Just me and my girl

My parents have the little buddy for a couple of days so Kate and I can spend some special time together. It's been fun for us so far. Yesterday we went to the pool. Kate swam completely unassisted to me about 5 or 6 feet. It was great!! She was very proud of herself and confident about it. She did it a few more times and I got an idea. All summer long, she has been wanting to go down the water slide at the pool. I never can let her because I always have Andy with me and I don't think I can manage keeping him afloat and catching her from the slide. But without the buddy wiggling in my arms, it would be no problem. So I backed up a few more inches and told her if she could swim out "this far" she could go down the slide. She made it and it was off to the slide.

She walked up the steps, looked down the slide to make sure I was there with waiting arms. She smiled, slid down as her smile turned to a look of terror, and shot out of the slide laughing, straight into my arms!! She loved it and repeated it several times. So much fun.

Longhorn Cavern

Just north of Marble Falls as you reach Burnet, TX, lies Longhorn Caverns; probably the most beautiful cave I've been to in Texas. As temperatures soared outside, I felt a trip to a cave would be a good idea. We headed out early on Thursday morning, stopping in Marble Falls for lunch at Bluebonnet Cafe. We'd hit Bluebonnet Cafe again on our return trip, but more on that later.

After a quick bite to eat (note to self...again...let the kids share one child's plate, do not order two child's plates again!!!), we were off. The cave is west of Hwy 281 and lies a bit east of Inks Lake. The road to get there is Park Rd 4 and it is super hilly! The kids pretended they were on a roller coaster as we drove up and down those fun hills.

Once we arrived, we bought our tickets, shopped and poked around a bit and waited for the tour to begin. The entrance to the cave is a beautiful limestone (I think) stairway of 52 steps. About 20 steps down, it begins to feel cooler. Once in the cave, it is about 68 degrees. That felt refreshing! We went in to the cave with our tour group, experienced "absolute dark" and saw "crystal city" a portion of the cave with tons of crystals from the ceiling. We saw a dog sculpture inside and walked about 200 more yards after that. However, the little guy was feeling restless and tired all at once. He wanted to walk, but I could not let him do that. The tour guides turned on lights as we came to parts of the cave and turned them off as we left -- so just ahead of us and just behind us was pitch black. The thought of my son running off into the deep dark cave actually terrified me a li'l bit! So, we saw a tour group that was finishing their tour up and we tagged along with them and headed back out. My sweet daughter was very okay with this and I was impressed. She was having fun in the cave. She didn't even get scared at all by the "absolute dark" experience and she is not a fan of dark!

I think we will try again when Jesse can come with us or wait about 3 more years. But I am so glad we got a chance to visit.

Oh, yeah...Bluebonnet Cafe. We stopped again on the way back and bought a chocolate cream pie. Mmmm. Don't be jealous!!

2 guys, 2 girls and a pizza place

We tried a new pizza place in Wimberley and I have to include it on here because it was oh, so good. It's called Brewster's Pizza; here is a link to their website http://www.brewsterspizza.com/homemedia.html

First, about the family that runs it, then about the pizza.

The family.

The owners of this restaurant are Holly and Bruce Collie. I have to put a link to the Statesman article about them, but I want to hit the highpoints of it in this post. http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/09/27/0927collie.html

Bruce played for the San Francisco 49ers and won Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV. He lived the high life and had all manner of worldly success, but he needed and wanted more. He felt he "didn't have a life -- [he] had things." He made a change turning his life over to God. He met his wife, Holly, who was a model for QVC. They bought land out in Wimberley, and through a series of jobs, eventually began this pizza place. Oh yeah, and they have 13 kids -- so far!

As soon as we entered the restaurant, it was warm and welcoming in a way better than most places. They brew their own beer and it was wonderful stuff. The pizza -- oh, the pizza -- was so good. We ordered a cheese pizza for the kids - they devoured it. Jesse and I ate the "Carnivore" specialty pizza. The crust was thin and crispy, the ingredients were fresh and delicious, the pizza is what we've been looking for out here for a long time.

If you live in the area, you've got to try Brewster's. If you don't live in the area, you've got to try Brewster's. We'll put you up for the night!!

A Week of VBS

We had an adventurous week on the "High Seas"

Kate learned lots of new songs and Bible truths. It's adorable to hear her explain Bible stories to us. She really has a good memory and also loves to tell a story.

Andy had fun too and has a couple of new friends -- Luke and Tyler. He mentions them a lot, which is pretty sweet.

This year's VBS Mission was to buy computers for Odom Elementary School's language lab to allow parents and neighbors to use the computer to learn English as a second language. Kate traded in $20 worth of change from her savings to get money to put in the collection.

It's HOT in the hot tub-uh!

I couldn't resist the title.

We went to Tom's house tonight for a Jimmy Buffett concert party (Buffett was streaming a live concert from Muscle Shoals on CMT) and the kids got familiar with the hot tub. We had a great time. Andy's motorcycles got to take a dip too!

The hot tub was not a time machine though, so bummer there.

We had a great time.

Day 33 - A Grand Day Out

Today we did a few fun firsts.

We started our Saturday watching a friend's t-ball game. Nothing is much more fun than watching little ones swing at the tee, smack that ball and run like crazy. The little boy we went to see is such a great kid and was really good -- definitely has instincts on how to play the game. I'm certain we'll continue cheering him on in the years to come.

Following the game (we actually had to leave a little early because the little guy was so tired he could not stand it any longer) we headed out to the RGK ranch to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins. We had a wonderful day. Kate went out on the "mule" with her cousin Madi and her Uncle Sparky. After that all the kids had a ride on the horse, Poncho. We went out to dinner at Angel's, the kids sang along with the music entertainment, we went back to the ranch and finished the evening swimming for a couple of hours. What a fun day. The kids are completely sacked out -- success!

Day 32 - Piano

This first is a big one! A long time ago, my wonderful mother-in-law kindly offered us her baby grand piano. My slow-to-act self finally arranged for piano movers to deliver it here and it arrived yesterday!

It's hard to write about how exciting this is. It is rare to have a first that is such a permanent fixture in our house and is open to so many possibilities. We are a family that loves music and this addition to our home is a most welcome one.

Day 31 - MB's new digs

Made a quick trip to Fort Worth to check in on my sister's new house. She bought a nice little gem in the middle of the beautiful and historic Fort Worth neighborhood of Arlington Heights. The house was built in 1941 and has some very homey and sweet details. I lover her open kitchen and dining area, the rooms are cozy and the front porch is very sweet. The neighborhood has a sidewalk, which I feel is the mark of neighborhood cuteness. She seemed very content in her new house and it was nice to get a peek at it -- albeit a short one. We only stayed about 3 hours before we hit the road again to go home to the Drip. We'll head back up soon.

The kids' favorite part of the trip was seeing family and Penny, the precious.

Day 30 - Knock, knock!

An unexpected and dear first for all of us today -- my son said "I love you" to my husband and to me for the first time today. As if that weren't enough, he also made a really hilarious attempt at a knock-knock joke. I heard him in his room saying, "knock knock, who's dare" then laughing. Later, he tried it out on us. "Knock, knock," he plied. "Who's there?" "unpronounceable garble"..."uprorious laughter!!"

Day 29 - A girl and her bike

Happy Independence Day!

Just 234 years ago, the United States of America declared its independence from the (then) tyrant Kingdom of Great Britain. We celebrate our independence today with fireworks, parades, family, friends, bar-b-cue, the singing of patriotic songs and the waving of flags. We love our country, our independence, our steadfast desire to earn our way, our opportunity to be a servant to our fellow man and country -- not by force or conscription, but by our volition. We are Americans. We are free.

And our little girl had a new taste of freedom today -- made possible by two wheels (and two training wheels).

The Sparks, some of our dearest friends, came over to help us celebrate the day. In typical fashion, at my earlier mention of wanting to get a bike for our daughter sometime soon, the Sparks showed up today with a hand-me-down bike in wonderful condition at the ready. My ecstatic daughter raced to get her shoes and got on the bike. After she got the hang of the handling and the brakes, she really had a terrific time. Her declaration on this day, "I don't want my tricycle anymore, I only want this bike!" She is on the road to being independent. Someone get me a tissue!

Day 28 - Yee Haw! They call the thing Rodeoooooh-whoa-whoa

Dateline July 3, 2010...Wimberley, TX

The Lewis Family made it out to the annual VFW Outdoor Rodeo in Wimberley, TX! This was the 65th annual rodeo and at one time in its history was the largest outdoor rodeo in the world. On this evening the grandstands were packed and the crowd even included 19 people from Belgium who come every year.

This was our first trip to this rodeo (though, no, it was not our first rodeo). We had fun.

Kate probably had the best time out of all of us. She participated in Mutton Bustin' and rode a mechanical bull. (I have pictures on my phone and need to figure out how to get them on here).

Mutton Bustin was awesome. As you know from my blog it has been raining down here for a while. The outdoor rodeo was a muddy mess. The kids were trodding out to the chute to ride the lambs and everyone was losing boots and shoes in the deep, deep mud. Kate decided to ditch her boots altogether and ride the lamb in her socks. She hopped up on her lamb, grabbed the neck and held on tight for a good, oh, 7 or 8 feet and plopped off face first in the mud. She thoroughly enjoyed this. She was pretty sure she won the muddiest award.

We washed her off with the hose behind the well house (sidebar: I love my bucolic life -- end sidebar), we grabbed her a change of clothes from the car, and we were off to enjoy the rest of the rodeo.

It didn't take long for the kids, and the hubby, to spot the mechanical bull. Kate and Jesse dutifully got in line as I did a little rodeo-ing of my own keeping Andy penned in. Both Kate and Jesse rode the bull and both did great. Again -- pictures are on the phone.

We took in about a half hour or so of the rodeo which included a very beautiful presentation of the colors, bronc riding, steer wrestling, and a calf scramble. Andy got tuckered out so we headed home a little early this year. Looking forward to making this an annual Lewis tradition.

Since I don't have pictures to post yet, here's a link to the webpage for the rodeo.

http://visitwimberley.com/rodeo/

Day 27 - Hi Ho! Cherry-O

Very rarely I buy a present for my kids way in advance of a holiday or a birthday, put it away, and remember to bring it out at the appropriate holiday/birthday. A few months ago, I saw one of my old favorite board games -- Hi Ho! Cherry-O -- at the store, bought it and hid it away. After four consecutive days of rain, I felt the appropriate time to unveil that little nugget was Friday.

It occurred to me as an adult what great learning games we had as kids -- made especially great by the fact that we did not realize we were learning a thing. That's certainly the case with Hi Ho! Cherry-O. Round and round the spinner goes and the fate of your berries is revealed -- either added to or subtracted from your berry pail. And the game teaches the peril of letting wayward dogs and peckish birds -- or even gravity (spilled bucket) -- interfere with your berry picking....valuable lessons, indeed. Kate and I played it and had a blast. It even has a new twist -- a puzzle to put together. Kate turned out to be a champion berry picker and beat me 3 out of 4 games.