You Capture - Friends

This week's You Capture theme is Friends.
This week we celebrated Josie's 8th birthday (a few weeks early). Her actual birthday falls aroudn the start of school, and things are just too crazy for a celebration with friends. So this year, she invited a few friends to paint pottery and make ice cream sundaes.

You can join in You Capture. Just go to I Should Be Folding Laundry for all the info.

You Capture...Black and White

The view from the backseat on our Texas Safari...

This week's challenge on I Should Be Folding Laundry was to capture something in black and white. I go through stages of loving black and white pictures, and right now I am not in the "loving it" stage, but I thought it would be fun to try. Anyone who wants to join in is welcome, just click the link below to find out how!

The Story of Our Life

Moods change quickly in our world. While some people may be happy and pleasant...

others, not so much.

You never know when one of these moods might hit...

or when it will change.

Water, Water Everywhere!

Today we went to Landa Park and the kids played in the spring-fed pool.

There was a shallow kids' area with slides.

Brrrr...spring water is COLD!

Petting Zoo

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch has a petting zoo. It was actually a very run-of-the-mill petting zoo--mostly goats, and one pot-bellied pig. The highlight of it was that we got to see twin goats born while we were there. Here they are less than 5 minutes old.

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

Cody made me take a picture of every single animal we saw as we drove around, but I picked out my favorites to share. The kids were able to toss out food as we looked. I think Daddy was as excited as they were!

Vacation

I didn't take any pictures at Schlitterbaun. I couldn't figure out how to carry my camera, keep it dry, and have fun, so I chose fun. We left Schlitterbaun when it started getting really crowded, even though we should have stayed until it closed so we could get our money's worth.

Next stop: Natural Bridge Caverns.

A Family Trip

Today is our last day in New Braunfels. We have had so much fun! Yesterday we played at Schlitterbaun, explored Natural Bridge Caverns, and saw exotic animals at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. Today we are going to spend time at Landa Park. We ate supper with Uncle Toby and Aunt Lizzie on Tuesday night. It was nice to catch up with them over yummy food. I will post pictures when we get home!

We're Back!

My computer was brought back from the brink of death by virus. I have been feeling very cut off without easy internet access...and by easy, I mean a computer that is not up a flight of stairs. I just hate climbing the stairs! So now I will attempt to bore everyone with another post about gardening!

As Scientific as I Ever Get

This is the last squash that we were able to pick before the squash vine borers finally finished off our plants. Cody has replanted, because we are not ones to give up easily (and you can never have enough fried squash according to him!).

Scientifically speaking, they just worm their way into the stems and rot it from the inside out.

I think this is the larvae. These little worms are disgusting!

This is what the squash looked like before we pulled that plants up. They were fine one day, and rotting the next.

On a brighter note, here are our pumpkin plants. They are beginning to bloom, so hopefully we'll have little pumpkins starting soon. Hopefully we'll be able to stop the borers from getting these vines too!

I've always said I was going to wear a big floppy hat and sell vegetables on the side of the road. Not this summer, but maybe someday!

A Virus Ate My Computer

My laptop is currently out of commission. If it wasn't consumed by a virus, I would post pictures. However, I am not patient enough to sit at this very SLOW computer and upload the pictures. I have recently realized how spoiled I am. I am used to sitting in the recliner with my laptop, never having to climb the stairs, and never having to wait for the pages to load. I am using our old computer upstairs. Last night I did an assignment for my School Law class on this computer. I think I spent more time waiting for pages to load than actually doing the assignment. It was an exercise in patience (which I'm sure I need to cultivate).

So here's what is going on with us:
-Sudoku puzzles--these are addicting. Cody and I have both been doing them since there is NOTHING on TV in the summer. Last night I printed Josie off a kids' starter puzzle so she can learn to do them.
-Gardening--we pulled our squash up because they have been ruined by squash vine bores. Hopefully I can post pictures. They are some nasty little creatures.
-Swimming at Nanny's
-Praying for rain or at least less heat!

New Wheels

Even though our new vehicle is less than a week old, it already needed a bath. Luckily, I have two willing helpers (at least for jobs involving water).


The gator got a bath as well.

Another Video

Home Again!

The kids are back from Camp Granny. We are so glad to have them home! Granny and Aunt Amanda shared lots of great pictures and videos with us--thanks guys! This is just one of the videos. I'll post more later if this one works.

No News

My kids are back at Camp Granny, and there is nothing going on at my house. It is quiet, relatively clean, and very boring--not that I'm complaining. Our 4th of July was also quiet and uneventful, but at least I got to hear Jake describe every single firework that they set off over the phone. I am a little worried that he has become a pyromaniac. He asked if he could stay at Granny's for 10 days...tempting, but I think Granny would protest. Anyway, I need the kids to come home and make a mess, create mountains of laundry, and cause general chaos. I might get too comfortable with the quiet and clean...