4th Grade Field Trip to Austin

Yesterday I got the privilege of being a chaperone on Parker's 4th grade field trip to Austin, Texas. Only three parents from each class got to go so I felt excited that I was chosen. We left the school at 6:30am and got back around 8:00pm. We toured the Texas Rangers museum in Waco, the state capitol, and the Bob Bullock museum. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable and I'm pretty sure I learned as much as the kids. 

Parker loved riding in a charter bus for the first time!

Texas Rangers museum in Waco, Texas

Texas State Capitol 

House of Representatives chamber

Mrs. Adam's 4th grade class

Ashton, Kaden and Parker 

Gerard 4th graders 

We ate pizza on our way to the Bob Bullock Museum.

On the way to Austin, we watched a video on the excavation of La Salle's ship. We got to see the remains of the ship at the museum as well as many artifacts they found inside the ship.

A canon from La Salle's ship

Watching a 4D movie- it was all fun and games until hundreds of snakes startled us!

It was fun spending the entire day with just Parker. In a family of 5, that rarely happens!

New York City

We just got back from a quick trip to New York City with the eye clinic. We had a great time spending time with the other doctors and their spouses. We enjoyed a lot of great food including this seafood appetizer at a steak house on the night we arrived. 

On Friday morning, Cory and Dr. Martin and Dr. Johnson went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They had a semi private tour before the museum opened to the public. Cory loved it and said he could have stayed there all day looking at the exhibits. 

I opted to sleep in since it was a rainy day and walked to Starbucks for breakfast. As soon as they were finished, they picked me up and we went to the 911 Museum. It was not built the last time we were in NYC so I wanted to make sure we got to see it this time. It was very nice and a wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11th.

The new World Trade Center tower

We took the subway home from the museum. I LOVE subways. If I was young and single again, I would love to live in a big city with a subway system.

That night, we ate Italian food at Carmine's before enjoying Waitress- a Broadway show starring Sara Bareilles. It was a fabulous evening!

The rain finally stopped on Saturday morning so Cory and I took an Uber to Rockefeller Center and walked around.

We also took a pedicab around Central Park.

That night we found a little hole in the wall pizza joint and enjoyed New York style pizza. We left early Sunday morning and headed home. It was a quick but fun trip and we are grateful to the eye clinic for asking us to come with them this year.

Happy 8th Birthday Aubrey!

Today our sweet Aubrey Kate turns 8 years old!  

She had a fun roller skating party last weekend with the cousins and few friends. Cory and I were flying home from NYC so Granna and Granstan took the kids. 

After skating, they went to McAllisters for a yummy birthday lunch, presents, and cake!

We are so thankful for Aubrey and the fun she brings to our family! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

March Little Things

We had a very low key spring break this year. On Monday, I had a little medical procedure that put me in bed for a couple of days.  The kids spent Monday hanging out with Grandma which was very helpful.  I was able to rest and they had a great time playing out at her house.  On Tuesday, the girls went to "camp" at Mrs. Humphreys house.  They learned about the life cycle of frogs, made crafts, and got to play outside with her chickens.  By Wednesday, I was feeling back to normal and was able to start getting ready for a garage sale on Friday and Saturday.  Emily and I had a HUGE garage sale to finish raising money for our trip to Guatemala.  It was very successful and we completely finished our fundraising for the trip.  Even though our spring break wasn't exciting, it was nice to get the garage sale behind us!

The first day of the garage sale was St. Patrick's Day. The kids all wore their green shirts and we made them a special "green" lunch!

 

 

The Saturday after spring break, I participated in the Camp Gladiator Diamond Dash with several girls from church.  It was a two mile run/obstacle course inside Texas Rangers stadium.  It was very challenging but I am so glad I did it!  It was fun to hang out with friends and prove to myself that I could make it through an athletic event without dying!!

While We Were Away

While we were in Beaver Creek, the kids were having fun with Granna and Granstan back in Cleburne!  They went to the park, soccer practice, and to the movies to see The Lego Batman Movie. 

I love that Parker brought his blanket to the movie!  He is SO cold natured and hates being cold!

It's nice to not have to worry about the kids while we are gone.  I always know they are in good hands with Granna and Granstan!

Beaver Creek 2017

Cory and I just got back from our annual ski trip to Beaver Creek. This is definitely Cory's happy place! He would move here in a heartbeat! If only we could win the lottery and buy a house here!!

Dr. Hu really wanted Cory to get back on the mountain, so he graciously offered to pay for Cory to have a private lesson with an adaptive ski instructor.  Cory tried the adaptive ski bike two years ago but was afraid that would be too hard this year.  The next step after the bike is the sit and ski. This has a huge learning curve but Cory was highly motivated to learn and get back to the top of the mountain.

It was a lot harder than it looked and even though he never made it to the top of the mountain, I was so proud of him for trying. I think if he would have had one more day, he would have been confident enough to try the green slopes at the top.

It looked like Cory got in a fight with the ski poles! Those were some massive bruises!

Since Cory can't ski anymore, I usually only ski one morning during the trip. I actually did pretty well this year and felt good about how I got down the mountain. 

As always, we enjoyed lots of great food on our trip. The Ranelle's and Hu's are such gracious hosts and we can't wait to go back next year!