Todd, Kyle and their kids came in on Friday night for the Good Friday service....so all the siblings were in town!! Then, we went to Longhorn Cafe just for Charlie. He is always disappointed if, when I'm in town without him, I get to go, and he doesn't. San Antonio has several great burger places...we are so ready for College Station to get something comparable! So far, we've found nothing as good as it or Willie's.
Here's a pic of the WHOLE gang...
And the next several pics is a peek into what it's like to try to get 6 (and sometimes 7, if Nash makes it into a pic) cousins trying to just LOOK at the camera at the same time. I don't care if they are even smiling...just looking. Oh, and did I mention that of those SEVEN, SIX of them are under 4 years old?
Okay, so that didn't work maybe we can make them all sit and bribe them with "a surprise"?
Nope. That didn't work, either.
Saturday morning we went to a church in Boerne that was having an Easter Celebration. This consisted of tons of games, barrel train rides, a petting zoo, several kids crafts, cookie decorating, and pony rides. My kids LOVED it! I didn't get many pics b/c my point and shoot stopped working, but here' what was on Ave's camera:
We went to Boerne for Easter weekend. The kids and I drove down LATE Wednesday night after Life Group and Charlie came down with my brother on Friday afternoon.
On Thursday, we went to Kiddie Park with Mimi, Ave and her girls. Kiddie Park, which is an amuesment park that (we use to go to when we were little) has been open since 1925, is the oldest and original children's amusement park in America. They have really revamped the place since we were there almost two years ago! It is a really neat attraction for little ones...I would say up to age 5-ish. If you've ever in San Antonio and looking for something to do with a young child, check this park out!
This was from our first trip to Kiddie Park:
Just a short two years later:
The little ones' first trip:
Asher & McKlayne both said their favorite ride was the "school bus train"...the bus that drove around on train tracks.
We rode the original Carousel, made in 1918, about a dozen times...I was so dizzy. The kids pretended like they were on Mary Poppins.
Like how McKlayne is riding the blue airplane, while Asher got the pink flowered one? She sacrificially gave him the plane with the gun. Sweet sister.
Mimi
Usually I am so busy running around after one of my own children that I don't get a chance to hold any of my nieces or nephews. Well, life is starting to slow down a bit. My kids are at an age now where it is getting easier and they don't need me constantly. This "Momma's Girl" became MY girl this weekend. Good thing, b/c Brynn is pretty much obsessed with Charlie. I think I won her over with the horsey rides. Whatever it was, it's nice to be loved. Isn't she adorable? I miss you, Camdyn.
Please excuse the annoying voice behind the camera:
Asher has grown up seeing Momma "exercise" as I workout to either Jillian's 30 Day Shred or Gilad, "The Israeli Stud-muffin." (I think it's funny that FitTv refers to him as that...I also think it's funny that this is who I used to watch my mom exercise "with"....though, 20 years later, the wardrobe is much more updated! I recommend either of these for a really challenging but short 20 minute workout.)
Okay...now that you know that...
While stopped at a light by the College Station Crossfit, the owner of the gym comes just outside the door and begins to do squats with kettlebells during the rush hour traffic.
A: Daddy?
D: Yeah, Buddy?
A: What's that man doing?
D: He's exercising.
A: Oh... {a long pause....} Where's his TV?
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This reminded me of a video that Charlie had taken of Asher around Christmas (hence the tv on the floor in transition to another room to make way for the Christmas tree.) Char said that he didn't even get the best part on video...but I still thought you might enjoy this. Here he is working out with Gilad, you know, while brushing his teeth:
Last week, a group of ladies and children from church went Strawberry Pickin' at Kings Orchard in Plantersville.
I had never picked my own (any kind of) produce before, so it was a neat experience. Between yogurt making, gardening, (have I mentioned that we just planted our first garden? And by we, I mean Charlie.) eliminating most all HFCS foods (we're not CRAZY about it...I just try not to buy them anymore) and picking my own produce, I am feeling awfully "natural"...and loving it.
Look at how beautiful all of this is:
I think they had something like 94 rows of berries! Right now it's just strawberry picking season, but they grow other things, too. We plan on going back to pick other berries in the next few months.
It was the perfect day to spend our day...a road-trip with a sweet friend and good conversation...outside on a breezy Spring day...with more sweet friends...picking fresh, sweet fruit...and a picnic lunch before the kids ran out their crazies.
While the boys ran wild...on the quest to pick the most strawberries.
Not quite sure what was going on with the "teams" but anytime Asher is questioned about our trip, he proudly says, "I was on Ashton's team."
I couldn't quite get it on camera, but for the first 10 minutes, every time Asher picked a strawberry, he would sprint down to me and exclaim, "Momma, Momma! Look what I got! A strawberry!" (As if we weren't standing in an orchard with 94 rows of strawberries...each time he picked one, it was as if it were the first time. I love this kid's excitement for "ordinary things".)
McKlayne caught on pretty quickly...for the most part. Everytime she picked a berry she wanted to eat it, rather than putting it in the box..but she was a good litte picker/taster.
Love these two little tots.
Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of the WHOLE group...this was only that half that got out a bit earlier...then, I guess were too busy picking berries to remember to gather for a group shot.
What I really wished I would have gotten a pic of was the 10+ boys fighting with stick guns and stick swords after lunch. It was so funny to see all of those boys together-just being silly, weapon-loving boys. Did anyone get one of those?
I'm often tempted to fall snare to the thief, Discontentment, (at least in my heart) about the complications of raising these precious little people...or that same thief with a different name, Comparison, as I'm sometimes overly concerned about dressing as stylish or keeping my house as neat as I once did before having them. So, this blog is simply a form of celebration-as I document, remember, and process--the gloriously messy, often chaotic, exceptionally silly and undeniably full household that God has given us. Though it may not always accurately represent all of our "real" life...these are the moments I want to store away, along with the details of the redemptive work of Jesus in our family that I want recorded for my children one day.
