LABOR DAY FUN!!

During the long labor day weekend we decided to be spontaneous and spend Saturday in Austin. It's such a short drive to get to Austin, so why not? Our 1st stop was Serranos for some mexican food. It was great because we were able to sit outside. This way I didn't have to constrain Vincent. After a lil over 2 hour drive he needed to run around a bit. After we ate we drove the few blocks to the Texas State Capital. I have not been in years. Our friends the Albrecht met us. It was great spending time with them. Sadly after the capital we didn't see them again. We took the short tour. I'm not sure how much interest the kids had in it, but I learned a lot of new and interesting things. I never did like history much, I am just now finding it fascinating.
After the capital we made the drive to Zilker park. We had no idea all of Austin had the same idea. Thankfully we were able to get a great parking spot (we were worried we would not even be able find a spot). The kids and big Ricky suited up and cooled off in the extremely refreshing springs. Vincent stayed at the extreme shallow edge and threw rocks. As long as he was throwing rocks he was happy. After Zilker we headed to Congress bridge to see the bats come out at sun down. It's amazing how many bats are under that bridge. They just kept coming and coming.
It was a great day!
We were going to stay at family's in Bastrop, but it was still early so we decided to make the drive home. The kids were dirty and tired. I think everyone just wanted their own bed.
I know we are looking forward to our next spontaneous adventure.

Pics are out of order:

Noah and Ricky

The great debate on the best way to get in the freezing water. 

Vincent just being a grump. 

Still trying to get in. 

Vincent testing the water

Hannah and Hana. 

These are the original desks from the 1800s. So much history!!

As long as he was throwing he was perfectly fine. 

He 1st had to check the rock out before he threw it. 

Getting a close look at the water 

goofing around

Vincent having a lil snack

Waiting for the bats

THE BEGINNING OF 2ND AND 4TH GRADE.

After a long summer my munchkins went back to school. It was great spending the summer with them, but I think everyone is ready for a routine around here. Maybe not Vincent. I know he will miss them a lot when they are at school.

Hana is entering 2nd grade at 48.5 inches tall and 56 pounds. She is blessed to get Ms. Scott for her homeroom and Ms. Heathcox for her switch teacher. Ricky had them. They are the definition of a "perfect" teacher. I believe Ms. Scott truly teaches for the love of it. She is nurturing, but yet firm. She makes learning fun. She is a teacher that will go out of her way. She has a couple friends in her class from last year. Hana is going to have a great year. So far all her days have been "perfect."

Ricky was pretty bummed after meet the teacher. He did not get the teacher he was hoping for, nor did he have any of his close friends in class. I was a little nervous the 1st day for him. Mainly if he will like the teacher. The whole year depends on the teacher/student relationship. To my relief he really likes his teacher, Ms. Cabahug. She is new to the district. She used to teach 5th grade and was also the head of a dept for many years. I really think Ms. C will challenge her students. Ricky will have to work a little harder to keep his "A" average.  Ricky said the 1st day she was under the impression that they were pretty fluent in long division. All the kids pretty much just stared at her. She also has Ricky interested in reading. As soon as he got home on the 1st day of school he begged me to take him to buy "The Giver". I'm just keeping my fingers crossed he finishes it.
He still sees his best friends at recess. The only complaint he has is that the days are long.

Praying that my kids will have an awesome year and that they will stay safe.

Hana picked this outfit out with daddy. I think they did a great job. 

Vincent graduated to a big boy car seat. 

Ms. Scott

She's super excited. 

------I have no classroom pictures with Ricky bc when we got to his classroom almost all kids were already there. We didn't even go in with him. He went straight to his desk and we said our goodbyes. It's 4th grade so it would have been a little odd. ---------------

PLEASURE PIER

As the summer is approaching the end, we wanted to do something fun with the kids. Since I received a tip that the Corpus Christi beach was perfect right now, my 1st reaction was to go. It was spontaneous so we researched hotels in the hopes of finding an affordable one on North Padre Island (or very close). Well, after hours of searching. No such luck. It would be my 1st time back since my parents moved. So it would have been a bitter sweet trip. I just don't think it will ever be the same with out them there. After searching hotels, I REALLY realized how blessed I was that my parents lived so close to the beach and I never had to worry about vacancy. I know that my kids really miss the beach. It was a second home to them for so many years.
Second choice....... Pleasure Pier in Galveston. We have never been, so it was a new experience for all of us. We got there close to when it opened. The crowd was not bad. The kids had a blast riding most of the roller coasters. They both loved the dragon. Ricky wanted to ride it over and over. Even Vincent had a favorite ride, the big wheel. He loved the bumpiness of it and pressing all the buttons in the car. We had a late lunch across the street at Fish Tales. The food was really good. Vincent was a little fussy and thankfully after lunch he fell asleep for a couple of hours. We stayed at the pleasure pier till around 9pm. We did notice that in the evening it started to get pretty crowded.
Over all we really enjoyed the Pleasure Pier. It was great to get one last quick trip in before school starts.

He did not have enough patience to wait for this thing to start moving. 

Even though you can't tell by their faces they loved this ride. 

The log ride was fantastic. 

The carousel was great, you were able to get a great view of the city from up there. 

The little guy is asleep missing all the action. 

The Dragon. Ricky loved it!! It took Hana a few rides to get confident enough with it. Toward the end she had enough courage to sit in the very back (top) with Ricky. 

Vincent on the big wheel

just looking for buttons to press

Ricky riding away on his seahorse/dragon