Corpus

Happy Father's day, a week late! Emily did bake and decorate some cookies for father's day. She loves to help cook or bake. It was a nice father's day for us, went to lunch and then got packed up to head out on Monday for our annual trip to Corpus Christi. It is that time of year again, were Todd has rescue training aboard the USS Lexington and the kids and I go along to get out of town for a few days. This time some good friends of ours, the Donaho's, had some time off and they came along with us. The first day there we checked out the pier near the boat, here is one of all the kids:

Tuesday morning while Todd was in training the kids and I and the Donaho's thought we would check out the Texas State Aquarium. The kids liked watching the fish swim around:

We stayed to watch the diver feed:

One of the favorite things the kids liked to do was pet the sting rays. JT relaxing by the sting ray pool:

Dylan reaching in to pet a sting ray:

Even Emily pet the sting rays:

The kids watching the sea turtles:

Emily sticking her head up in the sea horse tank:

Dylan getting a closer look at the sea horses:

Then over to look at the hermit crabs and sea urchins:

Megan and Emily:

After lunch we headed over to watch the dolphin show. Here is one of the dolphins playing throw and catch with the crowd:

I loved the dolphin show.

At the end of the day on the way out, I had the kids stop for a picture, they weren't all happy about it and Emily's hair was a mess but this is what 6 kids look like after spending a day at the aquarium:

After the aquarium we went back to the hotel and got Todd as he was out of class and headed out to watch the Astros AA minor league team, Corpus Christi Hooks, play against the San Antonio Mission. Seems every year we are down here that is who they play the week we are there. We went early and let the kids play in the back, they have a moonwalk, basketball court, playground, a trampoline and rock wall. Dylan made it to the top :

So did JT:

But Emily was a little scared and didn't make it very far:

When we walked in we were approached by a Hooks representative who asked if the kids would be interested in going on the field and getting some autographs from the players and get to stand on the field with the players during the National Anthem. The kids got lots of autographs:

Including the mascot Rusty:

And the mascot Sammy:

After that the kids got to go onto the field with the players, JT went to the pitchers mound, Sammy walked through my picture:

Emily, Megan and Gentry went to the outfield:

Dylan got to go to 1st base:

They stood out there with the players during the National Anthem and then came back to our seats to watch the game:

Even with this 2 run home run:

the Hooks lost :(

But the game was never boring with this Hooks worker around, he kept our area entertained:

It was a fun night and a great, but long day. We woke up Wednesday morning to rain. Not good as our plans was to spend the day at the beach. Todd still had training, so the kids and I and the Donaho's decided to go watch a movie, we went and saw Mr. Popper's Penguins. It was cute. When Todd got out of class the plan was to drive over to North Padre and go to the nice beach we normally go to, the weather wasn't good, it was still raining, but we decided to go ahead and go anyways.

When we go there it was raining, but we all (us the Donaho's and the Blagg's) thought we were just going to get wet anyways so lets just have fun, so we did.

Emily wrote her name in the sand again this year and wanted her picture by it:

I think the rain and clouds made the water a little on the cold side, you can tell by Emily here:
and the sea was a little rough, but it didn't stop the kids from playing in it:


Or the big boys from getting a little football in:

All in all it wasn't too bad, until we saw lightening, then we packed up, cleaned up and headed over to Panjo's pizza for dinner:

No Krispy Kreme for dessert this year as it was closed.

Thursday Todd had class until about lunch time and then we packed up and headed back home. It was another fun year. Thanks for going with us Donahos!

Old McDonald had a farm....

Well we aren't old McDonald, but we are on our a way to a farm, lol! The kids lost their rabbit last year so early this spring they asked if they could get a new one. Here is our new pet rabbit, which the kids have named Lucky:

Then a few weeks after getting the rabbit the kids begged for some chickens. They want to gather fresh eggs, but this is a project as it takes 16-20 weeks before they will be big enough to lay eggs, but here we go. The kids putting the new baby chicks into the hutch:

Here are 5 of them, we got 6 total

This was from back in April, they have already grown a lot. Will need to get some new pictures of them. The kids still love having them and are taking care of them.

This spring we also planted some citrus trees like an Orlando Tangelo:

Variegated Lemon ( when ready the inside is kind of pinkish, how you get pink lemonade):

A Mexican Lime:

and we also planted an Imperial Lemon.

Dylan wanted a blackberry vine so we planted that and some strawberry plants:

This year we kept our garden a little smaller than years past, we planted cherry, Roma and better boy tomatoes. Bell peppers, jalapeno, banana, and cayenne peppers. Also planted some cilantro, pickling cucumbers, okra, yellow squash and zucchini squash. Here is a shot early on, but the weeds were starting to take over:

But it's doing great. Here are the first things we were able to pick, cayenne peppers, a cherry tomato and banana peppers:

That picture was early on, now pretty much everything is producing and we are enjoying the fruit (well vegetables) of our labor.

5th annual Jellystone camping trip

Back in the fall of 2006 Todd and I had heard about this cute little campground in Waller, TX called Jellystone. Back then the kids got a fall break in October so we took our camping trailer and went up there. We had so much fun and thought this would be a really great place to go with a group so that next summer we invited 3 friends and their families to go with us the weekend the kids got out of school. Well every summer since then we have invited friends and their families and have gone in early June. We just came back from this trip this past week. This year we had 7 friends and their families who could make it the weekend we went. On Friday afternoon we all got there got checked/settled in and took the kids swimming for a little while and then all met for dinner. Here are some of the girls on the first nights dinner:

After dinner we lite a small fire in the ring and made s'mores:

The next morning after breakfast we all met out by the pool. The kids love this slide and spent most of their time on it. Here is Dylan (far left blue lane) coming down:

Us big kids have just as much fun on it. Todd's brother Tyson came up to visit on Saturday afternoon and here he is (second yellow lane from left) and Todd (getting airborn on far right blue lane) and JT (far right yellow lane):

Emily on one of her many trips down:

We also spent a lot of time in the pool. After lunch we decided to take a little break from the sun and water and went in to do arts and crafts. JT painted a turtle:

Emily painted a butterfly:

Dylan painted this tiny bunny and he also did a shirt:

After that we went back out to the pool/slides for a little while longer. When it started getting late we got cleaned up and got things ready for dinner. Here are some of the kids eating:

After dinner it was karaoke time. Here are some of the boys watching karaoke:

Some of the girls went up and sang Pink's "So What":

After karaoke, some went and watched the outdoor movie while the rest of us just hung out and talked. It was another great year and can't wait to go back next year!