Girl Scout Camp 2016

We finally got to go on a Girl Scout camp out that wasn't rained out! We visited Dinosaur Valley State Park and Fossil Rim. Unfortunately, the river was flooded so we couldn't see the footprints, or go tubing, but we had fun anyways. 

We started by loading everything we own into the car. When that didn't fill it up, we went to Academy and bought some more stuff. The camp is about an hour and a half south of our house. 

The campground was absolutely beautiful and so shady. It was such a quiet, peaceful spot, until we got there. I wish I'd have gotten a night picture. We strang Christmas lights all over so it wasn't too dark and it was so pretty. We had three adjoining sites, so we had plenty of space to spread out. It worked perfectly with three because we had a cooking area, a cleaning area and a crafting area. 

The girls made slime the first evening with one of the older girls leading the craft. They also made glow jars but I didn't get a picture. 

Early the next morning, we went on a tour at Fossil Rim Safari. 

The views in the area are so pretty. 

The ostrich buffet

These Arabian Oryx love to come and stand in front of the cars to get fed. The tour guide said they gave some to Disney for their safari. When he took his kids to visit a few years later, he said the bus had to stop because some animals were blocking the road ahead. Sure enough, they were his oryx. 

Lizzy was certain the emu was copying her flipping her head back and forth, however, we suspect, she was copying the emu.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/NuLNBQa89Ws

Since the river was flooded, we went to a local lake and went swimming to cool off. Then, that afternoon, we worked on another craft. They turned out so pretty! I loved seeing the older troop help the younger girls. 

This squirrel was sneaky and persistent. With 16 people sitting around the fire, he somehow managed to get on our table and  nibble our buns and no one noticed, even after we took this picture of him practicing his ninja skills! We thought he gave up and went away but that was just to trick us.  

I woke up in the middle of the night to Katie sleepwalking her way out of the tent. Not sure what she would have done once she found herself outside, in the dark and barefoot. 

April, May and June

Still so sweet when she is sleeping. 

For my birthday, Theo bought me a new umbrella with lights. Our old one had broken last year.

My parents bought us a new patio table for our shared birthdays. 

Lizzy fell against a wall at school and got a concussion. She was very tired and angry for a couple of days but she is fine now. She got a new Barbie because we now have a new rule that if you get a concussion, you get a new Barbie since concussions are so boring! No screens, no reading, no activity - playing Barbie is about the only thing left! We were very excited to find Dentist Barbie! Lizzy wants to be a dentist when she grows up and we could never find it except for hundreds of dollars on Ebay. Glad they made her again. If we were smart, we would have bought two and saved one for her future office (or to sell on Ebay). Oh well...

We finally got around to using the firepit we bought last year. 

We are excited to announce that Katie got into the Girl Scouts Tejas Riders program. It is a leadership development program using horses. Both of her friends got in as well! You'll hear me complaining about this next year because it is quite a commitment time wise. We were very proud of her for getting in. Less than half of the girls did and it was based on a personal interview which Katie did great in, along with grades, service, and involvement with Girl Scouts. 

Every year we get new hibiscus near the pool. I love this bush which has yellow, red and pink flowers. 

We went to visit the baby ducks in a local pond. 

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday!

Mother's Day

Fun app lets you play with photos. This is what Theo has to look forward too :)

How we spend lots of time during summer.

 Katie had paint wars at church. Each kid is given two squirt bottles and told to attack. Girls vs boys. 

In going through their papers from school, I came across this. It is actually from third grade. I love her detailed absent note. Lizzy's teachers deserve a bonus.

Katie is taking a ballet class this summer with two of her friends. She wants to continue but we will have to see how busy she gets with this Tejas program. 

Great way to spend an evening. 

This is Katie's final project for school. She had to design something that would represent a cell. She used Hogwarts school from Harry Potter. I thought it was really awesome how she compared all of them. 

After years of using an old garage sale table, Theo got an upgrade for Father's day. His office is nice and fancy now. We are still waiting on delivery of a matching filing cabinet that was out of stock to hold the printer. 

We celebrated both of our birthdays. We went out to Cheesecake Factory for Theo's so no video. 

Link to video: https://youtu.be/TKH7WU-LfLo

Lizzy is getting very good on the piano. I need to film Katie sometime too. 

Link to video: https://youtu.be/TKH7WU-LfLo