Kerrville-Leakey-Sea World

**Warning - long post with lots of pictures.

Last weekend, Lamar and I went to our 3rd Coaches Outreach retreat.  CO is such a neat ministry to Coaches and their spouses.  The coaches do a Bible Study throughout the school year and then during the summer, CO puts on marriage retreats throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama. 

This year we went to Kerrville, TX and stayed at the Inn of the Hills.  It was so much fun to see some familiar faces from previous retreats and meet other coaches too.  It is so neat to be in small groups with people who are going through the same things!  The life of a coaches' family is a crazy one and only few can truly understand what it's like.

During the retreat we had some free time and decided to drive over to Leakey where Lamar's grandparents used to live.  We visited the house and the Frio river where Lamar used to swim all summer long.

After the retreat ended on Sunday, Lamar and I headed to San Antonio for the night.  We got a great deal on a hotel on Priceline.  We were across the street from the Riverwalk and just a block away from the Riverwalk.  We took a nap and then headed down to the Riverwalk for dinner.  It was so fun and nice!!

Monday morning, we headed to Sea World and Gigi, Grandpa, Landrie & Karsyn met us there.  The girls were so surprised and so excited!!!  They have been talking about SW for months!!

Their first ride - Shamu Express.  Karsyn was a little afraid, but they loved it!

Azul was our favorite show.  It had beluga whales, dolphins, birds and high divers.  It was so good!!

My pink flamingos with real pink flamingos!

The Shamu show was really good too!  By this time the girls were exhausted and it was SO hot!!!

Thank you Gigi & Grandpa for this special day!! They loved Sea World and I know will be talking about it for a long time to come!!!

Zing Zang Zoom

We are squeezing every last drop of summer out this week. Lamar and I both go back to work on Monday. We've had a wonderful summer, but I'm sad to see it over so fast.

Last night we went to the Ringling Brothers Zing Zang Zoom Circus. We got there a few minutes early, so we were able to walk down on the floor and see some of the performers.


Once the show started, the girls were so serious. Landrie was so funny because all of the stunts made her nervous...especially the tight rope walkers. She let out a huge sigh of relief every time they made it to the other side. Karsyn was cheering and screaming anytime something happened--she was her usual wild self!

The concensus was that the elephants and tigers were the favorites. The motorcycles from last year weren't there which were my favorites, but all in all it was a great show!

I could barely get Karsyn to sit still long enough for any pictures...Lolly isn't choking her, I promise!

The Finale!

Trying to get a family picture at the end - not happening as usual!

Soakin' Up the Sun

Monday and Tuesday we took our final mini-vacation of the summer. We went to Bastrop to visit the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort. Wow! What a fun place. The girls were in heaven with swimming pools, a lazy river, sandy beaches and more. Pictures don't do the place justice OR how much fun the girls had. I can't wait to go back again!!!

The Circus

Last Sunday, we wrapped up our week of fun by heading to the Greatest Show on Earth--The Circus! The girls have never been before and were at the perfect age to go. We got a great deal on the tickets too, so it made the show even better!

We got to the AAC at 1:30 so we could go down on the floor for the pre-show. They had activities going on in every ring.

Landrie's favorites were the tigers and Karsyn loved the "ephalents". Landrie has added an acrobat to the the many things she wants to be when she grows up, and Karsyn wants to be one of the girls who rides on the elephants.

Even though they were super serious at the show, they have not stopped talking about it since. I hope to make the circus an annual event!

PS: I've promised not to post a silly pic of Lolly, but just know that she donned the clown nose too!

Making Memories

This summer has been so great!!! We have enjoyed so much and packed in great things into our final week--swimming, playing with good friends, and the circus! We've made so many memories from the fun planned things to the little unplanned times.

After dinner with Lolly and Pops, we came home to lots of puddles. We got some much needed rain and sent the girls running!!! Letting go and letting them get a little dirty, turned into some of my favorite pictures of the summer.

Landrie in her new glasses!

VBS

The girls went to Bible Bootcamp last week at their preschool. They had so much fun with their friends and learned a lot! On the last night, they had a program for the parents so we could see everything they did during the week.

Marching in

Paying close attention to the drama


At the end, they were presented with Training Manuals with all of the verses they learned during the week. It was really cute and great to see all they had learned. We will definitely go back next year.

More Summer Fun @ Putt-Putt

Last week, we took the girls to play Putt-Putt. Even at 8 o'clock it was still close to 100 degrees!!! We had a good time, but man it was just too hot!

Landrie and Karsyn picked the "Adventure Course". After about the first 5 holes, they were more interested in the scenery than playing golf. Karsyn, of course, played by her own rules. She would hit the ball from the 'tee', but then would move it closer to the hole for her 2nd and 3rd shots.

Landrie was trying too hard and got frustrated when she didn't get it right the first time. We're definitely going to have to work on that!

Karsyn was so proud that she got it in the hole!

Landrie wanted her picture by every animal on the course.

Silly faces on top of a very large elephant