SPRING BREAK

Most of the activities that happened this week involved me (Linda) and the kids, so I get the pleasure of writing our blog. I must say, it was nice to sleep in and and just play for the week.

So, what did our fun include? I'm not sure what the kids would start the list with, but since I'm writing this I get to pick and so, my favorite thing was . . . . Huh, who knew I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite? I guess I'll just have to go in order.


Eisenhower Park


We started and ended the week by heading to Eisenhower Park. This park is best known for it's hiking trails, and that is what we went for. On Monday we tried one of the shorter trails and gave the kids a taste of hiking. On Friday we branched out and tried a combination of trails that were just a bit longer and we took Annie (the dog) along as we hiked. We had a picnic lunch both days about halfway through the trail and that allowed everyone the rest they needed to finish up (Okay, maybe the kids didn't need a rest, but I did!). The kids did really well on both days and I was really impressed by the quality of the trails. Because the weather was cool I almost felt like I was hiking in the mountains. Before heading for home we stopped at the playground and the kids tested their rock climbing abilities on a great rock climbing wall.

Children's Museum


The San Antonio Children's Museum was doing some special things for Spring Break, so we picked a day that had some activities the kids wanted to do and headed down there. The activities for the day included a science experiment that involved Mentos candy causing Diet Coke to shoot to the ceiling and an art project using fingers and bubblewrap to stamp a beehive and bees. A new science area had been added since our last visit and we were all anxious to see it. It lived up to all of our hopes and the kids had a blast exploring electricity, earthquake tables with building blocks, lego racetracks and making tissue paper butterflies fly. Of course, we also had to stop and the ball exhibit and the fabulous grocery store. It's a fun place to visit and definitely gives me an appreciation for peace and quiet when we leave!





Service Project


On Thursday I took the kids to help a widow in our ward with some yard work. I said work, they would say that they played. They raked leaves, trimmed bushes, filled birdfeeders and bird baths, picked-up sticks and small branches, vacuumed her car, ran in the house talking 100 miles an hour, ran out of the house (still talking 100 miles an hour), ran in, ran out, ran in . . . .
Anyway, Grandma Janie enjoyed watching the children running around and they thought that she was very funny. Overall, it was a very successful service project that was all the better for the fun that was had throughout.


Camping Out


During all of the craziness of the week, John had to go on a business trip. This bummed the kids out, of course, so I had the crazy idea to pull out the tent and camp in the backyard. We needed to waterproof the seams anyway, so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. Our tent is rather large and this was the first time that we had put it up, so it was a bit of an adventure, but in the end it was done. We all camped in the yard Thursday night and Hunter, Taylor and Nathan camped out again Friday night. AnnaLynn was not feeling well, and I had a soft bed upstairs and am not totally crazy yet so we slept inside. I think that we can safely say that the tent is large enough for our needs and hopefully it will get used lots over the next few years. Just to prove that I am not totally crazy, I waited for John to come home before taking the tent down so that I wouldn't have to do it by myself!



Well, I think that about sums the week up. Overall, it was a fabulous Spring Break and now it's time for school once again!

Oh What a Week!!!!

Monday

This week I had to go to Waco, TX to visit a jobsite with our NASCAR truck driver, David Starr. He races our compnay truck on the NASCAR truck series and will race in the Sprint and Nationwide series this year. The site visit was actually on Tuesday but I had to go up on Monday. With me out of town the kids get to out to dinner. We had purchased a Groupon for a pizza/game place, but it expired so they went to Chuck E Cheese, luckily we had a coupon. The kids had fun and Linda didn't have to cook or clean.

Tuesday

The site visit went well. The project, a large coal fired electricty plant, is going along nicely and they were very accommodating to us. We went on a tour and had a chance to take a few pictures of the site and David with the employees. With me out of town Linda found herself at the outlets looking for pre-spring break bargains for the kids. She found some things, but was a little disappointed in the "finds". We were looking for an outdoor table and chairs, nothing fancy just something that would allow us to take advantage of the weather and a covered porch. I suggested to Linda she stop at the Pottery Barn outlet to see what they had. They had some, way out of our price range, but there was one sad little scratched up one in the corner that was still pricey, but considering it had two leafs that made it capable of extending over 8 feet long, it was a deal. Linda called and I picked it up on my home from Waco.

Just to keep things really hopping, I had to be back in town in time for AnnaLynn's final choir performance. The sang several songs from Broadway and did a really cute job with them. Their opening number was different from past performances in that they started in the audience by their families under the ruse that they had to give us permission slips for a choir party in a few weeks. I think everyone was surprized when they started singing and commenced to go to the stage. They were pretty proud of themselves for tricking all of us!

Wednesday

On Tuesday night the brakes on my truck went out so I had to take my truck in Wednesday morning to get it fixed and was able to work from home with my Blackberry, call forwarding and VPN access. With all of the kids in school working from home actually works quite well. That night we had a Physical Education showcase that the girls were in. Taylor did some fun things with a parachute, while AnnaLynn did some kickboxing. The highlight of the whole activity was the portion of Taylor's performance where the class launched a huge octopus in the air.

I had my Stake Basketball championship. I missed part of the first game becasue I was at the school event. However, when I got there we were well ahead and I went in just to give someone a rest. We ended up winning that game and played in the finals. With as many players as we had we weren't tired from the first game and played a very good game. Although it was a physical game we adapted quickly and won easily. That makes it Back to Back to Back league Championships.

Thursday

Pretty normal day. Truck was fixed late Wednesday and I was back in business. Thursday the girls had crafting club and had an awesome opportunity. Joni Mitchell, a member of our church and one of the first friends we made when we moved to San Antonio is a terrific cake decorator. She was asked if she would be willing to share her talents with the girls. The leaders assumed that she would show the girls how to decorate cupcakes that they made but she volunteered to make each girl their own little cake. The 6 inch round cakes allowed the girls to do all aspects of cake decorating with multiple colors and decorating tips. Oh by the way, there were 13 girls in attendance. Needless to say the girls had a great time at this event.

Friday

This week more than most we found that we really needed a night out. Linda and I didn't do anything too exciting, but we had a great time. We were able to fullfil our goal of going to the temple every month. From past visits we have gotten to know one of the Sealers at the temple quite well. Well, at least I thought he knew us quite well. This week I arrived at his location first and he asked if, "My lovely wife will be joining us?" I told him she was on her way. He then asked, "How far along is she now?" My first thought was that I'm not quite sure, but I'm sure she is just putting on her last few things and will be out of the dressing area shortly. Then I remembered the last time that question was asked and the shock and immediate whiteness came over my face and he said, "Why did I think she was pregnant?" I responded, "Maybe you have more inspiration than you thought." This is not an announcment of number 5, at least not that I know of.

Saturday

This was another busy, but a productive one. I started out going to Home Depot to buy some ingredients to mix for our garden box. That's always fun. I mowed the grass in the front yard and turned on the sprinkler system, Spring is in full bloom here. Then as soon as I dumped the 20 plus bags on the driveway I had to go and help our Bishop clean out a semi-abandoned house. Some things going to storage the rest going to Goodwill. That was going smoothly until, and I send this out a friendly word of caution to those who may have to move themselves, the bungee cords did not hold the king sized mattress down by running the cords through the straps on the side. I'm sure the rest of you are thinking, "Duh" and you wouldn't be alone. Hunter thought the same thing and actually said, "That's not going to hold" to which I replied, "I tied down three places and we're not going very far." Apparently distance is not the issue, speed is. At 50 miles an hour that bungee cord didn't stand a chance. Luckily the Bishop had some real straps and after we pulled it out of the road we strapped it down. After everything was delivered we worked in the garden and prepped it for the seeds and plants.

Finally, we were able to get some tickets to the Hockey game and I took the three younger ones. We got there early and went down to the glass where 3 different players threw the kids a hockey puck. The game was good even though they, the San Antonio Rampage, were crushed 7-2.

I'm sure I have forgotten something, but nothing like a really busy week and daylight savings to kick off spring break!

John

Everybody Loves Hunter!

Volleyball Date Night
This week for our date night we went to the Volleyball game of a friends daughter. She is a great player and will be entering high school next year. The whole thing has way too much drama and emotion for me, but the overall volleyball is very good. There is little net play, they are all kind of short still. When I play I like the net stuff. Not great at spiking, but blocking is very natural for me. I enjoy that the most, but rarely do I see one at this level of play. Conversely to me Linda loves and appreciates a good back line player. Something about a diving moving rabbit like play really gets her excited. It is great to watch but even more fun when you can root for a friend.

Home Depot Kids Workshop
As some of you may know the first Satuday of every month is the Home Depot Kid's Workshop. They have different projects that are fairly simple for the kids to put together and gives the big kids a chance to browse (I call it one of Daddy's toy stores) for necessitiies. This time they were building a Home Depot race car. Hunter was not interested due to a headache and the girls were looking for something a little more "girly", so Nathan and I went and did it. Took 15 minutes to get there, 5 minutes to find it in the store and 3 minutes to put it together (one more minute to put the stickers on). He loves it and we had a great time walking around once completed. I was able to find a few things that I had to have.

Pinewood Derby Preparations
Hunter's last Cub Scout pinewood derby is this month and he has been designing his car. We tried to borrow some equipment to work on it this weekend, but when I called to get the saw on Saturday I was told that my help was needed to help a Sister pack up a trailer and get some extra things to storage. Her husband has been deployed and is not returning for a few months and she decided that she and her 16 year old son needed to be closer to family. Unfortunately, I was not able to work on the cars that day.

For those paying attention, I said cars. As a big kid I suggested that our Ward Activity, sponsored by the High Priests, should be an adult pinewood derby. We are going to utilize the track the same night as the Cub scouts. Our pinewood derby is a little more creative. We have two divisions. The traditional rules division, which adheres to the 5 ounce rule, and the modified division, where there is only one rule. That rule follows the church guidelines that states that there are to be no open flames in the building. Last time we did this we had two very creative cars. One was a pinewood derby car cut in half with two long dowels connecting the two pieces making a dragster funny car. The way it was positioned on the track gave it an easy 2 foot head start. This year the car's nose must start behind the start line. The other creative car had a CO2 canister that was punctured giving it some air pressure.

We will keep you posted on the outcome towards the end of the month.


Basketball
We won our quarter final game and move on to the next round. I only scored a few times and devoted myself to defense more than offense. I had given blood earlier in the day and the technician accidentally hit a nerve, I can't feel much of my left arm and when I do it just hurts. Hoping it improves by Wednesday.


Scouts and Activity Days
This was a typical of week for the kids in terms of Scouts and activity days. Hunter and AnnaLynn had a great time with their groups while Nathan and Taylor got to stay home and play with Dad.

Hunter In Charge
I mentioned briefly that I had to run and help a Sister move, but while I was gone AnnaLynn had a viola lesson, which left Hunter in charge of the younger two while Linda and AnnaLynn were gone. He did fine for the half hour they were gone. Then Linda came home and had to take an elderly lady to the funeral of her friend. Which left Hunter in charge for a another 45 minutes until I returned. Then when Linda got back to the home of Sister Koernig, who is 85, they realized they were locked out but had an old key to an old lock which would not budge. They called me to see if I could get it, which left Hunter in charge again. Luckily, I was able to open the lock without any trouble or delay and relieve Hunter once again. He does do very well and it is nice that we don't have any babies or else there is no way could we pull those moves off.

Fieldtrip to Aquarena Springs
Hunter had his final elementary school field trip this week. The 5th grade teachers looked a little farther abroad than they have in the past and decided to take the kids to an aquarium that also boasted a glass bottom boat tour of the springs that form the beginning of the San Marcos river. Linda got to chaperone and said it was worth the hour plus drive to get there and Hunter has said it was the best field trip ever. The kids got to see species of fish that have survived from dinosaur times as well as moss covered turtles and bubbles underwater where the springs came to the surface forming the river. In addition to it just being cool, the kids actually managed to learn a thing or two.

Sunday Performance
This week AnnaLynn and Taylor were asked to sing "I Love to See the Temple" with two other girls at the end of the Relief Society lesson. Normally this would not raise a big flag as something that was out of the ordinary, but we have a very large relief society. The girls did their performance to about 80 sisters in the ward. They did very well and unlike if I were to sing brought tears of joy to the eyes of the listeners as opposed to tears of torture.

Stay Tuned...
In upcoming articles we will have
March Madness Selection picks
Hockey Night
Date Night
Temple Night
PGA volunteer and tournament
Talent Shows
Choir Performances
Pinewood Derby Results
and much much more.