Celebrating Summer - Tuesday

We met Grandma at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco to pick up Fran.  The exhibits were quite impressive and lots of interactive stations to keep the kids engaged!  A glass slide through the Otter pond, tepees near the buffalo, and ropes around the orangutans. 

Celebrating Summer - Monday

With sister off at Camp Grandma and the final week of summer vacation underway, we are celebrating to the fullest.  Today, my 3 favorite boys and I headed downtown to explore Lady Bird Lake on Water Bikes.  

The weather was perfect, a mere mid 90's and no wind (not bad for a Texas summer day).  But the horrible weed growth in the lake got the best of us!  One thought it was best to "nap" and the other was about 1 inch too short for the pedals.  

I had a blast and just rode circles for our 60 minute excursion.  And yes, the water bikes were much more strenuous than I ever anticipated.  We may wait another 3 years before we attempt this again.  

Blanco State Park

What we were thinking was going to look like this...

Ended up being only a small trickle down a tiny part of the dam.  

A quick drive west to Blanco State Park concluded our second to last swimming hole adventure for this summer.  The water was too warm and brown for my liking and the super slippery dam nearly gave me a heart attack when the kids would run, jump and play tag on it.  BUT the picnic tables were close to the water with plenty of shade, a park on the other side of the water killed an easy 20 minutes, and the kids did have a great time exploring.  

Green Thumb

I am diving in head first in this one...trying to grow a garden.  The price of Armenian Cucumbers lit the fire and my Craigslist find of  the PERFECT containers has kept it going.  Lets just see how green my thumb really is.  Here is my first shot for a fall crop.  

The pumpkin and squash seed were planted only 4 days ago by the kids!

This cantaloupe was planted in late July, the only survivor from our weekend in Galveston.  

Lake Travis Flyover

Even though the balloons never left the ground due to "zero wind conditions," it was still the perfect end to a great birthday week.  

McKinney Falls

A last minute swimming adventure to one of our favorite "holes" here in the city...we had the place to our self most of the time!  Check out my cliff jumpers.

Beach Escape

After weeks full of summer reading programs, swimming holes, Camp Grandma, movie clubs, and VBS we drove down to Galveston for a long 3 day escape.  I am not the biggest fan of Texas beaches (warm dirty water and brown packed sand) but I discovered if you drive far enough east or west you can find some quaint areas that are quite enjoyable.  The kids played in the sand, surfed on boogie boards, and raced the waves.

Galveston does have a wonderful new addition...Pleasure Pier.  The heavy priced armband allows you to come and go.  A few hours in the afternoon and then again at night is more than enough.    

Before heading home, we surprised the kids with a 5 1/2 hour stop at Schlitterbahn Galveston.  It was the highlight of their trip and one of cleanest water parks I have ever visited.  Unfortunately it was not enough for them to nap on the drive home.  

We were happy to get these kids to the ocean.  This is how long it has been since they have played in salt water...from then til now!