Palmetto State Park Camping Trip

Palmetto SP

This weekend was our very first Girl Scout tent camping trip! We had so much fun. We packed up my truck and two other vehicles on Friday afternoon, my truck held all the gear, so it was kind of a nice, quiet trip for me! We went to Palmetto State Park which was about an hour away, and very un-Texas looking! There were trees and swamps, and parts of it looked very prehistoric. A nice park actually.

First thing, we had the girls unload the trucks and start working on their tent. We helped very little since this is the Girl Scouts event, so they set it up on their own as much as possible. Then we had them eat their sack-dinner while we set up our tent. We got our bedrolls out and then made a campfire and I proceeded to burn 5 packages of Jiffy Pop! The girls didn't mind, they thought it was cool to pop popcorn on the campfire, so that was good! Then around 10:30 the girls were eager to hit the tent and they were all sound asleep in a matter of minutes.

Then Saturday morning, we got up, made baggie eggs for breakfast, you put eggs, bacon, cheese, etc. in a Ziploc baggie and then boil them all, it makes a small omelet.  We also had fruit and donuts. Then we got that cleaned up, and headed off to earn our Geocaching patch. The girls did a great job learning how to Geocache, they looked up coordinates, and then followed the compass around a hiking trail and we found our Geocache, and left behind some UV beads for the next group. Then we found the river and jumped in for a while to cool off! (that was the best part)

Then we had sandwiches for lunch, and the best Frito-Pie for dinner (probably so good because we were so hungry, or because food outside always tastes better!) The girls did all the cooking and cleaning, and they did a great job of it! We met another 4th grade Girl Scout troop, right across the road from us, so they invited us over for campfires and s'mores and a sing-along Saturday night! It was fun to meet new friends and of course, s'mores are always fun.

Sunday morning, we got up (no showers all weekend too! There were only 2 showers for the whole park and they were not close, so we were all dirty and stinky by this time!) but we let the girls take the tents down, and we loaded up the cars, after a fruit and cereal breakfast, and then we were about to pull out when we realized my battery had died! I think from all the in and out all weekend, my light stayed on too much. But, we managed to get a jump and be on our way, only slightly behind schedule. It was a great trip, and the girls really enjoyed it, and we all can't wait to go again.

TAMU Vet School Open House

TAMU Vet School

I just love the opportunities we have with Girl Scouts! Regan has wanted to be a vet for as long as she has been old enough to want to be something! Every year the Texas A&M vet school hosts an open house, and we finally got in this year! It gets booked up and super crowded, so it's a big deal to get in. We had planned on going up the day of, but since we had to check in by 7:30, we decided to go the night before and spend the night in a hotel, and that was it's own little adventure, let me tell you!

We got to our hotel around 6, and got our room keys, the plan was to check in and take the girls to the hotels indoor pool. Well, I walk into our room, and see a pair of cowboy boots, an open duffel bag, and men's clothes all over the room. We jumped back out as soon as possible, hoping there wasn't a man in there wondering who just walked into his room! Well, we finally got the room situated, but the hotel pool was broken, so we had nothing to do until bedtime, but we watched Princess Diaries, and I think the girls were just having fun being at a hotel!

We got up bright and early on Saturday and headed to the Vet School. We got to sit in on a lecture from a vet who told us what it takes to become a vet, what type of classes you need, how much schooling is required (8 years of college and vet school, yikes!) and what you can start doing now to get prepared. Regan even took notes!

Then we had Teddy Bear Surgery which was the cutest thing EVER! They suit the girls up in doctor scrub gear, gloves, face mask, hair net, shoe booties, paper gown, everything, and then you take your teddy bear to surgery. You tell the vet student ("doctor") what's wrong with your bear, and they will tell you how to fix it. Regan decided at the last minute that she didn't want her bear to have open heart surgery so she gave it a broken arm. They splinted the bear's arm, wrapped some padding and then put a cast on it. She loved it!

Then we got to see some live animals, an owl, a 1 month old, tiny baby warthog, a porcupine, we went to the breed tent and saw all kinds of dog breeds, and then we went to an interesting room. It was the room where they dissect horses. They had tracks on the ceiling with big hooks, and against the wall are giant freezer doors, so they were explaining to Regan how they open the doors, use the hooks to slide the dead horses around over the grates and then dissect them, and then slide them back into the freezer. Surprisingly, Regan was not disgusted like I was! The room had all kinds of animal parts out on display, cow heart, cow stomach, horse teeth, dog lungs, all kinds of parts, and Regan would grab and feel and touch each one. She was very fascinated and asked a lot of great questions.

Then we had a tour of the small vet clinic. It was really neat, they had a different "specialty" in each room, so we learned about all the different ways they treat small animals, and Regan even got to perform an endoscopy to remove a penny from inside a dead dog! She got to hold the camera and thread it down, and pinch the thing to grab it, like a claw game. They showed them how they draw blood from a dog, how to use a defibrillator, and then we got to watch a real, live surgery! They were spaying a dog, and they had it's girl parts out for us to see, and a camera right above the action so we got to watch through the window, and get a bird's eye view. Again, Regan was more fascinated than disgusted. It was fun for me to see how she reacted to everything.

Then we headed over to the large animal clinic and got to see all the heavy machinery they use to lift the horses and cows and all the cool things they have there. We got to see some animals too, but Regan and I were really wanting to see the fistulated cows and we didn't make it to them. So, Regan wants to go back next year and do what we didn't get a chance to do this year. It was definitely an interesting trip, and I'm glad Regan got to experience it, and now she has a very clear picture of what it's going to take if she is serious about being a vet. But, I know she can do it, and I can't wait to see her achieve her dreams!

Easter On the Hill with Tim Tebow

Easter On the Hill

Well, it was no secret about Tim Tebow coming to our church for Easter! It was everywhere, in the news, on Jay Leno, online, everyone seemed to be talking about it. And it did not disappoint! It was an incredible event that I'm so glad we got to be a part of.

David served in the volunteer parking lot, that opened at 4:30am, so he got to church around 4am, got the volunteers parked and then was getting buses in and out of the lot all day. He didn't leave the lot until around 3pm, so he was there, on his feet for almost 12 hours straight, and didn't get to see one minute of the event. It's because of him and other people like him, that this event went off so smoothly! I was so proud of him for serving and not complaining, and just doing whatever it took so other people could come and hear the gospel.

Riley and I served in the Kids tent, so we got there around 6:30 and helped set up the tent, and get the face painting going. We did face painting and the eye black tattoos that said "John 3:16" under the eyes. Those were a big hit and we ran out of those before the service even started.

We ended up with nearly 20,000 people there, and over 1,000 salvations! In the end, that's what it was all about, not Tim Tebow, or Joe Champion, but about people coming to know Christ, so I would say it was a success, and all those early morning trainings, orientations, prayer meetings, it was all worth it. I'm so proud of my church, and I can't wait to see what God will do next!