Eric's Bday

For Eric's 47th, he wanted to be on the water.  So the weekend prior, we rented a boat, headed to the lake, and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon.

All the kids got up on two skis, which was fun to watch.

Then we had some balancing practice and knee-boarding excitement!

 Lots of smiles....

A few days later on his actual birthday, the little one picked out his cake - a pile of donuts. Quite appropriate, though.  He rarely goes to the grocery store without bringing at least one home.

For the games, she planned a pinata, minion style.  Loaded with candy (like we needed more sugar), we all got a turn at bat.

Zoo Unit

Now that summer is almost over, I need to post about Mommy's Summer School.  With each of our kids, I gave them extra lessons in math, reading, social studies, and science during their 3rd - 6th grade years.

Our little one wanted to learn about animals and their brain sizes.  We researched mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

For her field trip, we went to the zoo in Columbia, SC.  She saw grizzly bears, koala bears...

 Penguins and kangaroos.

Her favorite was the giraffes, of course.  This zoo even lets you feed and pet them!

After playing on the ropes course and strolling through the botanical gardens, we were tired. Fun day, though!

Texas Trip

It was time for our semi-annual trek to the homeland: Texas.  While the little one was at Camp Grandma, the rest of us flew to Houston and drove up through the state.

It was great to see our TC (Eric's mom).  She looked beautiful!  Then, the kids took off with their aunt & uncle to hang out at the McConnell farm.  While there, our oldest (now 20) decided to go skydiving!

After surviving that adventure, she embarked on another one just as deadly.  The famous Four Horsemen challenge is one of the hottest foods in the US.  It's a 1/2 lb hamburger loaded with jalapeno, serrano, and ghost peppers.

She kept it down for the required 5 minutes, but didn't feel so good for a few days afterwards.

Eric and I headed to the Mueggenborg farm and got it ready by mowing, prepping the fishing poles, and cleaning up the farm house.

One of the Knuff's friends left a boat out there, although it had several holes in it.  Eric bought some spray stuff to patch, and it worked well.  We enjoyed fishing in the middle of the lake for a change.

As we joined back up with the kids for a day, we caught lots of fish we brought back to Dallas.  When we prepared to leave the farm, we noticed the cows were wanting to bust the fence again.  

On our way to Dallas, we stopped in Waco at the mammoth site.  Pretty cool!  Did you know that everything is bigger in Texas, even the mammoths from millions of years ago?  The Columbian Mammoth was bigger than the Wooly Mammoth.  We also learned that camels were found in the mammoth heard, and actually originated in North America before migrating to the Middle East.

Last, but definitely not least, kolaches!  No stop in Texas would be complete without these sweet Czech treats!

Camp Grandma

Our little one looks forward to personal time with Grandma every summer.  This year was no exception.  She was ready to fly on the plane by herself for a week of fun!

Right off the bat, Grandma was a trooper.  They designed costumes for the free Chick-fil-a entree on cow day.

The of course, no stay at Grandma's is complete without lots of swimming!

They went to a children's museum and learned about Texas history.

And played on the large "Lite Brite" peg board.

She enjoyed lots of puzzles, games, and her "sweet shop", the best place around to buy donuts and ice cream.

They finished off the week baking brownies and cakes for the rest of her family to enjoy with they pick her up.  Thanks, so much, for her memories!

USA 5K

Our 4th of July started out with a 5k race.  The little one and I were the cheering squad.


First place in the family and 3rd in her age group with a time of 20 min!

Eric still had energy to wave to the camera during his home stretch.

Our son sprint passed about 20 people on his home stretch.

Then, the little one got to race...

Fun morning, and we brought home a glass cup and drawstring bag as prizes.  Now time for some bar-b-que on this special holiday!

Musical

Our youngest was in a musical last week.  She loved her camp immensely, and is now ready to do this full-time!

The performance had several songs, dance routines, and costume changes.

Here's the video clip #1 of 4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A73_KU_N8g

Next, she played an Egyptian queen.

Here's the video clip #2 of 4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIUTxI-gOuA

This was a fun song.  Clip #3:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzEmJegIhMc

Last is a senimental song about growing up.  I didn't caputre her solo, but she did a great job!  Clip #4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdVh5592f-Q

Jockey Lot

Looking to do something different since no one had to work on a particular Saturday, we decided to head to the Jockey Lot.  

This is a flea market of sorts.  You can find things new, old, used, stolen, fresh, withered, or expired.  Occasionally, you can even find a decent buy.

Eric bought two figit spinners for the price of one.  Not sure why we needed two, though.

Our son was on the hunt to get a phone case in addition to finding someone who could replace his cracked phone screen.  Luckily, we found just such a person!  

While we waited for the phone to be repaired, we found ways to entertain ourselves.  We took random pictures, then found a makeshift stage.  The kids can be quite funny acting out scenes and dances.  They got a few stares as people walked by, but no one stopped to watch or offer tips for the performance.

After 2 hours and $55 later, we headed home with a new phone, case, spinners, and samples of cactus flower to much on.