A Day at Landa Park

I was expecting a lot more from our Saturday outing, but it was still a fun day. By the time we left the house, it was already lunch time so we went to Mr. Gatti's. We've had better pizza, by the way. The kids were able to play some games. I really think Daddy spent most of the coins there though. His excuse was that he was helping them with some of the games.


I just love this picture of Natalia and Daddy talking while eating lunch.









After lunch we went to Landa Park in New Braunfels thinking it was going to be as beautiful as in the pictures I saw on the web...well, I was a little disappointed. We played minature golf, which the kids enjoyed very much and then we rode the little train. It was fun, although we could've done that in San Antonio.

Oh yea, and this is Luke enjoying the train ride:

Enjoying Some Time Alone

On Friday, after eating that yummy banana split Dave prepared for us, Dave and I went to see Get Smart. I love going to the movies so this was a real treat, especially since we don't get to go to the movies very often. It was such a good movie. We laughed a lot, which felt good. Plus, it was fun to go out without the kids :0) !

Daddy is Here!

You can tell by looking at what we had for dessert:

Daddy prepared this 

yummy banana split for dessert!

And, this is what we usually have for dessert:

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love option #1!  

So, it's always so good to see Daddy.

"Katy Bar the Door"

Right after lunch my Mom called me and said, "Natalia just locked the door to their room!"  You might be thinking, not a big deal.  The problem is that we don't have a key to that lock.  So, I had to go all the way home to drop off Luke's diaper bag since all the diapers were in their room.  I only had a few minutes before I had to be in a conference call, but I still had a few seconds to take a few pictures.  ~Oh Natalia, perfect timing.  All I want to know is, how in the world did Natalia think this was a good idea or how she thought this would be a fun thing to do.  Sometimes I wish I could get into her little brain to see what goes on in there....

Carson anxiously waited for Daddy's arrival...

even though Daddy was still two hours away!

Hitting the Trails

On Sunday we went to Friedrich Wilderness Park only about 16 miles away from my parents house.   Natalia was dragging her feet all along the way until she heard me say that Carson was being a great leader.  Then, all of a sudden, she was leading the way.  That didn't go very well with Carson.  Everything was okay though once they worked things out and compromised.  

Name That Bird!

Last Chance Forever, The Bird of Prey Conservancy, receive sick, injured, and orphaned birds of prey blown out of their nest by storms, hit by cars, caught in fences, electrically shocked, displaced by thoughtless development, and sadly, as shooting victims. Their goal is to set them free, but sometimes setting them free is not an option.

On Saturday, we felt the wind as a hawk passed right over our heads. As a matter of fact, I felt his wing on my hair as he flew passed us! We also saw a vulture, a falcon, and an owl up close and personal. We learned so much. Surprisedly enough, although the whole presentation lasted an hour, the kids behaved very well. Thank goodness they were good since I decided that we needed a good seat, so we sat all the way in the front. Now, what was I thinking!

Notice the hawk flying right above the lady's head!

A picture of the vulture

Can you believe this owl is only 7 pounds?

I just loved this little house. Do you see the bird in this picture?

I Thought He Would Never Ask!

"Mama, you know something?  

When I get bigger I want to marry you."

Oh, and Daddy, One More Thing...

Can you add one more thing to your list?  Is there any way you can put a swimming pool in our backyard?  In addition to our tennis court, of course!  This little kiddie pool is just not good enough...

"A Bird in the Hand is Better than Two in the Bush"

Okay, so after a fun night at Retama Park, I was ready to put the kids in bed.  It was late (10:25 p.m.) and we were all tired.  Oh but wait, what is this by our front door?  A bird! 

 

Poor little thing, he wasn't going anywhere.  Of course, all three kids were so concerned about this little creature that we ended up getting a box and a little container for water for the bird.  You can probably imagine all the questions and comments I got from Natalia, Carson and Luke.  Luke was so worried that the bird didn't have his daddy or mommy with him, he kept saying "Mama, me call bird's dada and mama."  You could see this was really bothering him by the look in his face.  I kept calling all the veterinarians that were opened after hours to see where I could drop this bird off, but had no luck.  Finally, I got a hold of Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation and they told me what to do and where to drop the bird off the next day. ~What a relief!  No, we were ready to go to bed.  By this time, it was very close to midnight. 

This morning, I woke up early to go run but first I decided to check on the bird.  It was dead.  It broke my heart when I saw all three kids rushing to the garage to see the bird.  But there was no bird anymore, the box and the bird were gone.

"Hold Your Horses"

Friday night was "Fifty Cent Night" at Retama Park, which meant free admission, $0.50 hot dogs and free activities for the children.  Hey, why not, right?  

  

We just had to go!  It was such a neat experience.  The kids got to ride the ponies, Natalia got her face painted, Carson & Luke got a balloon, they had fun petting a few animals, we ate hot dogs, chips, and cotton candy and we got to see the horse race.  During the first race, the kids really didn't know what they were looking for.  They pretty much missed the horses as they quickly, and I mean quickly, passed in front of them.  By the second race, they knew what to expect.  They were so excited and were cheering for the horses.  

What a fun night we had.  

  

"I Have An Idea!" Carson Said

Last evening after dinner, I decided to take the kids for a little run. We went to the UTHSC and we ran/walked 1/2 mile. The plan was to play a little tennis after we ran but all the courts were full and there were several people waiting... Carson was very disappointed. He kept saying, "but Mama, how am I going to beat Daddy then. I really need to practice." Although it was 7:56 p.m. (bedtime!) already, we went to a park nearby hoping to find a tennis court available. No luck though, all were being used. So, we had no other choice than to go to the playground and play a little. Poor little CarCar, he really wanted to play, but it was definitely time to go back home. While in the car, after a lot of thinking Carson said, "Mama, I have an idea, why don't we build a tennis court in our back yard." So Daddy, add this to your "to do" list. Carson is expecting a tennis court in our backyard when we get home.

Oh wait, I don't think our backyard is big enough for a tennis court, is it? --darn it!

Nike+ Human Race 10km

I just registered for the Nike+ Human Race 10km. This event will take place in Austin on August 31, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. As far as I know, Brooke and Luci are also participating. It's going to be so much fun. So, if you are interested, just let me know.

How Sweet!

Just a few days ago, out of no where with no help, Natalia presented me with this little note. It touched my heart and this is one of those things I never want to forget.

For those of you having a hard time reading it, it says: "I love you and you are working so hard for us. We love you very, very, very much because you have been the best worker."

She gave me this note one or two days after she told me that the days were too long without me! She loves me...she really does.

"School STOPS for Summer - Learning NEVER Should!"

So far this summer, the kids have been working on their workbooks getting ready for school in the fall. Natalia will be entering 1st grade (I can't even believe it!) and Carson will be attending Pre-K twice a week.

Carson has worked very hard so far this summer! He has changed so much over the last few weeks. It just makes me so glad to see him maturing like this. Up until a few weeks ago, all he wanted to do was to play ball. He just was not interested in anything that had to do with paper, pencils, crayons, markers or anything that required him to sit still at the table for a period of time without a ball in his hands or any other sporting good for that matter. But you should see little Car-Car now. He is so good at it too. Every question I ask, he answers - no problem!

Now, let me mention that his willingness to work, I believe, comes from the fact that before we started this workbook we agreed that if he completed 15 days of work (1st section of the book), he would get a prize!

Here is Carson with his prize and a big smile:
Oh, Carson has been asking for this Ice Hockey Set for a very long time now. He finally got it! Only after all that hard work.

Natalia, well what can I say...she would have finished the 1st section of the book (15 days worth) in 2 days, if I would have let her. Especially, after she found out that she also would get a prize! That girl loves to do school work. I mean, she L O V E S homework. I just pray that she will never change.

Now, here she is with her prize for being such a hard worker:
This little dog, she actually asked Santa for, but for some reason Santa didn't bring it to her. So, she took this opportunity to get it!

Oh, and Luke also sits at the table and works with us. Naturally he is still too little to do this kind of work but he likes to sit there and scribbles in Natalia's old workbooks too. And, of course, he also got a prize:



Oh boy, what have I started, we still have two more sections to go before we finish the workbook - this is going to end up being an expensive summer!

Almost...

Okay, so maybe you were one of those wondering why I was so excited about the WWDC08 being here already. Well you see, I lost my personal cell phone back in March. All I have now is the company's cell phone. Dave and I didn't want to buy new cell phones because we knew that Apple was going to be upgrading the first generation iphone. So...we have been patiently waiting all these months for this keynote address!

Guess who is going to be camping out on July 11th in order to get our iphones? --Hmm yea, that will have to be Dave.

100th Post! No Better Way to Celebrate...

Ah...we've been waiting for this Worldwide Developers Conference for so long! - I can't believe it's finally here.

Almost a Perfect Day

It would've been perfect if Daddy would've been with us! We woke up early and ate a healthy breakfast ( no donuts this morning). Then, we went to the Kid Fun Run. This was the kid's first race. At first Natalia just wanted to do 1 race out of 3, but when she saw the trophies, she changed her mind. Before the race, I was talking with them and telling them to run fast once the man told them to go. Natalia turned around and said, "No Mama, I don't want to go fast at first or else I'll waste all my energy. I want to start slow and save my energy so that I can finish the race." Needless to say, she did pretty well, for being her first race. She ran 1/4 mile, then she participated in the 1/2 mile race. Poor baby, she had to run without me because I forgot my tennis shoes and was wearing flip flops. One of the men organizing the event, I guess felt sorry for her and ran with her. He was very helpful. She finished strong! There was one more race which she decided not to do. She didn't think she could run 1 more mile.

Carson and Luke were a little hesitant about the whole thing. About 2 minutes into the race, Carson fell and scraped his knee pretty bad and that was the end. Carson, Luke and I walked to the finish line. They all got a ribbon! Carson really wanted a trophy. Oh well, you live and learn.

This afternoon, after the kids rested a little, we went to the McNay Museum. The McNay Art Museum had been closed due to construction. This weekend is their grand opening so we helped them celebrate!

We looked for paintings and sculptures. Today, we concentrated on Monet and Picasso. There were also several paintings by Natalia Goncharova. I kept pointing them out to Natalia and she would say, "Ah, stop saying that, I didn't paint that!"

We also explored the outdoors, which is just beautiful! At 7:00 p.m. we finally sat down and enjoyed some Jazz Music. Luke & Carson were really eatin' that up. They loved it. Natalia sat and enjoyed every minute of it while Carson and Luke could not stop dancing around. ~What a great way to end our day!