Jonathan is 15... Almost

Jonathan is celebrating his birthday early this year because it works best for schedules. I really can't believe he's 15. I remember feeling very adult at 15. He's not a child anymore, that's for sure. 

He and Harrison C. did the ropes course at Natural Bridge Caverns. 

They've really got it nice over there. I sat beside a little waterfall in the shade and read and listened to podcasts while they climbed up all the levels.

And the usual crowd came over for cake and games and Minecraft.

Again, Jon is tall in our family, but he's the short one in this group. 

Liam is beating the group out for height so far. He's got to be 6'4" or so. Congrats, Liam. 

 School Planning has been happening all summer, and I believe re-arranging the garage wall was the last thing on my list! The plan is to start in two weeks. That gives us a week of homeschool under our belts before they start classes at Star Co-op. 

I found this on a walk. So very Texas.

Harrison comes into our room at night to tell us about the story he listened to. He really enjoys stories, so we've been feeding him lots of audio books. Elizabeth Enright seems to be a favorite author, and he's on the last of her series. She didn't write a whole lot of books, so he is almost done with her works. 

The three books that are in first place are The Melendy series, Gone-Away Lake, and Thimble Summer. His second favorite book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and his third is Danny, Champion of the World (both by Roald Dahl). I love how he fits 6 books into first place. 

Nana and Aupa

Have I told you how much I love this picturesque water tower? 

It's the best looking little water tower around. Such varied sky views to set it off.

And Charlie the Betta is surviving! 

This is good news.

Playing a game while waiting for tickets.

While Liz and Jon were at CIY (Christian Camp), Phoebe and Harrison and I braved the heat and the lines to get free tickets to The DoSeum, the children's museum in San Antonio. This was our first time and it was a hit. They give out tickets 2 1/2 hours early in order to control the crowd, so we had a couple hours to spend downtown while we waited for opening. We visited an Art store on Broadway ~ a win-win since it had free parking, air-conditioning, and lots to browse. 

Then we went to McDonalds for supper. We bet on how many families would be inside there with DoSeum wristbands. I won. It was above 3.

And since we had 20 minutes more, we stopped at Cheevers bookstore. Phoebe looked at sewing books. Harrison and I browsed. I bought Machiavelli's Prince with loose change I had in my purse.

And we also visited the Planetarium for their Friday night show. Harrison was scared last year (maybe it was the year before, can't remember), but this year he did great! He's been drawing comic strips of astronauts and aliens ever since. 

And the highlight of the past week. Nana and Aupa came to visit! They are heading to Louisiana and spent some time with us. Aupa and Phoebe had to have a Monopoly rematch, but I surprised them all and won, what is likely, my first win of Monopoly ever. 

At Baskin Robbins for ice cream. 

Yes, Liz will knit anywhere. 

Now that Jon is taking violin lessons, we have him play anytime company comes. Especially  grandparent company.

Nana and Aupa enjoying the music. 

It Was on a Monday....

Do you remember that song? 

"It was on a Sunday that the Lord saved me...." 

And everyone would sing through each day of the week and whatever day you were baptized on, you would stand up. Good Sunday school or camp or VBS memories.

Well, Harrison was baptized this past Monday. 

He had been talking about it for some time. 

But he didn't think he was ready yet. 

And then when we were driving to the Japanese Tea Gardens he said, "Mom, I think I'm ready to have that baptism talk now."

So Phillip went through a simple Bible study with Harrison and the rest of the kids (a good refresher course for them). And after that and several conversations, Harrison said he wanted to be baptized. 

He and Jon were both 9 for this decision. The girls were younger: Liz and Phoebe were both 7 (?). I'm putting this down because of my memory. I can't remember the way I used to, and I have hopes that the blog will be a good memory keeper. I also realized I never did blog about Jon and Phoebe's baptism, and that just made me sad. They were baptized the same day at the pool of a friend who was hosting house church. It was January and cold (but not as cold as up north), and they were baptized in the hot tub portion of the pool since the rest of the pool was empty for the winter. 

So, anyway, on Monday we went to Castle Hills Christian Church and asked to use their baptistry. The youth minister and a volunteer who happened to be there stood on the stage with us while we witnessed this burial. They gave H a new Bible and a certificate. It was a pretty special event to happen on a mundane Monday. 

Today he took communion with us. 

Phillip captured the moment.

Summer Time

Part of Harrison's birthday was his request to go to the Japanese Tea Gardens with me again. We went early one morning. No one else was there for a good bit (except gardeners and such). It was cool and misty, and we had a lovely time. 

What Liz does when she's not working. 

Jon's summer activities are including a lot of electronic projects. He's filming a stop-animation Lego deal here.

Phoebe has been fairly busy. She is taking volleyball classes and sewing classes this summer. Otherwise, she draws and reads and listens to books in her room. 

And we had sad news that Liz' boss at the Cafe passed away suddenly. It's a family-owned business and he was the father. He brought a liveliness to the restaurant that will be missed. To celebrate him, the Cafe gave away root beer floats last Friday.