Reunion at the Flying L: Part 2

Saturday at the Flying L - we had breakfast with the family, then headed to the water park as soon as it opened.  It was actually a little chilly, but the kids had a blast.  The small water slide and the lazy river were the biggest hits.  The kids had so much fun playing with the other great-grandkids!

Some photos from Robert's aunt.

In the evening we all gathered at the main building for a family photo before dinner.  The kids had so much fun posing in an old buggy.  Will's hands were up in almost every photo as he pretended to hold reins for the imaginary horse pulling the buggy.

Wheee!

Dinner that night was a special event at the ranch - we rode in a wagon out to the "ghost town", a collection of western style buildings.  In addition to barbecue, there were several activities - cowboy dress up, face painting, practice roping, archery, etc.  Will's favorite part was the live music - he put on quite the show for the crowd (more on that later!).

Filthy boots - he had a good time!

We all slept well that night.  :)  Sunday was our last day, and we'd planned to go back to the pool, but the weather was not in our favor.  We enjoyed a last meal with our group, and then drove back into San Antonio.  It was so nice to spend time with our family and give the kids their first "dood ranch" experience!

Reunion at the Flying L: Part 1

The day after the last day of school (and the X Games) we drove to Bandera for a family reunion at the Flying L Ranch.  A few days before our trip, I showed the kids some pictures from the website, and they were particularly excited about the pool and the water park.   Later Claire was on the computer, and I found this Google search:


So yeah, she was pretty excited.  :)

We checked in on Friday afternoon and spent some time exploring the grounds.  The kids really enjoyed the playground and had their first mini golf experience.


There was a campfire after dinner with s'mores - Claire and I basically have a rule that we will never pass up a free s'more.


Enjoying the fire and the weather


Then it was off to bed to rest up for the pool!

Will's Creations

Will loves to create, and I've been trying to take more photos of his masterpieces before they get taken apart and rebuilt into something else.  As I've mentioned before, he is really into dragons, so they are frequent subjects of his creations.  I love seeing how he takes random toys and objects and making them into something, or setting up little scenes with things he loves.

Dragons that are attacking the castle


The "found objects" dragon - body is a wrapping paper tube, wings and tail from a foam mat, and the eyes are sand art bottles from a pumpkin festival.


A dragon with a retractable sword.  I especially like the toothbrush stuck on top - he told me that was the dragon's spike, and that the popsicle mold is a fang.


A Boneknapper dragon (from one of the "How to Train Your Dragon" series).  In the show, the Boneknapper uses pieces of bones to assemble body armor.  The part at the top left is a wing - he ran out of pieces and then got distracted before he finished the other side.  The pieces at the top are its horns.


These dragons are playing ball with each other


T-Rex from Tinkertoys


And a couple of non-dragon/dinosaur related creations:
Rubber band art at the library


An especially silly Potato Head that he thought was hilarious - "Who ever heard of an arm for a nose?  HA HA HA HA!!!"  :)

X Games Austin

June 5th was a busy day!  After Claire's last day, they spent the night with my parents while Robert and I drove to Austin for the opening night of the X Games.  We had wristbands through his work, and we were going to be out of town for the rest of the Games, but we were so glad we got to go for at least one night.

We arrived not really knowing what to expect.  There was a halfpipe set up in downtown Austin, and we were allowed into the front of the viewing area with the wristbands.  The night started off with the Tony Hawk and Friends exhibition.  So fun to watch these legends in action!






There was a break before the skateboarding competition began, so we walked over to the VIP area to cool off and have a snack and a cold drink.  They had these delicious sugar cookies - we each ate a couple (or more!).




Skateboarding




After the skateboarding competition we walked over to the Capitol lawn - really cool to see the halfpipe and the crowd with downtown Austin in the background.


Then we headed back for the BMX competition - it was unbelievable.






Both of our phones died during the BMX portion - we were taking too many pictures.  :)  It was a really fun and unique experience - next year we are planning to be there for more of the weekend!

Claire's Last Day of Kindergarten

June 5, 2014 was Claire's last day of Kindergarten.  I didn't expect it to be so emotional, but I started crying when we told Claire's teacher goodbye for the summer.  We started the year not really knowing what to expect, but we hoped and prayed that Claire would have a good relationship with her teacher, that she would feel safe and happy at school, that she would make friends, that she would be kind and obedient, and that she would learn a lot.  All of these prayers were answered and it was a wonderful first year experience for all of us.  Her teacher was such a huge part of it - we couldn't have gotten a better one, and on the last day she told me how much she cared about Claire and how she hoped her daughters would have the same relationships with their first teachers as she had with Claire.  It was an amazing year!

The day was full with fun celebrations.  We took a last day of school photo in the backyard, and Will wanted to take one, too, with his scary dragon face.




We dropped Claire off, ran a quick errand, and came back for get a seat for the Kindergarten ceremony.  Claire and her classmates worked so hard on their performance, and it was beyond adorable.  They sang a song written by the music teacher to the tune of "Summer Nights" from Grease..."But, oh, now it's time for First Grade!"




Then each kid got a completion certificate...




And they ended by singing their school song, "We are the Lions, Hear Us Roar!"  Claire gets really animated during the "Roar" part!


Afterwards each class went back to their classroom for pictures.  Will brought Claire flowers that he picked out (our earlier errand), and she was so pleased.








They had the option to stay or go, and Claire wanted to stay for part of the day, so I helped her change out of her dress clothes.  I picked her up a little early, and she had enjoyed helping clean up and organize the room - two of her favorite activities!

It was truly a wonderful year.  Now, on to First Grade!

Field Day 2014!

Claire's school had a special field day during the last week of school.  There were tons of games and activities set up in the gym and on the playground fields.  I volunteered during the Kindergarten/First Grade time slot, handing out cups of water and helping with some of the water games.  Claire bounced from game to game.  Her favorite was the race to fill up buckets with water using a big sponge.






The aftermath - it turned into a Nap Day!