Wrestling with Dad

The kids love tackling Daniel and wrestling with him.
Lizzy thinks she's one of the big kids and always wants to join in.

Schlitterbahn Water Park - New Braunfels, Texas

Yesterday we went with Nick to Schlitterbahn, a world-famous waterpark in New Braunfels, Texas (about an hour away). It was so much fun! I was worried how it would go with all the kids, but they all loved it and were great. There were so many great kid spots there, and Tristan and Oliver actually went on several big slides, too, and they weren't even scared.

Daniel and Nick went on the Skycoaster with JT (one of Nick's friends who lives in the area - he had a season pass and got us all in to Schlitterbahn for half-price, which was nice). The Skycoaster is the thing where they strap you in and then lift you way, way up to the top of a tower and then you pull a cord and go flying down into the sky and then swing back and forth in the air. Sounds fun, right? I would never in a million. . .The terror is not worth the tiny chance that there might be one second worth of fun.

Here are some pictures of Daniel, Nick, and JT enjoying the Skycoaster:

And here are some pictures of the kids having lots of fun at Schlitterbahn:

My sister told me she thought it was neat that we do so many cool things with our kids, but I told her that I can't take any of the credit for being a fun Mom and taking our kids to do fun things - that's just Daniel's adventurous side. In fact, usually when he comes up big these big fun plans, a little part in my mind is thinking "uh-oh, how is that going to go with all the kids? Are they going to get sunburned? I guess that means no naps. . hmmm. . should I bring the double stroller? Will all the kids like it? Probably not Rachel and Lizzy. . .I hope I remember to bring their bibs in the diaper bag. . And I need to check in the garage to see if we have hiking boots for Rachel. . Should I have Oliver wear his floaty suit or just his normal suit and then a life-jacket? What kind of snacks do I need to fix before so we're all ready? Are the camera batteries charged?"

And Daniel's just thinking, "let's go!"

And then it ends up being really fun. But some of the fun is probably because I end up being pretty prepared after all my worry. I guess that's one of the reasons Daniel and I are a good pair.

Pedernales Falls with Nick

While Nick was staying with us we went hiking at Pedernales Falls, which is about an hour and a half away from our house. It was fun, but hot. The kids were good little hikers.

Visit from Uncle Nick

Daniel's brother Nick came to stay with us for a few weeks. The kids were so excited to see him and we did a lot of fun things while he was here.

Daniel, Nick, and the kids at Maudie's in downtown Austin.

I'm not sure what Lizzy is doing with her face.

We went swimming at our Falcon Pointe pool a lot while Nick was here:

Elizabeth Tries to Walk - 11 Months Old

Lizzy stands up all the time now, and she has even taken a few steps. She certainly doesn't know how to walk yet, but she's trying to figure it all out. She can get to standing from crawling, and then she usually stands there for awhile and then takes one step and falls down. Then she starts all over and tries again. She is very persistent. Today she got 3 steps in before falling, so that was progress, at least.

Tristan's Drawing

Yesterday while we were at church Tristan drew a picture of Jesus that I thought was really cute. We were sitting out in the foyer and he was looking at a picture of Christ that was hanging up, so he used that to look at while he drew it. The painting only showed the head and shoulders, so Tristan just made up the rest of the body.

I thought he did a good job.

Accidents Happen

Rachel has started saying something funny. She comes to me a lot with little confessions about things that happened, but before she tells me, she says, "Is 'accidentally' the one that means I don't have to go in a time out?" After I say yes, she'll say, "Well, I accidentally did . . .."