Summer Fun

T.S. received a kit to make his own electric buggy (or as he says Jeep). He has really enjoyed watching it work. (Robby REALLY enjoyed putting it together.)

We purchased Magic Nuudles the other day--pretty much all they are just colored packing peanuts. You dampen the ends and they stick together. So far, it has been hours of fun connecting noodles, taking them apart and putting them together again.

Hico--Day 3 & 4

Wednesday morning we picked up our cousin Beverly at the retreat center she is working at this summer (it was her day off) and headed to Fort Worth. We meet Aunt Melinda and Aunt Ruth and her kids at Billy Miner's in downtown Fort Worth. My kids were fascinated with the parking garage and with walking among the big buildings downtown.

After lunch, we went swimming with Ruth and Ben. The kids had a ball jumping off the diving boards (T.S. jumped off the side). Sorry, I didn't get any pictures.

We then made a quick stop at Grandma and PaPa's and headed to Burleson to see the Fisher's house and then to eat at Babe's (YUM!!!) We had so much fun seeing all of the cousins, aunts and of course the grandparents.

On the way home from dropping Beverly back off at Glen Rose, my cousin Brant called to announce his engagement to the lovely Ashly--congrats, you two!

On Thursday we checked out a new breakfast place in Hico and then went downtown to check out some of the really cool shops they have. If you are ever that way, the downtown has some neat places. The kids got to watch the chocolate-making process and then we went to the Wiseman House to purchase some. Wiseman House Chocolates are yummy--I recommend the almond toffee and Sadie likes the Choco-rocks.

We enjoyed a quick lunch of homemade pizza (that included my homemade cheese) then said our goodbyes and headed back to Happy.

The kids and I had so much fun with the Hico Bows. Can't wait to see where our next adventure leads us!

Hico--Day 2

We visited the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. The kids had fun viewing all of the different animals. Even though it was HOT, the kids were all troopers. The misters helped cool us off, too.

We ate our picnic lunch at the Mayborn Museum on the Baylor campus. Then we set off exploring and discovering cool things throughout the museum. We were fortunate to view their traveling exhibit: Leonardo daVinci Machines in Motion. It was really cool to see all of the machines he came up with and even cooler to get to see how they worked.

Upstairs in the museum, we explored everything from sound, bubbles and water to animals and insects and pioneers. The kids really enjoyed the rooms where they got to dress up in pioneer clothes and outfits from different cultures. The TV station was a big hit, too. We have several budding reporters and meteorologists.



The kids finished their day by cooling off on the trampoline with water.

Our Trip to Hico, Day 1

The kids and I spent the first part of the week visiting Robby's brother's family in Hico. Robby was at Leadership Camp and Randy was in Indonesia, so it was a good time for the moms and cousins to get together.

Our first stop was at the Dr Pepper Museum in Dublin. Besides being the oldest Dr Pepper bottler in the world, Dublin Dr Pepper also has the distinction of being bottled with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar - the original Dr Pepper formula. We each got our own little bottle of Dr Pepper (I hate to admit it, but it was really good). The Pure Cane Sugar makes a huge difference. We then got to see the bottling process and look at quite a bit of Dr Pepper paraphernalia.

The Bows then took us on a journey to a local family's farm. The family makes their own cheese--so this is where the Bows purchase their milk and cheese. You can also buy eggs and some meat here. We even got to stick our head in the cheese room where they age the cheese--not the most pleasant of smells, but interesting.

We then traveled on to the home of a friend who grows lavender--very cool. We ended the day at a surprise party for one of their friends.

T.S. Says...

We just returned today from our fabulous trip to visit the Hico Bows. We all had a great time and enjoyed MANY fun activities. I'm still working on the posts from the trip, so here's another saying from T.S. to tide you over.

I overheard T.S. telling his cousin, "Our cat Tiger laid some kittens."

Introducing Oscar and What's His Name

UPDATE: The black-face now has a name: Edward (or "sometimes we can call him Ed," said Sadie.)

Sadie and Robby made a quick trip south to pick up her lambs. The cross is named Oscar and the smaller, black-faced one has yet to be named. We'll see what name fits his personality as we get to know him (Oscar's name may change, you never know.)



T.S. was happy to see his daddy and sister. He jumped in and started helping when it was time to unload.

As you can see, they aren't halter broke(n) yet. The next few days should be interesting as we get to know them and they get to know us.

Swimming Lessons

We LOVE swimming lessons at Granny Kaye's!!

T.S. is in the tadpole class. The kids are so cute as they each sit on the steps waiting their turn to swim. He actually "sat" on the bottom of the pool yesterday without protesting and took

off his floaties during play time to show me how he "swims." (It was a dog paddle with no head in the water, but such an improvement over last year.)

Sadie's class is full of swimmers. She is practicing her breathing while swimming and learning the breast stroke. Yesterday was Sadie's last day--she left today to go pick up her lambs.

The kids love swimming and getting to hang out in Kaye's cool backyard in-between lessons. We mom's enjoy visiting, too. We are lucky to have a lady like Kaye in our community, otherwise our kids would either be non-swimmers or we'd have to arrange for lessons out-of-town. Thanks, Kaye!

T.S. Says...

I have not been diligent in posting T.S.'s funny sayings. He says so many off-the-wall things that they are really common and don't stand out as much anymore.

On the way home from town the other day, he said, "Mom, if you are ever outside and it starts raining snakes, get on the roof. Never mind, get in the car and roll the windows up."

I'm thinking, "If it ever starts raining snakes we are either about to witness the second coming or horrible plagues are beginning."

How does a kid even think about the possibility of raining snakes?

Slip-n-Slide Fun

The kids earned their slip and slide today by reaching the first line on the bean jar.

Birthday Girl

Sadie turned 9 Monday. We had her favorite supper last night--chicken and wild rice casserole. I made her a very simple cake with lavender and brown frosting (her choices.)

Nine things about Sadie:

1. brings joy to our lives
2. creative
3. imaginative
4. kind, thoughtful
5. hard worker
6. has an infectious laugh
7. tells/writes a good story
8. loves animals
9. beautiful smile and eyes

What a Week!

I didn't mean to go a whole week without posting. It has been a busy one.

We enjoyed vacation Bible school at our church this week.

Thursday Robby went to the scramble at the golf course and the kids and I headed to town for a swim/jewelry party. The swimming was short-lived as we ended up in Granny Kaye's basement when the tornado sirens went off. The kids made it a fun time and sang songs. I don't know if we had an actual tornado or not. Lots of limbs were blown down, trampolines mangled and some minor damage to a house. We were okay and Robby got a rain check for the scramble.

Robby spent Friday preparing to cook for the dinner at the Wesley-Sims Memorial Roping Calcutta. Saturday he smoked some incredible brisket and ribs.

Sadie and I worked in the concession stand with her fellow Cowboy 4-H members on Saturday and Sunday at the roping. T.S. enjoyed the sand pile on Saturday. The kids had fun with GeGe Saturday afternoon. They enjoyed Sawyer and Grayson's recital and had fun playing with the Tirey's in Plainview.

This morning Robby discovered that Tiger had five kittens. Unfortunately she is very young and not too sure how to take care of them. Sadie and I got them to nurse some this evening. We're hoping she figures it out soon since I have outlawed bottle-feeding kittens at our house.

Next week may be a little slower. Sadie has basketball camp every afternoon.