Park for All Abilities

A while back I read about a new park that was built up in Round Rock called the Park for All Abilities.  Today we needed to get out of the house so we drove up there to find it.

 And it was so worth the drive!  This is a huge play area with every imaginable playground attraction.

I'll let you click on the link above for more pictures, but the best thing about this park is that it is surrounded by a 6 foot fence with only one gate in and out.  

 So I felt comfortable letting the big kids run to play where they wanted while I followed Eli around to make sure he didn't bully anyone.  But really the park is big enough that you never really feel like you're stepping on anyone's toes.

We played hard and then relaxed a little and then headed over to Ikea for free kid's meals followed by some more play in their air conditioned kid's area.

Can't beat a day of free fun!

Lisa's getting married!

 It looks like single days are finished for the Bardos.

My sister Lisa is the baby of the family and she'll be getting married in September.

Leah and I were able to go down to Houston to celebrate with her at her bridal shower.

Since Lisa's fiance is from Switzerland and is currently going to school in England, this was a rather unconventional bridal shower - everything had to be able to fit in a suitcase without being too heavy!

 

She received some beautiful jewelry and some fun household textiles...some of which could have a dual purpose ;) as well as the obligatory lingerie which I won't post so as not to ruin the surprise for Erich.

We had a lot of fun chatting and it was fun for me to visit with friends from Houston who I haven't seen for awhile.

Wildflower Center

One of our local nature centers holds an awesome kids nature night during the summer.   Unfortunately, a bishop's schedule isn't very accommodating on weeknights and he usually needs the car - so we weren't able to make it to the evening programs.  

 However, we did take advantage of the free admission on those days to explore the beautiful area.

 Despite the heat, there are still lots of beautiful flowers in bloom.

 And there are plenty of places to cool off in the A/C when necessary - we especially loved looking at the origami exhibit.  These were a few of our favorites!

I wouldn't mind hiking some of the trails they have on the surrounding property, but I think that will have to wait for a cooler day.

Best. Game. Ever.

Have you tried playing any of the Lego Games?

Some of them are a little gimmicky, but we've managed to stumble on a few that we enjoy.

Then Andrew came home this weekend with one that we fell in love with - Heroica!

The game consists of several different "rooms" that you can connect in different ways to make your game board.  The goal is to get to a predetermined finish space, fighting your way through traps and bad guys along the way.

Since learning the game with their dad, the kids have begged to play it every night - and the best part is that they can easily play it on their own with just a little help putting the board together.

They've even created their own spaces from our Lego stash so they could make the board bigger.

Definitely a good investment!

Art Camp

Leah spent her mornings last week at Art Camp.

She had a great time and got to try a lot of different media, such as...

Oil Pastels

Watercolors

Clay

Spin art, paper mache, and tissue paper

and acrylics

Her favorite project was a group acrylic painting

They're going to mount it for display in the classroom and send out a photo of the finished project.

It was a great experience for her to be able to try her hand at so many different techniques - I think we'll definitely be heading back next summer!