Loving Life at Home

The fun day continues...

So, after the fun time at the Dallas Cowboys training camp, I took the boys to the San Antonio Children's Museum. Believe it or not, we haven't been yet. And after going, I'm wondering what took us so long!! From now on, we're taking company w/ children here when they visit! It was so much fun! The first room we walked into was a bubble room. There was a tire dipped in bubble solution that you could raise to put yourself inside a bubble as well as two big tables filled w/ bubble solution and all kinds of wands.

Josiah inside the bubble.

Jeffrey as "the boy in the bubble".

Jeremy giving it a whirl.

More bubbles.

In another part of the museum, here is Jeffrey as a large mama bird.

And Josiah seeing how he "measures up" to David Robinson. Man that guy is TALL!!!!

There were also things to drive....a plane..

a front loader that even dumps real rocks...

and a covered wagon. There was a prarie part of the museum that was set up with an old grocery store, a place to dig in sand for wagon parts buried in the sand...

"milk" a fake cow...

and sleep like a ranch hand.

There were lots more other fun exhibits upstairs, but when we headed downstairs, I was blown away! There was a HUGE grocery store for kids to "shop". I was so impressed with the healthy focus of all the foods and the things on the walls!! There was no junk food at the store....well, there was ice cream, but WHO considers THAT junk food?? And of course, the store was an HEB!

Check out that produce section!

Look at this cool sign over the bread "aisle".

And though it may be admitting to my near-"hippiness", I have to say this was probably my favorite thing at the museum. I've never seen anything like it! It was a vending machine filled with ONLY natural and organic products...way cool!! Of course, we got some stuff out of it!

And look at these signs in the produce section! It's AWESOME!!

Then at the "Kids Cafe" area near the grocery store there was an entire section that showed kids how to make balanced nutritious meals and signs like this one encouraging them to drink lots of water....

I was so thoroughly impressed with the healthy-living focus of the museum (as if you couldn't tell.....I told you, I'm wierd!)

Also downstairs there was this fun puzzle of the USA to put together. One cool thing about this puzzle is that the puzzle pieces are in the actual shape of the state. It was great and the boys did great putting it together.

Jeffrey driving the trolley near the entrance of the museum.

After the museum, we met Michael for lunch since we were downtown. We ended up at Pizza Gut... um I mean Pizza Hut, a couple of blocks from his office. It turned out to be a very fun lunch. The restaurant was very uncrowded. Love that! They also had a Ms. Pac Man/Galaga game that you could play for 50 cents. Michael challenged the boys to a tournament. The fun ensued! But it didn't take long for the boys to cry "foul" when they realized how good Michael was at the game. Growing up in the 80s pays off!! :-)

Jeremy's intent on the game.

Josiah waiting his turn.

I love that guy!!

And I LOVE days that we get to spend together just hanging out and being a family together!!!! Memories!!!

*By the way, Michael actually DID show up at work this day, we just got to enjoy him for part of it!!

Are you ready for some football????

Last Wednesday morning, Michael took some time off of work and took the boys to the Dallas Cowboys training camp at the Alamodome. (I went shopping at Whole Foods...everyone was happy!:-) )

Michael got this football for Josiah at the training camp! Needless, to say, he loves it!

How about that shopping cart!!

The motor to the cart. You can do some serious shopping with this baby!!

Here's some photos from inside the camp

Jeffrey and Josiah said they liked best watching the kick off return teams. Jonathan and Jeremy enjoyed watching the offense run drills. Josiah said (with a hint of disgust) "Tony Romo got aaaaallllllll the glory!" It was a hoot! Michael quickly reminded him that he also gets aaaaallllll the blame when things go wrong!

It was just the beginning of a very fun day....stay tuned for more!

It HAD to happen....

A couple of nights ago, Michael was going to drive down to get the paper and asked Jonathan or Jeremy if they wanted to go. Jonathan said he would like to. Then Michael tossed the keys to Jonathan and said "C'mon lets go". You should have seen the wide eyes in the kitchen!! And it wasn't just MINE! Jonathan had to pick his jaw up off of the floor and then try to not RUN RUN RUN to the CRV. Play it cool, ya know. Have I mentioned before that I'm so glad to have such a great husband! This I add to the long list of things that the boys wouldn't do if it was up to me. It's not about my sense of denial of the fact that they are old enough to do things like shave and drive (well, not totally) but more of the fact of "Is this OK?" "Is this against the law?" "Is this safe?" Oh, well, that's why I'm married! And Jonathan was thrilled at this chance!!

At about this point (after about 100 times of me asking (or begging!) Jeffrey and Josiah to "PLEASE step back away from the car!!!") Jeffrey flipped the rear seat in the van so he could sit and look out to watch the action. He plopped in the seat and said "Now, THIS is going to be entertaining!" to which Josiah responded "Jeffrey, c'mon he's just a beginner, cut him some slack" It was so funny!

Well, they made it to the mailbox AND back!! With no damage to anyone or anything....

Love this pic!!

So afterward, Michael asked Jeremy if he wanted to go and drive. Jeremy's emphatic answer "No way!" He's just afraid of making a mistake....we need to work on that one! And later that evening, Michael informed the boys that he has no intention of the boys driving anywhere other than to the mailbox and back for a very long time. We were telling them about the crazy amount of money that it costs to insure a teenage boy, much less TWO teenage boys. They had no idea. And truthfully, I have no real idea either, I just know it's gonna be LOTS! So for now, the longer we wait the better!! That evening while we were doing our family devotional, Josiah was praying and prayed "Jesus, please give us the money we need to pay insurance for Jonathan and Jeremy when they drive." Guess it doesn't hurt to start praying NOW! :-)

It is FINISHED!!

August 1st ended one entire year of the boys not having soft drinks of any kind, and almost 8 months of no fast food. We drove back home from Memphis in time to make it back to Wings and More to end the fast. Michael handed the boys their reward at the restaurant and then let them order their drinks! You should have seen the smile on their faces when they told the waitress "Dr. Pepper" when she came for drink orders!

Now the trick is to not order Dr. Pepper everywhere! They were all pretty amazed at how little Dr. Pepper it took to satisfy them! We've decided to buy a small six pack of Dublin Dr. Pepper (DP made in Dublin, TX w/ Imperial Cane Sugar instead of HFCS) for home and make it last a month or so and still not order sodas at restaurants very often.

They also decided to do another fast after being off for a month or so. And this time they've decided to up the challenge...not sugary drinks at all (i.e. no lemonade or Hi-C, etc.). I'm so impressed! Way to go guys!!

More July fun....Destination Miami

Just in case there wasn't enough to do in July, Jeffrey and Michael took off on their "Daddy date trip" to Miami. Months ago, Jeffrey prepared his report on Miami, and Michael booked the tickets. They had to get up at 4am to head to the airport for a 6am flight....sounded like a good idea at the time! :-)

Jeffrey waiting around at the airport... Hey, wait a minute....WHO are you talking to at 5:30 am???

Loading up...

On the plane...

Eating Lenny's at the Memphis airport. The flight connected through Memphis both ways. On the way home, I picked him up in Memphis (Jonathan, Jeremy, Josiah and I had driven up to Memphis) for our week long visit with our friends in Memphis...

Finally making it to Miami, Jeffrey and Michael found out that their hotel had a Carrabba's inside it (a family favorite!)...

and it was right on the beach!!! Many hours were logged on this beach over the weekend!

The next day was the main event...an airboat ride through the Everglades.

Yep, that thing is ALIVE!! These are the kinds of situations that make me really glad these weekends are DAD weekend and not mom wknds!

My brave hubby!!

And as if the alligators were threatening enough, look at those clouds! They had to hold off their boat trip a little while for those to blow over...

It's finally time to get started. Look at that alligator swimming up to say "hi"...or was it saying "Come closer little boy!"

One happy boy!!! Love that smile!!

Jeffrey knew all the names of these alligators by the time the boat ride was over.

After the boat ride, Jeffrey and Michael met up with Uncle Morry and had dinner and played at this park.

Jeffrey w/ Uncle Morry.

Jeffrey tried to make us belive this was their rental car....

More beach fun!

And then on Sunday, Michael and Jeffrey went to the Miami Zoo. It's the only subtropical zoo in America. (Meaning it has animals from subtropical regions)