An Aquarium and a Haircut.... and Some Other Stuff

The kids spent several days working on a train. 

And playing all kinds of games in the train. 

Elizabeth bought some luggage. That's just the kind of girl she is.

This is a new aquarium in town. The guy who did a lot of the construction on it is our neighbor. Our kids and their kids get along very well and they invited us to a night at the Aquarium for a birthday. 

Petting and feeding the Bat Rays and Sting Rays was pretty awesome.

They have a number of reptiles and birds and other aquatic life as well. It was a much appreciated experience for the kids. Harrison wants to go back for his birthday. 

And Elizabeth is enjoying a new haircut and color. She's a lot more adventurous than I am!

Flat Stanley

Phoebe's cousin Joshua involved her in a school project with a book character called Flat Stanley.

He sent her the character and Phoebe took him around to different sites in our city. She's been writing about him during school time, and we'll send Stanley back this week to Joshua's school so he can use her information for a project. 

Flat Stanely at our library (Semmes) standing next to a Texas Mountain Laurel tree. We also saw a Road Runner on this day.

 Flat Stanley among the Bluebonnets ~ Texas' state flower.

 Flat Stanley at Cibolo Creek ~ a fun Nature Center our family visits often.

This is a replica of a dinosaur track found in the Boerne Lake Spillway after a flood uncovered it several years ago. 

 If you click on this picture,  you can read more about it.

We didn't visit the Alamo this time around. Joshua got to see it when he was here a couple months ago. But here's a picture of the Texas flag (a very important part of living in Texas) next to the most famous site in our town. 

Phoebe is 9

This year the kids get a friend/activity birthday. I'm working on getting it down to where we have fewer large birthday parties. I really don't enjoy giving them and some of our kids really would want a large party every year. So we've slowly set up some rules to cut down on those. Last year the kids had family parties. This year they can invite one friend and do a fun activity. Next year I'll brave a house full of crazies.

Elizabeth found this idea. She covered a cake in white fondant, 

and Sophie and Phoebe decorated it using edible markers.

She wanted fruit salad and stromboli for her birthday meal.

The chosen activity was painting pottery at Clay Casa. Phoebe chose a hanging lantern and Sophie chose a cupcake dish. Thank you, Sophie, for celebrating with us!

The Flying Turtle

 This is the third or fourth year Elizabeth has tried her hand at making a raft. This one was the best yet! The Flying Turtle had its debut voyage at Cibolo Creek Nature Center last Saturday.

It was made of water bottles again, but this time they were glued down onto cardboard so that they stood upright. Then she wrapped the sides in duct tape, took off the cardboard and wrapped duct tape around the whole thing leaving some gaps for water to escape from.

Elizabeth has always lamented the fact that she didn't have a paddle. She's been using an old mop handle instead. But we found paddles at Walmart for $10, so we bought one and will try it out next time it's warm outside.

The previous raft journeys are here and here.

This was an April Fool's joke Elizabeth played on Phoebe. She covered Jonathan's door with post-it notes too, but he woke up before she could cover it in plastic.

Phoebe being Phoebe.

And Harrison is showing some signs of perfectionism. He discovered the ruler and he practically won't draw without it now. He wants his drawing to be "perfect" (I swear I didn't teach him this).