A Quick Spring Break Re-Cap

Ok friends, lesson learned!  7 days of non-stop fun = one tired momma!

I am so pooped and coming down with a cold, but I would not change a thing from last week - everything was perfect - the weather in the mid 70's, each day went off without a hitch, even Bubba was on his best behavior (most of the time).  And we had what we will remember as one of the best Spring Breaks ever.

I sorted through 1200 photos that I took (remember, I will be blogging about all these places we went to over at R We There Yet Mom?. ) and narrowed it down to these few to give you a glimpse of our week.  I'll tell you more about the fun days we had when I can catch my breath! For now,  here is a tiny recap.

 Day One: SeaWorld San Antonio - we haven't been in years, so Matt took the day off and down we went.  The shows are even better than I remember.  The rides are very fun with relatively little wait time - here is Bubba on his first ride of the day!

 Matt & Bubba playing around - he was so good as we waited for the shows and waited for food and waited for rides.  Yes, we and what felt like the entire state of Texas was there that day.  It was crazy busy, but it didn't bother us.

 Day Two: Hike a local spot here in Austin - Mt. Bonnell - It's an easy hike up to see the beautiful view of Lake Austin on one side and downtown Austin on the other.  After our hike, we picnicked at Zilker Park and checked out the Austin NAture & Science Center where we dug up Dino bones in this huge pit of sand.  An absolutely wonderful day that didn't cost a dime! Yay!

 Day Three: Took us up to Waco to visit the Mayborn Museum.  This complex features an incredible Natural History museum that my kids really did enjoy.  But what they loved the most were the 17 (yep 17!) individual rooms at the Children's Museum.  They especially loved the bubble room.....

 We spent over 4 hours here and loved every minute of it.  Can't wait to talk about it on my other site - it is a true gem.
After our fun, we headed over to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & History Museum, where we learned all about the Texas Rangers (no - not the baseball team, the law enforcement division).  The kids played a fun scavenger hunt here.

To finish our busy day in Waco, we had to stop by the Mammoth Site - 19 sets of complete mammoth skeletons were discovered here in the late 70's and only recently, they opened this up to the public to see the last 2 they did not excavate.  It was fascinating to see the size of these things!  For more information about mammoths, check out online paleontology classes that can teach you how slow birth rate and climate change caused mammoth extinction.

 Measuring up to see how they compare to a Mammoth!

 Day Four: We headed out to the Hill Country and went directly to the LBJ Ranch and Historic Park.  President LBJ gave his land to the government to create a historic park where you can go and see his old schoolhouse, tour his "Texas White House", where he spent 25% of presidency at, and tour the working ranch.

 In the barns, the kids were able to feed and play with 5 week old goats - I just loved these pics!

 Day Five: Started with the Vanishing Texas River Cruise, where we were taken by boat to an abandoned town that was moved in the 1930's when a dam was built.  The town is covered in water 6 months out of the year and it was really cool to hear the history of it all.  Brody says this was one of his favorites!

 After that, we went to Longhorn Caverns - one of 7 caverns in Texas you can go into with a guided tour.  What makes this one unique is that it was created by a river- the walls are so smooth!  What was also funny was we ran into our neighbors while we were on the tour!

 Dinner that night was the famous Cooper's BBQ in Llano - I have been wanting to go for years! The ribs melted in your mouth.  Delish!!

 Day Six: We took the kids to the Sweet Berry Farms to pick strawberries.  We had a ton of fun doing it, but man those are tartest strawberries I ever tasted!!

While we were there, little Bubba took a quick train ride too!

Did you make it through?  I'm exhausted just typing it all out.  Looking back, we did a ton, but we took our time and never felt rushed.  Yes, it was all planned this way so that I could write about all 20+ places we visited last week.  But it was a completely do-able and enjoyable schedule.  The kids and I learned so much history and saw so many cool things, that we have been talking about it for days. I know in a few short years, hanging out with mom for Spring Break is going to be at the bottom of the list, so I am taking it all in while I can!

Linking up this post with my girls, Impulsive Addict and Seriously Shawn (who I get to see in less than 43 days - are you jealous???) for their Talk To Us Tuesday meme.  Link up whatever you got- there are NO rules!!

Spring Break Inspiration

Oh my friends.  Where have I been you ask?  (Ok- no one really asked, maybe that's my inner voice speaking).  I have been super duper busy working (yes Matt, I call it working even though I love it) on my sister blog, R We There Yet Mom!!  As we are heading into Spring Break time here in Central Texas, I have been blogging my little fingers to the bone to post all kinds of fun activities for families to do here in Texas.  Whew!  Every night I have been blogging - just over there..not here.

So sorry to say, I have been neglecting this sweet little tribute to my family!  I have so much to catch up on too!!  It's overwhelming, but as this is my chronicle of our family, I'm jumping in.

I was blessed to began writing regularly for Quirky Momma, a fun kids activity blog.  I post every Monday afternoon, so please jump on over and show the love!! :))  My very first post was on planning a fantastic Spring Break Staycation.  Go read it - it's awesome - I'll wait here for you.

So, wanting to go out and try new adventures with my kids AND finding all these AMAZING things to do in our local area (WHO KNEW??), the kids and I brainstormed and came up with a plan for next week!

So we mapped this out last weekend, and we have already discovered a few more things we weould like to do, so plans may change slightly, but here is how our week looks:

SUNDAY: I was invited to a PBS Kids SXSW event for bloggers and am thrilled to go!  But that afternoon, we will head to Pioneer Farms, a working farm here in Austin that is set in the 1880s with docents!  So excited!

MONDAY: SeaWorld San Antonio baby!! We haven't been since the kiddos were little!

TUESDAY: Outdoor Austin Day- hiking up Mt. Bonnell (a local hike to see Austin & the surrounding lakes from a cool vantage point), ride the train at Zilker Park, picnic there, and then to our favorite Austin candy shop (weather permitting)!

WEDNESDAY: The above schedule is to head an hour south of us to the Texas Wildlife Ranch (a drive-thru animal park) and then to the Grist Mill for lunch.  But after researching all there is to do in Waco, we might head there for mammoth fossils, a children's museum, and a 100+ year old suspension bridge.  We shall see what we feel like doing that day.

THURSDAY: Out in the Hill Country lies a state park thatI went to as a child, LBJ Ranch, that features another 1800s settlement, LBJs vacation home and a beautiful park.  There is a lot to do out in Fredericksburg (my favorite German town here in TX) that we will enjoy as well.

FRIDAY: The olders and I are going on a "vanishing river cruise" on Lake Buchanan to spy some bald eagles and then touring Longhorn Caverns (another incredible cavern).  Thanks mom!

SATURDAY: We would like to hike Enchanted Rock again with Dad, but are going to play that one by ear - we may be exhausted by then!!

So that is our week in a nutshell!  Who says you can't plan a fun week at home?  And we get the best of both worlds - new adventures during the day and our own bed to sleep in at night.

But seriously, whey this busy of a week?  Besides the fun places I will get to write about for R We There Yet Mom?  Cause I love it - seriously - it is so much fun to explore new places to me.  I can't wait to see the fun memories we create next week!

I am linking up to Janette who is asking us to show what "inspired" us to do something.  Creating new memories with my kids has inspired me.

What a fun weekly topic to blog about - and she is creating a Pinterest Board to share all the inspiration!  So cool! Thanks Janette!

What ya Don't Want to See at the Carnival....

Remember how much fun you had at the Carnival as a kid?

All the fun colors, rides, games, & cotton candy? Never did you worry about the "safety" of the carnival.  

Why is it as adults, that's the first place our mind wanders to when we think of the carnival??

Cause of this.......

As a parent, you turn a blind eye to all the very "Adult-themed" names of the rides.....

And hope that while your 8-year-old son is waiting for 10 minutes in his car for the ride to start, he is NOT questioning why there are necked women on this ride?  Cause really, what does the "Crazy Dance" ride have to do with necked women??  

don't answer that.

And as much as we need a 8 ft stuffed banana in our house, I would not let the boy play for it.

I know -I'm mean.

I wanted him to try to win the Rasta-banana.

Come on mon!!

But the one thing that bothered me - 

yup - this man carnie proceeded to have a 10 minute conversation while loading the ride......

safety first!!!!

If I said I wasn't holding my breath while the kids rode this ride, I'd be lying........

'cause that text about the party on 6th street later was soooooo important.........

much more so than ensuring all the KIDS were loaded properly on the ride....

and I don't even know where this carnie was....

I was behind the fence as I watched my kiddos struggle to snap their buckles closed.

don't worry - I embarrassed them fully as I very loudly told them to "tighten your strap!", "check them by pulling real hard!", "rattle the bar", "check it again"....you get the picture.

look how high in the sky there were!!!!!! yikes!!

I know when we went to carnivals as kids, they were probably just as unsafe, if not more so....

and these rides were much more innovative and fun.....

the smiles on their faces showed how much fun they had.....

but I can't say we will go again next year.

 not that they would want to after this ride.

yes.  I'm showin it to you for a 3rd time.

it's my blog - I can do what I want.

besides, I never showed you the "recovery" picture.....the one right after the one above.

whew!

That's right kids.....

WHEW!  

We survived the carnival.

This Ain't My First Rodeo

Last week was Spring Break,  and before we headed to Oklahoma, the kids and I visited the Texas Star Rodeo.  I grew up going to Rodeos and this was my first one since I was a child.  But this was my kid's first rodeo....and we had a blast.

For all our non-Texas friends, here is our list of 'must-do's' while at the Rodeo.......

 check out the events 

- so it was a Tuesday morning, and all they had were the girls 

showing their horses in sparkly-shirts....my kids still liked it.

check out a funny event 

like these adorable pigs racing to get an oreo.

 pet a deer?

huh?

only in Texas y'all.

 Scare your 2-year old while petting the deer, so that he doesn't want anything to do with the animals.

 ride a tractor.

backwards.

we showed him the right way........

 eat some yummy (and expensive) carnival food.

like a ginormous corny dog.

 and the requisite funnel cake.

 take the kids on some crazy carnival rides.

unlimited ride wristband half-off.

yee-haw!!!

 make sure you capture those great expressions......

 and require your kids to do some sibling-bonding while on the rides together....

 or maybe not.

 see the rodeo through the eyes of your 2-year old.

 capture those smiles....

 and fearful faces.....

especially this one......

Oklahoma Here We Come!!

We are headed to Oklahoma for the last few days of Spring Break- plenty of hiking, fishing, canoeing, reading, game playing, and....wait for it....QUIET!!!

no tvs, internet, cell phone reception...I'm going to try hard not to go through too bad of withdrawals.....

but how can you with this to look at?

See you all real soon!