend all met up at 7 am to drive out to the river.

We were warned to get there early because the tubes would be sold out by 11:00. We got there around 10 and there were tubes for everyone. :) after picking out the vessel each person wanted to set sail on there was a little chaos getting everyone to the river.... but with a group as large as ours, how could there not be :)

finally all 19 of us and 3 ice chests were in water. We were told the trip would take about and hour and a half maybe two hours. We soon found out that it would take that long.... if there was movement in the river. at times... we would just float without moving at all!

about half an hour later (and 6 feet down river) we got this wonderful idea to start tieing the tubes together.... so we made one HUGE island. was fun.... very relaxing. lots of conversation and laughs.

there were only two very very very small sets of rapids... if you can call them that. (missed those guys! :)

at one point we were able to stop along the way and everyone who wanted to was able to swing off a rope attached to a tree into the river. The kids loved it. Amy Aaron and Austin did it about 20 times each.

about this time we had been on the river for a few hours and I guess Aaron was just about to go crazy with the pace so that little moose got out of his tube and went to the front of our 'island' and started pulling us down the river. We went faster with him pulling that we did even through the 'rapids'.

along the way we played little games like 'toss grapes into peoples mouths', eye spy, and the girls that cheered (4 of them) all tried to fly on the tubes. AMY STAYED UP!!! :)

finally we reached the point where canoes and tubes get out. it was sandy. we were wet. lol not a pleasant feeling. but it was fun. a relaxing kind of fun.... that is something I am so not used to.

The entire trip down the river took us 5 and a half hours. We loved it but will for sure go to the Guadalupe next time.... we like things a little faster paced! :)

After we stopped at a MEXICAN place for dinner... YUM! then decided that we were not quite ready to end the day. So the whole group came over to the house to jump in the pool and hang out. the adults played darts till about 3 am so lots of the little girls had passed out and we wound up with a slumber party :)

autys egg

so Austin is on a bird kick lately. He loves to take the binoculars and watch the birds in the field behind us then identify them in a bird book my dad bought us or on the Internet.

The other day he saw a bird lay an egg on the ground at the park by the house and then leave it. So he sat there for a while watching the egg to make sure no one stepped on it and waiting for the mama to come back and get it. after about an hour I went to go pick him and and found him about 20 feet away 'guarding' this egg.

I told him it was time to leave because we had to go to dinner and he flipped out. Austin did not want to leave that egg there and he was so upset that the mama just left it and did not come back. So he talks me into 'saving' this egg. (at this point I do not know that saving his egg is a FELONY!!!)

so we scoop up the egg, take it home put it under a heat lamp then go to dinner. I told him that if the thing did not hatch in a couple weeks we were tossing it.

He was not sure what kind of bird it was that layed the egg because he had not found her picture in his bird book yet. Not being one to give up, Austin kept scouring the book until he found the bird he said laid the egg. I figured he had just picked one at this point just so he could have some sense of identity for the egg. However when I looked up killdeer on the Internet and checked out a picture of the eggs they lay I was convinced.

upon further reading we found out that these birds often lay eggs on the ground or on roof tops n groups of four. And they typically take a break between each egg....so mama planting it in the park and taking off was not so unusual... and the brown chips in the park did in fact hide the egg well. We also found out that unlike most wild birds whose eggs take two weeks to hatch... these guys are like chickens and take about a month! So I have an egg in the kitchen with a lamp on it that has been there for about 5 days and will not have to stay there an additional 23 days! UGH! but the good news is they hatch like chickens and are able to peck the ground and feed themselves!

Austin is thrilled and is watching the egg closely... not that it is doing much but his little scientific brain is completely digging this experience.

I am hoping a park ranger does not come beating on my door to haul me off to jail.

The 5000 Year Leap

A friend of mine and I were recently talking about the state of our country, things going on, fears, and other things. Now Susan is probably one of the most educated people on the exact meaning of many laws and rules that I know. So I love talking to her whenever I need something cleared up.

During our conversation she asked me if I truly understood the Constitution of the United States. After thinking about her question for a moment, I had to admit that no I did not. She told me that most Americans don't and suggested that I read the 5000 year leap.

It is unbelievable. No matter what your political stand is, I would like to encourage EVERY AMERICAN to read The 5000 Year Leap: A MIRACLE that changed the world.

This is not something that caters to the right or the left. It simply educates you on our constitution. Explains why our founding fathers included what they did and why it works. It also reminds us all, not of our American rights that we all at one time or another take for granted, but of our American duties that go along with those rights. It also clearly shows how the constitution is not 'outdated' like many people want to believe and why the founding principles have worked so well.

This book is an easy read and rich in information about our country's most sacred document... the Constitution of the United States. I will admit that until that conversation I had not ever put as much thought into what our Founding Fathers went through to put the constitution together. I am ashamed to say I took it for granted. I will no longer. I will continue to educate myself on what my duties are as an American Citizen. I hope you do too.