Nature Science Center

We continued our Nature Challenge at the Nature Science Center this morning.  We got there right as they opened in an effort to beat the heat... and were mostly successful.

The NSC is one of our favorite places to visit, but today's scavenger hunt took us into the Zilker Nature Preserve as well - a place we had never taken the time to explore.

We followed the trail through a dry creekbed and up to an overlook where we could see the downtown skyline off in the distance.

It was starting to get a little warmer on the way down, so even though we took the "less challenging" route down we decided to stop for a water break and were entertained by Lincoln on his harmonica.

We finished off the morning with lunch at the dino pit where we helped uncover several sets of dinosaur bones and made some new friends.

All in all, a successful challenge!

Asian Adventure

After our hike in the heat this morning, we decided we needed to go somewhere cool for the afternoon.  Luckily, the jar of Summer Fun provided some inspiration and we headed up to Chinatown Center to explore the Asian supermarket.

While it wasn't quite as cool as this picture, it was an interesting experience.  We saw lots of unusual fruits and vegetables and tanks of live fish as well as some (very recently) gutted fish... I believe there was also some squid in the mix there somewhere.

We picked a few new things to try - some lychee fruit and a young coconut (no idea what I'm going to do with that yet!) - as well as gathering a few staples that are often hard to find at the regular grocery.

Then we went home to enjoy a dinner of spring rolls with peanut sauce and steamed pork buns.

Yummy!

Uncle Ben is so Cool!

Andrew's brother Ben is a helicopter pilot for the Army... which pretty much makes him the coolest uncle ever in the eyes of the nieces and nephews.

We were lucky enough to find several birds in need of some TLC in the hangar so we could explore them to our heart's content.

We were hoping to meet up with my brother Keith on Saturday afternoon, but he woke up sick that morning, so we had to move to plan B... check out Ben's helicopters!  Lincoln got a crash course on flying from his cousin Cami.

Peter thought they were about the coolest thing ever.  His only complaint was that kids couldn't fly them and he declared as we were leaving that someone needed to make a helicopter that could only be flown by kids.  When we suggested that he do that when he grows up, his response was, "But then I won't be a kid!"

Valid point.  Could someone please work on this concept?  We need it in the next 6 years or so :)

Gaylord Opryland

 Andrew's conference was held in the Gaylord Opryland hotel, right next door to the Grand Old Opry.  Ben and Erin were nice enough to take responsibility for our kids for a night so I could join Andrew and take in the opulence there... it kind of reminded me of Vegas!

We spent a fun, relaxing night together and I took a little time this morning to wander around and gawk at the beauty of the hotel.  All of these pictures are taken inside the hotel conservatory.

I definitely have to bring the kids tomorrow - they'll think it's amazing!

Old Friends

One of the things we both love and dislike about our ward is the fact that we have the university's married student housing within our boundaries.  We love getting to meet new families and make new friends every year, but we dislike the fact that they eventually move on, leaving us sad to see them go.

However, the bright side of that is that wherever we travel, we're bound to run across friends along the way!  One of our favorite families moved to Nashville last year - they have three boys almost exactly the same ages as our three boys, so we jumped at the chance to meet up with them for a day of play.

After a yummy lunch, the boys were getting kind of exuberant in their play, so we headed to a very cool park and ended up in the sandbox.  The boys were all filthy by the time we left, but it was worth it!  We had a wonderful time and it was lovely to get caught up and enjoy some adult conversation.  Thanks Editt!

Nashville Zoo

 This morning we loaded everyone up and set out to see the animals at the Nashville Zoo.

After a quick look at the map, we set out for the elephants

And got there just in time to see the elephant show with the keepers.

This particular elephant showed off her mad skillz by playing the harmonica, playing catch with the keeper, and drop kicking a football.  We were all very impressed.

Josh was sweet enough to be Eli's keeper for the day (he fit right in at the zoo!) and made sure he got a good view of all the animals.

And when it got too hot to stay out in the sun, we made our way over to the shady playground

 

 Where we bounced until we were exhausted!

Cooling off

 We spent Monday recovering from the long drive and getting reacquainted with cousins.  These guys haven't seen each other for over a year, so it was fun to see them all playing together.

 

This morning dawned hot and humid, sending us all down the street to the neighbor's pool.  The coolest thing about this pool (for parents anyway) is that it is a chemical free, saltwater pool.  I love that they didn't smell like chlorine when they were done!

 Of course, it was a little deep for the smaller kids - so they solved the problem by filling up their own little splash pool... and had just as much fun!

And it's always fun to dry off on the trampoline afterwards!

Road Trip

 Saturday morning we headed out on the first leg of our road trip up to Fort Campbell.  Andrew had his annual attorney's conference in Nashville this year - since that is only an hour away from where his brother is stationed, we decided to make a family vacation out of it and hang out with cousins while Andrew attended  his conference.

 We left from Houston since we had to make a quick detour for Andrew to attend Bishop's Night at Girl's Camp on Friday night.  It gave us a chance to hang out with grandparents and have another birthday celebration for Lincoln.

 It takes about 14 hours to drive straight through to Fort Campbell, so we made a few stops along the way... at the Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches, this cool park in Tatum, and the birthplace of Bill Clinton (Hope, Arkansas) to rest for the night before tackling the last leg of the trip.

 

 After attending church in Little Rock this morning, we pushed through and pulled into Fort Campbell just in time for dinner (timing is everything!) where we were welcomed with open arms and popsicles!

This was the first really long road trip we've taken with all four kids - and they were amazingly good!  We rented a van for the trip since ours needs some brake work done.  Unfortunately, the rental didn't have a DVD player.  So we stocked up on Books on CD at the library and they worked wonders, especially when interspersed with pit stops and guessing games.  Eli was the only one to get a little stir crazy from time to time, but he usually just pulled his blanket over his eyes and went to sleep when that happened, so a good time was had by all.

Birthday Boy

 

Our #1 Son is now seven years old!

How does that happen so quickly??

Lincoln spent the morning at basketball camp and then went out to lunch with his buddy JD.

He then requested that we spend the afternoon at the pool before coming home to a dinner of Dad's chili - yum!

We had to be a little creative this year since my oven is still out of commission, so we made cornbread in the donut maker and ...

 

a Rocky Road cake in the crockpot.

I'm beginning to think an oven is more of a luxury than a necessity... but no, it would definitely make life easier around here!

By the end of the night we were surrounded by BeyBlades and space clocks and marshmallow shooters.

But the prize of the night was the harmonica - now we just need to learn how to play it!

We are so happy to have Lincoln in our family.  He loves to learn and has a super imagination.  It's so fun to watch him play with his siblings or listen to his latest scheme or watch his enthusiasm for whatever activity he happens to be doing.  Lincoln lives very much in the moment, so when he's happy...he's really  happy.  And when he's sad or angry, he's really sad or angry.  It's actually rather refreshing because there's no guess work involved.  What you see is what you get!

And we love what we got!

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

Our First Adventure

We headed out for our first Texas Nature Challenge today.  Lincoln had basketball camp this morning, so we picked an easy one that we knew wouldn't take too long.  Besides, my boys have been begging to go to the "Dinosaur Museum" for the last two weeks. 

  And that is how we found ourselves completing a scavenger hunt at the Texas Memorial Museum

  I put Leah and Lincoln in charge of finding the answers to the clues

While I spent my time trying to keep this wild child from getting into too much trouble!

 

Peter took the scavenger hunt very seriously - although I think he may have confused being a scavenger with being a secret spy so he decided to go incognito and wear a disguise.

 

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, since this is how the child comes to Family Night - you know, in case there is a freak flood or snowstorm :)  

You can never be too prepared!