Some More of September

And as usual...a random sampling of September that didn't get their own posts.

Putting up Fall decorations helps us pretend it feels and looks like Fall outside...even though it is definitely more of a late Summer feel still!

At the library.  The kids love to look at books.  Claire always gets the pink chair and Beckham gets the green.  And Mama?  She gets the tiny wooden chair at the table.  

 I found this shirt that used to be mine when I was little.  It's a size 6.  I remember it was my FAVORITE shirt!  Now it fits Claire.  That's some quality material from the 80's right there!

 A scout activity at Pack Meeting.

It was a race to see which team could get everyone across the back line first without coming undone.

 One of our den meetings.  We used recycled trash to make musical instruments.  They had to make and instrument AND play a song with it.

They played "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".  

Pretty good!

 Now THAT is a fort!  They took advantage of all the old fence slats before bulk trash came to take them away.  And check out that roof made out of tree clippings.  Impressive!

 Coen and Beckham went with a different kind of structure.

Reunited!

Tory and his friend James got to meet up after several years.  They were in chiropractic school together.  James was in town for a chiropractic conference and stayed with us.

Our Mini-Vacation: San Antonio and the Alamo

After leaving the beach we drove up to San Antonio.  It had been about 6 years since we had been there.  Coen was just a little baby last time and Austin was a little Kindergartner!  So needless to say, none of them remembered it.  I'm not so sure they'll remember it after this trip either.  Ha!  Everyone was so tired.  We cleaned up in a motel and then walked to the Riverwalk.  It was supposed to be a short walk but for our weary family it seemed like a long hike.  We walked around for awhile but everyone was just so tired.  Then to top it off, my big toenail was almost ripped off!  There were a lot of people there and I was following Austin.  He stopped suddenly and I didn't realize but boy, I felt it!  I didn't want to look and when I did...lots of blood.  We hobbled around for a bit more but then we decided to head back for some much needed sleep.  Now THAT was a painful walk back!

 Everybody SOOO excited to be on the Riverwalk! 

Now there are some happy people!  Happy to be in bed!

The next morning everyone felt a lot more refreshed...if not more burned.  We checked out the Alamo before we headed out.

 Remember the Alamo!

 A pretty fountain in the shade.

 Cute kids.  Can you tell Claire is in to posing for pictures?  Love it!

They decided to pretend this bench was a canoe.  Off they go!

 The cannons were cool!

 Making some wishes at the well.

Not a creature was stirring...

It was a very quiet ride home!  What a fun, fun weekend!

Our Mini-Vacation: The Ocean

September 13-15 we decided to take an impromptu family trip.  We hadn't been anywhere on a vacation together all summer long and we needed an adventure!  Ever since we've lived here we've wanted to go to the beach but haven't had the chance.  It's only a few hours away.  Well...like 6.  I researched some places and we decided on Mustang Island State Park.  It was a little further than going to the Houston area but we thought it sounded perfect for us.  We were excited to be able to camp on the beach!

After leaving in the evening after school and work we ended up arriving pretty late and of course it was dark.  There were lots of warnings about a very high tide because of a tropical storm that was due to hit in the next couple days.  Since we had never been there before we were a little worried about finding a good spot where the water wouldn't reach us.  As we were scoping out the area we saw several trucks heading out with dripping wet tents and equipment in their beds.  Yikes!  We focused our search on higher ground.  We found a spot, Tory and the boys put up the tent, and to sleep we went.  It was so great hearing the waves crashing right outside our tent! We could hardly wait for morning!

Of course at first sign of daylight everyone was up and excited to see and feel the ocean!  This was the first time for everyone but me!  Tory had seen the ocean when he was really little but didn't remember it at all and had never swam in it.  So we thought we'd just check it out "real fast".  Yeah...we should have just put our swimsuits on then.  Who can resist warm ocean water splashing on you?  After we got our taste of the ocean we changed into our suits and set off to make the most of our day at the beach.  We only had one day so we had to make it count!  It was such a blast and we all had so much fun.  We only stopped for a few minutes to eat our picnic lunch and back we went.

First sight of the ocean!  Everyone was a little hesitant at first.

I'm pretty sure we were the first ones up that morning.  The lighting is deceiving in these pictures.  It was barely light out when we got in the water.

Getting a little wet!

 Austin and Coen

And...it's over.  We should have put on swimming suits first thing!

 Back to the tent to change.

 A quick breakfast of apples and muffins from home.

 Finally in the water!  It was so warm and the waves were nice and big!

Dallin diving into a wave!

 Tory and the two little people.

Building Sandcastles

We had beautiful weather.  There were big clouds and we even got a bit of a sprinkle with a beautiful rainbow afterward.  

Where did Dada go?  Can anyone find him?

Claire exploring the beach.

 Fun in the water.

 All the boys in the big waves.

Hold on to Beckham!!

Claire building a sandcastle.

The end of a perfect day at the beach.  We were all sad to have to leave but we knew we had made the most of it!  We were one sandy, sunburned, tired crew!

Fixing the Fence

The storm from early August destroyed our poor fence.  Tory and the kids had fun tearing it down.  And by fun I mean FUN!  Free reign to demolish, destroy, use crowbars and hammers, and break things.  It was heaven for the males of the family.  While it was down and we could actually step back more than three feet into the neighbor's yard, we discovered our roof had a huge hole with several missing shingles that we never would have realized!  So we added one more project to the list.  I guess the fence coming down was a blessing in disguise.  

The demolition crew.

Our neighbor was very surprised to see how quickly we got it down!  Never underestimate the power of kids with permission to destroy! 

 The new fence up and ready to go.  Feels a little "fenced in" now.  It was kind of nice to have some open space for a bit.  This time we used metal poles set in the ground with cement.  It's always reallly shady and moist on this side of the house so the wood poles just rotted before.  Maybe we can get a few more years out of it this time. 

 Project 2:  Fixing the roof.

Again, many helpers willing to climb on the roof!

Poor Beckham...Mama wouldn't let him go up with the big boys.  But he sure tried to get up there!

 Missing shingles

Filling in the hole!

A little bat and ball action for the little people.