Texas Summer is HOT

It will be summer for a while still. 

Weather.com is calling for upper 80's toward the end of September.  We consider that fall. We look forward to your slow sauntering steps, Fall. We will wait for hot cider 'til it's time for jackets to come out. Or at least until beads of sweat no longer materialize when we step outside.

Harrison went to a little Animal Experience at the library. I told him he'd probably be the oldest there because all the other kids would be in school, but probably half the crowd was his age or older. Homeschoolers, no doubt. 

He petted everything. 

The snake, the mouse, the turtle dove, the Madagascar cockroach. 

The woman beside me was freaking out the whole time, but her kids were loving it. 

A couple of projects we worked on. 

Jonathan and a neighbor (Miles ~ and he looks exactly like Miles Morales from Spiderman!) took this rope I bought for learning to tie knots and strung it up in our front tree. Then Jon had the idea to make a seat for it. He and Miles planned it all out and put it together with hand tools. It is a neat little project that all the neighbor kids are loving. 

And I and Phoebe made the sign for our yard out of pottery Liz brought home. Liz found broken dishes in the Sam's parking lot. She glued one bowl back together and let me smash up the rest. I had been wanting to do some kind of mosaic project and decided on this one since tree branches cover our house address. The 8 looks really wonky, but I kind of like how it turned out otherwise. Phoebe helped me mix paint color so I could outline the numbers so they could be seen more clearly. 

And a little sneak peak of Liz' senior photos. 

Taken..... where else?..... at the Mill. Gorgeous girl.

First Week of School

We survived the first week of school! And it was really pretty good. Liz is doing a light school load and working at the Cafe more hours this year. She's getting senior pictures taken as we speak and applying to colleges and all that jazz. Jonathan is a freshman in high school, and his school load is heavier than ever but do-able. Phoebe is in 7th grade and is taking a harder class at the homeschool co-op and is nervous about it, but I think she'll be just fine. Harrison is in 4th grade, which is amped up quite a bit from the former years and he's a little frustrated that he's not getting done as quickly as he used too. He'll get used to the new time table soon enough. 

What am I most excited about school this year? I think maybe Shakespeare. We did Plutarch's Lives last year; this year we will read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. We read a children's version last week. This week we'll watch a movie version of it. Then we'll start reading it together. All of us taking different parts and just reading through it, doing some narrating and discussion as we go. We might do a comic strip of favorite scenes toward the end. We're also using a scene for Recitation. ("Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.") I just read it every week for twelve weeks, and we'll have it mostly committed to memory by the end of the term. Liz and Jon will memorize another section later in the year ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"). 

Speaking of Shakespeare, the homeschool mom group that I meet with put together a Shakespeare event where all the kids memorize parts and act out the scenes. It's low-key (dress-up or not). Phoebe and Harrison both did parts from Two Gentlemen of Verona and they really had a superb time. They had to see how it went before they were at all excited about it, but when it was over they were planning out what they wanted to do next time. I think we're going to try to do it again around Christmas. 

Anyway, the picture above is most of the group locked out of the church building that hosted us. It was so hot! 

The actors waiting in the wings.

Phoebe is Valentine ~ her jacket is her "robe."

Liz is an audience member; she is knitting. 

Surprise, surprise. :-) 

Take a bow!

And Phillip took me to a new coffee shop: Press Coffee. In talking with the barista we found out this had been Tommy Lee Jone's office for a number of years! He's a favorite actor of mine. I guess he lives in town somewhere. 

And so we begin a new week of school; the co-op starts this Tuesday. Cheers!

Giving the Guadalupe a Try Again

Harrison was wanting to try out the raft and Liz needed a ride for her and her friends to the Mill, so we trekked over to New Braunfels Sunday evening.

This place under the Faust St Bridge is awesome if you're looking for a red-neck experience. We have not been here in several years because it's iffy whether there will be too many people or any available parking. 

Just look at that train though! The picture's a little dark, but the river is coming over a little ledge, so you can take a raft or tube over it in a fun, easy way. 

Harrison and Jonathan did get the raft out there. It kept getting stuck on rocks though, and Harrison was a bit disappointed in the experience. But it gave us something to do while the girls explored the Mill. Matter of fact, you can see the Mill in the background there. I've been inside the office part the first time Liz went. There were lots of papers everywhere, so I read some letters and business info. It was kind of neat. 

A neighbor gave us a big container of bubbles she had in her garage, so we've been doing some evening bubbles. This little cutie has been a regular at our house this summer.

This is the last week of summer before school starts up. I'm seeing on Facebook that some are already starting in Louisiana and elsewhere, so I don't feel so bad starting 'early.' 

Here's to routine and keeping the kids busy!

Cody and the Kids

(Just 'cause)

So Cody and the kids came to see us ~ it had been a couple of years! 

Liz and Emmey are both looking into colleges to apply to. Both boys (Jon and Logan) are going to be freshmen in high school. Crazy ride to look at past pictures of these kids as they grew up together. 

Gruene Hall was the first place we went the day they came in. Liz has been here, but I can't believe this was our first time. It was so cool! Neat little old part of New Braunfels. Gruene Hall is a dance hall where lots of different bands play. George Strait (you know we love him) got a start here. I didn't dance - although Liz did teach me to two-step. Maybe next time I'll work up the courage. Phillip asked if I wanted to, but there were so many people watching!

So, it was hot and dark. These pictures didn't turn out very clear, and we're all a little shiny. The band was rock-a-billy, which was super fun. 

Liz and Emmey on the dance floor. 

Liz and Emmey on the dance floor..... 15 years ago.

Little old lady was enjoying herself immensely. 

I really love to watch people dance. 

Harrison was not into the loud music, so we took turns taking him out. 

An older fella offered to take our picture in front of his restored car.

The girls.

The boys.

Stromboli is a must!

They hadn't played Scrabble since last time they visited and I made them play. 

Thanks for indulging me, guys. Emmey won. I was last. 

Barbecue at Harmon's and then Emily's Place Coffee Shoppe.

We visited Cheever's Bookstore. Emmey found several copies of Kidnapped (if you ever want to know anything about Kidnapped by Stevenson, Emmey is the one to ask. Also, she has many copies of Kidnapped). Jonathan found several Louis Lamours. 

We stopped into this little shop next to Cheevers and the boys immediately settled here. 

If that isn't just like a guy..... This is not a learned trait. This is all natural.

And the girls looked around and oohed and aahed. 

A little walk around the Pearl and Emma Hotel.

Fancy ice cream. 

It was great to spend time with them again. Renewed friendships ~ one of the great joys in life.