Texas Andersons

We had a week filled with Halloween-themed activities… Cub Scouts party on Tuesday, storytime on Wednesday, music class yesterday, and portraits and trick-or-treating today.

The Cub Scouts party was a fun evening of games, music, and candy.  Both boys had a great time enjoying the activities.  And while Ben was excited about the two cupcakes he won in the cake walk… Evan was excited just by the music they were playing for the game (he’s easy to please!).

And Evan’s storytime was fun.  Ms. Joyce had Halloween books, songs, and activities for the kids.  And she even had them do a quick costume parade through the library!  I couldn’t believe how well Evan played follow-the-leader while shaking his instrument to be a part of the band.  Go Evan!

I spent most of today photographing dozens of cute kids in their darling costumes for Shutter-Happy.  Then we headed out to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood.  Everyone loved the boys’ monkey and safari hunter costumes.  They had a great time visiting with neighbors and friends.  And they brought home a ton of candy.  We think Evan LOVED Halloween!

It was a frenzy of fall fun this weekend!  Larry and Debbie came into town to stay with us and enjoy their grandsons so we headed out to watch Ben’s game on Saturday morning, spent the day at Enchanted Spring Ranch’s Wild West Days, spent some time on our new lot, and enjoyed Fabra’s hay maze event.

Enchanted Springs Ranch was a blast!  The boys got to pet all kinds of animals; we toured the ranch on a tractor ride; we had lunch in a saloon.  The neatest thing?  Ben participated in the calf scramble, chasing after a handful of calves, trying to pull the pink ribbons of their tails.  Too funny!

And Fabra’s hay maze event was so much fun!  Ben and Evan loved running around the maze, playing on the playset, riding the barrel train, and jumping in the bounce houses.  They had so much fun, in fact, that it was hard to tear them away even though we were some of the last ones there as they were closing down.

I love fall! 

We signed the paperwork on our “little piece of heaven” today!  We now own seven acres in River Mountain Ranch!

The first third of the lot is nice and flat, with a perfect place for our future house, with lots of trees to block the sights and sounds of the road.  The lot then slopes down to the middle third, which is a great flat spot for a big, beautiful backyard.  And it has several clumps of oak trees for shade and tire swings!  And the last third has trees and rocks, perfect for exploring (and perfect for the deer feeder my dad has already purchased!).

Now, we won’t have the money to build for a couple of years.  But we can head out there any time to hang out on our lot or enjoy their parks, which have access to the Guadalupe River.  So guess what we’ll be inviting you all to do this summer?  Camping, picnicing, and tubing!  (oh my!)

Give me land, lots of land, lots of beautiful land.  Don’t fence me in! 

PS- Anyone ready to start clearing cedar, cactus, and rocks?

While I did spend my birthday week under piles and piles of work, we did have lots of fun…

Wednesday, my parents stopped by to drop off a birthday cupcake and to pick up Evan for a few days!  And when Nathan got home, we drove out to the lot in River Mountain Ranch.  We took a look at the new boundary markers that had just been put up, found the acreage to be the exact shape and size we were thinking, threw down six pounds of bluebonnet seeds in the field, and decided to move forward with the purchase!

Friday, Ben and I got to meet up with our Cub Scout pack to take a tour of the Boerne police station.  The boys were all overly excited to see their guns, handcuffs, and other equipment.  And they had a blast getting to sit in the patrol car!

Ben had another soccer game on Saturday.  Then he and Nathan got to enjoy the Halloween event in the plaza.  Then we got to spend the rest of the beautiful day out in the backyard (I even got to mow!).

And Sunday was another gorgeous day, so we headed out to Medina for the Love Creek Orchard.  Evan loved the hay maze (he ran the aisles over and over again, squealing the whole time!).  We also toured the orchard on the hay ride, listened to the band, and enjoyed a caramel apple.  Both boys took a pony ride.  And both really enjoyed the petting zoo (I think Ben could have held a chick all day).

Friday was Ben’s school’s Walk-a-Thon.
The bad- It was pouring at start time.
The good- We played it by ear; took Evan to music class instead; wasted time until the rain stopped.  And it turned out to be a great event!  Ben walked 19 laps (9 more than last year).

Saturday was the start of our beach vacation.
The bad- It was cold!
The good- We flipped our schedule and went to visit my grandparents instead.  We had a wonderful time getting to hang out with them and letting Ben drive the golf cart.

Sunday was supposed to be another beach day.
The bad- Rain all day!
The good- We spent a few hours at the aquarium, toured the town, got to ride the ferry (and saw dolphins), and had dinner at The Big Fisherman.  The boys had a blast taking in the fun day.

And Monday was our last chance to head to the beach before we had to come back home.
The bad- jelly fish… everywhere!
The good- We found an isolated cove with not a single jelly fish in sight, and had the whole place to ourselves.  It was so nice to have beach time!

So… we found the joy in going with the flow, the reward of patience, and the surprise of spontaneity.  The lesson taught to our kids- When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!  Mmmmm…..

Ben’s had a couple of neat Cub Scouts meetings lately.  One, many of the boys received recognitions for things that they’ve accomplished during this first month.  Ben earned quite a few beads to hang on his uniform to show that he had completed many tasks with us as a family and with his troop.  And the last meeting we went on a fossil hunt along a creek bed at one of the boys’ houses.  We all had a great hike, and Ben came home with a handful of treasures.

He’s also had his first two soccer games this season (they’re the Red Scorpions this time around).  The first one felt lopsided for most of the game, but they quickly made several goals and only lost by one.  The second was a very even match the whole game, with the boys all playing really well.

Last weekend… Ben had an early release day from school Friday, so we headed out to a picnic that Nathan’s department put on for everyone.  Then, Saturday was Morgan’s birthday party.  With a luau theme, the kids had a great time playing on the YMCA playground, jumping in the jumping castle, and doing the limbo!  Nathan and Evan got to enjoy a day of swimming and camping at Garner with my parents while Ben and I stayed home for a quiet weekend and to walk around the neighborhood to sell popcorn for Cub Scouts.

This past weekend… I drove up to Austin for a Dream Dinners session.  And we spent  Sunday with my parents walking lots out in River Mountain Ranch.  We’re getting closer and closer to our perfect little place in the country! 

And the weather (oh! welcome, fall)… A couple weeks ago we had a good rain come through with a cold front, allowing us to leave the windows open for several refreshing days.  Then we had more rain this past weekend.  And not only was it just in time to water and pamper all the wildflower seeds I spread a few days ago, but it was also enough to finally send the creek right over the dam along River Road.  Yay!  (that may sound lame, but that is SO exciting!)