Baby Bird is IN the Nest!

Riley got home around midnight, and was all excited to tell us all about his trip and everything he did and how much fun he had. It was a great experience for him and he won 2 challenge coins that are very pretty, I will have to take pictures of them to post. Here is a picture of his breaching team:

And Hunter was very happy to see his boy!

Field Ops Day 4

I got to talk to Riley! He called because he couldn't remember his flight time. I think he called cause he missed us! His XO let him use his cell phone, and we got to talk a few minutes. He got to call David too, he was at church with Regan, I was home bathing the baby, so we didn't get to talk much, but he's having a blast. He said he was homesick the first couple of days but he's better now, and really enjoying their activities, and the food is much better than when he went to Boot Camp. He comes home at midnight tonight. I just realized this morning, Regan and I leave Sunday for Hot Springs, and when we come home, he'll already be gone for his next training, so I won't get to see my Baby Bird for two whole weeks! But, hopefully we will get to go to his next training graduation since his next training is at Ft. Hood.

Anyway, on Day 4 they were working on Rescue Operations, and it looks like he had another busy, fun day!

Field Ops Day 4

Field Ops Day 3

Lots of pictures today! Looks like they were super busy, but it also looks like a lot of fun. I bet Riley is so tired! Can't wait to hear him tell us all about it. Today they did first aid training and practicals where they learned to treat the wounded, and some rescue operations.

And these pictures are totally out of order and I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm putting them in order! Ain't nobody got time for all that!!

Field Ops Day 3

Field Ops Day 2

Field Ops Day 2

Here are the updates from his CO:

Today we start the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) course by the Indiana Dept of Homeland Security and FEMA. We've been at the Indiana Search and Rescue Training Center on base since 0800. 

 A full day of CERT classroom training has ended. Tomorrow is hands on first aid training. Marching to chow now. Then to barracks to replenish camelbacks and hygeine before marching to a new Army HumVee driving simulator. Then a long march back to barracks and much needed showers and sleep. Your cadets becoming tougher, fitter and more educated!

Field Ops Day 1 Photos

Field Ops Day 1

The people who run Field Ops training set up a Facebook page so they can post pictures every day of what they do. I'm happy cause I get to see my Baby Bird (I'm sure he loves me calling him that) but it looks like he's having a BLAST! I'm so happy. You can tell he got his sea bag finally! At first he is definitely a fish out of water in his "civilian" clothes, but then he fits right in and makes it harder to tell which one is him, with all of them in the same clothes and with the same haircut! But, he wears a red and black survival bracelet on his right wrist, so you can tell that's him, and he's one of the shortest (for now). 

Lakeline Mall Play Time

I took the girls to the mall to just get out some, and there is a play area for littles that Elise LOVED playing in! She had the best time, even though it was way past nap time and she was so tired. We will have to go back soon so she can really get some good playtime in!

Camp Texlake

Another year of Camp Texlake! Regan looks forward to this camp every year, but I think this year, even more so. She finally aged out of the "no air conditioning" cabins, and this time we signed her up for horse camp! She was so excited to have a week of intensive horse camp.

After church we dropped the guys at home with Elise, put her down for her nap and then headed out to camp. It wasn't as hot as it usually is when we check in, so that was good! Got her bags checked, got her cabin assignment, and then she was ready for me to leave so she could get her horse on.

They posted pics on their website so I got a few good ones of her from the week. This is the camp she spends her cookie reward money on! They raised the price this year, most of the time she makes enough to pay for the whole thing herself, but she still paid $300 of it, so that's pretty good! A good return on those 1000+ cookies we sell!

Pfluger Park

First official day of summer! I left the kids home to clean their mess and I left to run "errands" (that's code for pedicure).  It worked out well except Riley mopped the whole house with Listerine! I came home and it smelled really weird and finally figured out what he did, and he had to redo it all with vinegar!  And it wasn't the minty fresh Listerine either, it was the medicinal yellow one.

Anyway, he has a "girlfriend" now and a group of friends wanted to meet up at the park, so I said if they did a good job getting the place cleaned up, I would take them. Also, he had to be okay with me staying with the girls. He said fine as long as I didn't follow him around. Wow, it's come to that now.

So, Regan and I walked Elise around and let her swing, she LOVED swinging! She was laughing the whole time. Then we walked around by the creek and Regan wanted a photo shoot, and then we went to get Dr. Pepper Icee's and head home for church.

Not a bad start to the summer!

Here's the video of Elise on the swings:

 

School's Out Pool Party

We had a fun pool party to celebrate school being out. We got together with all our neighbors and met at the pool. I picked up pizza and watermelon and we had leftover drinks from Regan's party and another mom brought a cookie cake, yum! We had a good time, we were there for like, 5 hours. Elise had fun swimming in her bee, and she sucked on some watermelon, and I brought a blanket and she just laid around after we got her good and worn out! She went to bed early! But I forgot to take pictures until we were walking out the door.

Camp Buckner!

I think church camp is just about the best thing ever! I loved it when I first brought kids to Camp Dry Gulch WAY back in the day, and I loved it even more when I could bring my own kids and drop them off, and see them come home changed, but this year, I was honored to be the 3rd grade girls camp counselor at Camp Buckner!

Riley left for camp on Sunday and came home Wednesday afternoon, and he really didn't want to go. He thinks he is too old and he's gone every year, but I have my spies out and they all said he had a great time and was a big help, so I know he enjoyed it!

Regan and I left Wednesday morning and came home on Saturday afternoon. This is Regan's last year for Kid's Camp, she was a "Purple Peep" and I was with the "Pink Polkadots!" It was so much fun. We had night services with games and contests, and we learned all about the armor of God, what each item was, the sign language for it, what it meant, etc. Worship was awesome, and I just love seeing all those little 2nd through 5th graders jumping up and down with their hands in the air praising God!

We would get up in the morning, head to breakfast, then chapel (after a little game of Ga Ga Ball) and then we had activities like swimming, water slides, crafts, concessions and movie, the kids were worn out by the time it was light's out at 10:30! The camp is really nice and peaceful and the cabins were clean (and cold!) and it was a blast.

I have to say though, the absolute best part of camp for me was when a little girl in our cabin, 8 years old, tells me she heard God speak to her for the first time, we had 5 girls give their lives to Jesus for the first time. We had awesome prayer time, praying for parents who are Muslim to get saved, and questions about why parents have to get divorced, and why did Jesus have to die on the cross. 8 year olds! I was amazed at their faith, and some of the things that they are going through at only 8 years old and I know that these kids are gonna be great leaders for Jesus, really, they already are! I just stood in worship at nights and cried watching these girls with their hands up, tears running down their little faces as they praised Jesus. What a sight! I know some people don't understand why I would want to go to camp or work with kids but when you see that, how can you not want to be a part of that?

And then, the next day at church, we had a baptism day, and I got to watch one of my little Pink Polkadots get baptized! I took pictures and cried, again. Another life changed by something as seemingly inconsequential as church camp.

Camp Buckner

Southwest Believer's Convention

David and I decided to attend the Southwest Believer's Convention this year, or as much of it as we could. We had talked about going for years but was never able to make it work but this year, we knew we had to be there. And it was awesome! We heard Jesse Duplantis (one of our personal favorites) Jerry Savelle, Kenneth Coupland, Keith Moore, Bill Winston, and Creflo Dollar. David bought the entire thing on USB and has been listening to it all again, it was that good!

Well, we brought the kids and kind of combined it into a mini-family vacation as well. It was in downtown Ft. Worth, so we got a nice hotel room with a pool so the kids got to swim and we took them on the 4th to the Ft. Worth Stockyards and watched the cattle drive, and let them get lost in the maze! That was fun, but it was so hot that day that Regan started getting a little overheated before she could find her way out of the maze.

We got to have our first (well, first for Regan and me) In and Out Burger! We liked it (but I'm partial to Austin's own P. Terry's). and we got to meet up with my dad and Cathy, and we had dinner with them one night with the kids, and went to Southlake to watch a fireworks display! It was fun, we walked around this little outdoor shopping center, with live bands and games for the kids, we watched the fireworks and listened to the music! Then the next night, we let the kids hang at the hotel and order Disney shows (unbeknown to us, $8 worth of Disney shows they could watch at home for free!) and we went to IHOP with Dad and Cathy and got to spend some time with them. It was a nice trip, and a welcome little mini-vacation!

Fort Worth

Lake Jacksonville

I'm way behind on updating the blog, I know, I've been so busy this summer, and now I'm going to try to catch up and there will be an onslaught of pictures to follow! Sorry! But school starts back in one week, so I should be better about keeping up then. The only problem then is, we aren't doing anything to keep up with!

Well, we decided to go see Nanny, Tang Tang, and Aunt Kathy and everyone in Jacksonville before Kenzie had the baby. She only had a small window where she could get away so we got up and out real early on Friday morning and were able to be in Jacksonville for lunch. It was so good to see everyone, it had been several years since I had seen my Nanny! I don't care how old you get, it's always good to see your Nanny!

We spent some time together and then went back to Trista and Chris's new house on the lake and got out on the boat and Riley got to brush up on his wakeboarding. He had a blast. Regan got to tube, we swam, it was really nice! We went back Saturday for an early lunch and Nanny and Tang Tang had to head back, so we went back to the lake for a while before we had to hit the road for home. It was a nice short weekend away, and nice to be around some water!

Lake Jacksonville

Lake Georgetown

Finally, it's the first day of summer break! Riley got out of school on the 30th, and Regan had to go until the 7th of June! It seemed to drag on forever...and ever...

So to celebrate the first official day of our summer break, I took the kids to Lake Georgetown. Twenty minutes away and they've never been, how bad is that?! But, it was overcast in the morning so the place was practically empty! There were only like, 5 other families there. So, they played in the rocks, buried Riley, had some snacks, got sunburned, overall, a great start to the summer!

Last Blast

The last week of school for Regan was mostly parties! She had a big Ecosystem project due and after that it was party, party, party! But on the last day of school, they had "Last Blast" and it was pretty fun. They had a zip line, hamster wheels, gyro machine, hot dogs, hamburgers, and a dunk tank! Regan even got to be dunked in the tank. Riley and I went up for the last hour or so, so I got a few pictures of her on the gyro, but she had already done most everything else. I was just glad it wasn't too hot that day, and glad that it was the last day of school!

Mrs. Ray! The best teacher ever!

Cousin Camp

After Regan's big Girl Scout weekend in Houston, I traded kids with my cousin Christina. Regan stayed in Houston for the week and Jeremiah came to Austin with me. We had a good time with him. He and Riley get along so well, and they played Xbox and computer games most of the week. When they weren't killing something, I took them to Jump Street (a new indoor trampoline place) where Jeremiah got to ride the mechanical bull! They spent one whole day at Austin's Park and Pizza (and I mean, the WHOLE day! Open to close, they were exhausted after that). We saw Cowboys & Aliens at the new dinner theater in Round Rock, and went swimming to beat the heat.

Then we went to Houston to switch back and spent the night down there. I sure missed Regan, the house was much quieter with her gone! But she had a great time too, and she wasn't even really ready to come home. I hope we can continue Cousin Camp every summer, the kids had such a great time. I know some of my fondest memories growing up were summers spent with my cousins!!

Jump Street

A new indoor fun place just opened up here. And of course, with our record heat that we've been having lately, indoors is the only place to be. So we took the kids to Jump Street to enjoy the wall to wall trampolines. There was also a mechanical bull, a foam pit, a giant slide (boring) and a giant maze. The kids loved it, except that it's only 2 hours. They could have stayed there all day. But here are some videos of the kids on the mechanical bull. Regan was hesitant at first but the guy promised her he would go slow, so she finally decided to try it. I think she did it maybe 3 times and fell on her face once and that was it, no more bull riding for her!

Vitality

Again, it's been a while since I've posted, but it's been a whirlwind!! I heard about this new company, ViSalus Sciences, they have a 90 Day Challenge weight loss program, and when I heard about it, I was on board. I signed up to start the 90 Day Challenge, and then flew to Orlando for a long weekend with some friends to go to the company's annual meeting. It was a blast and I was only feeling partly guilty as we danced till 3am, or had dinner at Margaritaville, and thought of David back home with the kids. Oh well...they lived! And I had a GREAT time, and just fell in love with this company and all it stands for. Right now I'm starting my 3rd week on the challenge (but not 3 full weeks since I've had other trips that have gotten in the way, more on that later!) Anyway, I've lost around 3 pounds, but the energy I have is amazing! I can't believe how much of a difference I felt just on day one. Anyway, here's a link if you want more information on it, watch the videos and let me know what you think!
www.visalus.crappell.net

(The picture is me, in the penthouse suite of the hotel, the founder of the company, Nick Sarnicola, invited our team up for a champagne toast before the Black and White Party! It was nice, and a nice view as a storm rolled into Orlando)

Summer Smash!

Tonight was the big summer smash kick off at church. There were inflatables for the youth, ice cream and popsicles for the kids, and we all had a great time. Riley brought Cody and they ran the obstacle course inflatable a hundred times I bet, and Regan had fun with her friend Caitlyn:


Then we prayed over the 5th graders and on Sunday they will officially be "Middle Schoolers!" And then prayed over Pastors Shawn and Amanda who are leaving as kids pastors and going to be the head pastors at our new South Austin campus. So, it was a bittersweet night. But, the kids had a blast with all that ice cream!

Austin Symphony

Austin Symphony Day

Regan's music teacher always organizes these music field trips for her class and her piano students. It sounded like fun, so I made Riley come too, and it was fun. The Symphony had cameras set up so you could see each instrument as it was being played, and they had an announcer come out at the beginning and introduce each instrument and have them play a little bit so you could hear what it sounded like.

That was the fun part, the timpani played a bit from Star Wars, and the bassoon played Katy Perry's "Firework". Anyway, the kids liked seeing all the instruments and hearing the individual sounds.

Then we had some time to kill before we headed to tutoring, so I thought I would share my obsession with Torchy's Tacos. They have some of the best tacos in town, sold out of a trailer, of course. Our tacos were super yummy, and we even had birds come to share our lunch with us. And just as we finished up, Holy Cacao was opening their trailer, so we got some yummy cake balls for dessert!

Then we went to the Barton Creek run off area, (the free part) and the kids got to play in the water. Regan had a change of clothes in the car, but Riley didn't, so he rolled up his jeans, and I think he tried not to get wet at first, but then slipped and fell flat on his butt, so that didn't last long. There are a lot of dogs there playing fetch and swimming around, so the kids loved that, they found an extra tennis ball and played fetch with this one cute older dog that would come right by them to shake, it was cute.

But, short lived, as we had to get to the other side of town for tutoring, but it was a nice break from school, and a fun packed day. My favorite kind.

Girl Scouts End of Year Party

Can't believe it's been another year. Most of these girls have been together since Kindergarten and now they're heading off to 4th grade! We had our annual end of year pool party at our co-leaders house and they gave me the coolest watch as a present for being a cookie mom this year! Our reward for selling so many cookies this year is a sleepover at NASA Space Center in Houston this summer, so we're looking forward to that!