Wildlife Ranch

One of the activities on my personal Summer Bucket List was to visit the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch.  We arrived close to opening time and got a glimpse of the baby twin giraffes - they were so sweet.  I wanted to do the drive through part of the ranch before it got too crowded.  We started out with the kids in their car seats, but they were having a hard time seeing the animals and throwing food out the window, so I let them move up to the front seat (I felt like they were safe as we were rolling along at a crawl and it wasn't too busy).  I think they were more excited about their freedom than they were about the animals.



Best Buds


Checking out the zebras


The zebra who wouldn't move - we were stuck for a couple of minutes waiting for it to move out of the road


All of the animals were fun to watch except the ostriches - I'd been warned that they are a little aggressive, so I rolled up the windows as soon as we got to their area to avoid having one stick its head into the van.  Yet, we still had one try to bite the rear view mirror.  That was the second most memorable part of the trip - and the part that Will still talks about a month and a half later.

The most memorable part was when I broke the van key.  Good times.  After driving through, I parked and let the kids out so we could go to the petting zoo and get a closer look at the giraffes.  I realized that I'd left a window rolled down, so I leaned across the passenger seat to turn the van on, slipped with my hand on the key in the ignition, and the remote just snapped off.  I got the van started again, and I was afraid to turn it off.  I loaded two tearful, disappointed kids back into the van (fortunately, they seemed to understand and calmed down quickly) and drove straight to the dealership.  They assured me that as long as I kept the pieces close together, it would still work, but ordered a key that I could pick up the next day.  Such a hassle (and so expensive - remember when a car key was just a key?), but it worked out, and we are planning to return once it gets a little cooler.  Definitely a memorable excursion!

Dinosaurs at the Witte

The Witte Museum has had a special dinosaur exhibit this summer.  Will loves dinosaurs - like, LOVES them - so I knew we had to check it out.  Some friends told me that some of the exhibits moved and could be really intimidating, so we talked ahead of time about how the dinosaurs were going to be huge but that they weren't real.  They were so fascinated by the movement (and the iPads at several exhibits that you could use for additional activities) that they handled everything fine.  But for any locals that haven't been yet - try to prepare your kiddos!



Members received a free dinosaur mask (and I was able to purchase an additional one for just $2) - I think the mask only left Will's head for bath time and bed time over the next 3 days.  Will was in little boy heaven!

Will with the T-Rex, showing off his mask, and with what he said was his favorite dino


Clockwise from top left:  Hatching dinosaur eggs with the iPad, future paleontologists, and enjoying some other exhibits at the museum


We had a blast, and Will kept asking "Can I go to the dinosaur exhibit?  I need to see the dinosaurs!"  We went back in July and plan to go at least once more before it ends in September.

From the second trip:


Educational AND exhausting - dinosaurs for the win!

Summer Projects

At the beginning of the summer, my friend Lindsay posted a link to the Christian Mama's Guide Pin-Tastic Summer - a collection of activities posted each week using things that you can easily find around your house or at Target/grocery store.  Using that blog and Pinterest, I've been able to find several activities that were age appropriate and that I knew would be fun for the kids, and we've enjoyed having some different experiences while trying to avoid the Texas heat.

Fizzy Color Art

Sparkly Monster Goo

Shake-It-Up Sorbet

Rainbow Rice (this was a favorite - they played with it for so long and have asked for it a few times since)

Celery & food coloring experiment

Homemade bath paints (from my MOPS group)

(Will was more interested in splashing around than painting)

Year End Wrap Up - August Randoms

Cousins - after a meal at the Grist Mill with Grandmommy, Aunt Carol, and Grace


I was invited to a lovely tea party.


One Saturday I had to go to a volunteer training session for our children's ministry at church, so Robert took the kids to the river for a boat ride.




Playing hide & seek at Nana & Granddaddy's


Claire really wanted to hold Will - they are almost the same size, so it didn't work out too well.


Claire fixing Will's hair


Zoo Train!


Will and I took a Mommy & Me class at Little Gym - we both really enjoyed it


Asleep during lunch at Shady Grove




Bye bye, hair!


Will's very own Lego creation


We went to The Jumpy Place one morning - all of these toys, and this is what he chose to play with.


I tried several times to get a photo of Claire on the slides, but she was just a blur.

Year End Wrap Up - Exploring the Witte

9/14/12

I wanted to change up our summer routine, so we made a visit to the Witte Museum.

Looking at the river (we'd recently had a lot of rain, and it was really flowing)


Learning about diversion gates at the outdoor water exhibit




The best sign of a successful outing - seeing this when we pull into the driveway

Year End Wrap Up - Summer Days at the Children's Museum

This summer we visited the Children's Museum in New Braunfels at least 3 times a month.  The kids love to visit, and I liked having someplace with air conditioning (or at least shade) to take them during hot South Texas days.  Some photos from our visits:

Taking care of the babies in the hospital




Not quite where the bottle should go, but good try, Buddy!




With Kate & Paige


Birthday party for Paige


I eventually learned to always bring an extra shirt for Will to exchange for the one that would get soaked at the water area.


Visit from some of the creatures at the Snake Farm


Shopping in the grocery store


Working hard at the construction area

Guts and Glory

Anthony Bourdain is a chef/author/tv personality that I enjoy, and his tour "Guts & Glory" stopped in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago.  Even though I knew we would be busy getting ready for our vacation, I didn't want to miss a chance to see him live.  My favorite part was the Q&A - he definitely has an opinion about everything, and I felt like he was more "real" when his remarks weren't as prepared.  He is entertaining, but we could've done with less cursing - it was a lot, y'all!  We did have a good time and enjoyed a night out together among the San Antonio hipster crowd.  :)

An article from our local newspaper's blog about the show is here.