Part II

Shea went about today like boarding a plane alone was just an everyday thing for her. She did great!!!

Shea - have fun with Grandma!

We miss you and love you!

A nail bitin' night - Shea's big day, Part I

Tomorrow Shea embarks on an adventure. She is flying to Utah ALL BY HERSELF. It started out as just an idea and I was perfectly fine with it thinking..."oh, she'll be fine. She can take care of herself." Duh! She is 7!!! Now that the it is pre-flight night, I am starting to get a little nervous. So is she. She told me she won't sleep at all tonight because she is nervous and excited. These are my fears: Will she really get on the plane? What if she has to go to the bathroom? What if the plane has mechanical problems and the plane has to land in Dallas for 4 hours and there is no one to take care of her (supposedly the airline is responsible for that, but what if they forget?)? What if she has to sit by some scary guy? Or, even worse, a nice old lady that just wants to make conversation but Shea is too shy to reply? What if she is just plain scared and there is no one to hold her hand? The only reprise from my worries? She is flying first class. It was the only seat available and all she cares about is that the seat is bigger. So, tomorrow, part II.

Road Trip #2: Comal River, New Braunfuls, Texas

First matter of business: Drop Zachary off at Aunt Sarah's. Zachary spent the day with his cousin Rebecca. He was happy and smilin' when I picked him up - Thanks Sarah!! (Sarah took this picture. She is an amazing photographer - you can see some of her work at www.unhistoricacts.com)

A road trip. A beautiful day. A river. A tube. A few rapids. A big tree. What more could you ask for?
Today we went tubing down the Comal River. So, this is how it went. It is our turn to put our tubes in the river. Alex throws his in and jumps on top and says "See ya." Alex is tubin' down the river like a mad man. Okay, in reality, the water is barely moving but when you weigh nothing, you move faster than those of us with a little meat on our bones. Alex is long gone. After a while we send Shea after him. Two gone, one to go. Then comes the shoot. It has a little kick to it and when we get to the bottom, Alex is on the opposite side of the river and Shea's tube is spinning in the current. No Shea. After a brief heart attack, she comes running down the bank of the river. She had a little heart attack of her own, freaked out, evacuated her tube and swam against the current (thank you swim team) to the other side. Twenty minutes later we are all back together and Alex wants to go again. He and Steffen haul their tubes back up to the top of the shoot and go again. Shea, Cody and Mom watch from a safe distance. Who knew Alex was such a dare devil? At the end of the river this truck hauled us back to the car. It was great! A perfect day.

Tubing can work up quite an appetite so we went went to Gruene for lunch. There were 40 of in our party (Thanks to the Richards for organizing this trip!!) so the kids went crazy. Use your imagination...20 kids, one tree.

I guess there are times when we are just one, big happy family. I did miss my baby but sometimes the big kids need to get out and make some memories. I hope this is a good one.

When big boys gather....

The night in before a holiday, Steffen and his buddies get together to play Risk. I don't know how to play, nor do I have any desire to learn, but tonight Steffen hosted the shin dig. From eavesdropping I gather that the game has something to do with conquering countries. Anyway, I had to take a picture. They are gathered around the table with their game and their little snacks. I have listened to every conversation tonight and they chat...just like us girls (they also ate my celery and watermelon).

Road Trip #1: Blue Bell Icecream Factory - Brenham, Texas

So, we are getting a little stir crazy here in our house ALL together ALL the time so we decided to brave the open road. We have tried to visit the Blue Bell Factory twice before, forgetting both times they are closed on Saturdays so this time, we thought we'd be safe on a Tuesday. The tour starts out with a little movie about how the company came to be and then you get to see the actual icecream being made and "squirt" into the tubs. Now, for those of you who are not Texans, Blue Bell is considered THE BEST icecream around. For example, we went to a going away party last week for some friends and a few of us brought icecream. All Blue Bell. It is a Texas tradition. Here are a few snapshots of our trip, because, afterall, what you really want to see is the pictures.

Supposedly a real delivery truck. Maybe...

At the beginning of the tour Zachary loved his hat. At the end, not so much.

If you can read the fine print on the window, it says no sitting or standing on the vintage truck... Yeah, didn't see that one in time.

At the end of the tour, each tourist get a sample of the icecream. The tour used to be free with a sample at the end. Now, you have to pay for the tour so technically, it is not a free sample any longer. But my goodness, is it worth it.

Once again, not so happy a baby.

If Shea had her way, she would have a flower in every picture.

How cute is that?

Shea is sporting the Texas Longhorn sign but what she really means is "Go Aggies!." She just got it backwards. We are working on that.

On of the best things about Texas is the fruit stands on the side of the freeway. How could we leave Brenham without a watermelon? It was HUGE and had to be cut up on multiple parts to fit in the fridge.