New Braunfels Trip - Part 2 - Gruene & Natural Bridge Caverns

So after a beautiful day swimming, riding boats & choo choo trains, going down the watersides, and playing on the playground, we went to the hotel and cleaned up and headed to the historic town of Gruene (pronounced Green). The town was founded in the 1840's on the river and is home to one of the oldest dance halls in Texas (Gruene Hall), the Gristmill River Restaurant (an old cotton gin founded in 1878 that sits no the river), historic shops, bed & breakfasts, and a few bars.

We ate dinner on one of the many big patios of the Gristmill. The food was great and the company even better, the margaritas weren't too bad either. Uncle Russell even spoiled the kids with a hot fudge sundae at the end of dinner. After dinner, we looked around some of the historic shops, then had a nice time at The Grapevine. It was a nice wine "bar", I use the term "bar" lightly because it's a wine tasting room, but the outside is picnic tables under the trees. Matt, Russell, an Lara got wine while I got a wine-a-rita (margarita made with wine instead of tequila.) Katherine even made a friend and play with her in the wine garden.

Here are some pics from that night.. keep reading below to find out about us exploring the cave!

Cousins

Yummy

Colin dancing outside of Gruene Hall to the live music

Uncle Russell, Kannon, and Katherine at the Wine Garden

Kids love hotel beds WAY more than their own.

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast, the went to Natural Bridge Caverns. We played outside on the dinosaur exhibit, then did the Illuminations Tour. The tour went 1/3 mile down into the cavern going through two very large underground chambers. When you first get in, they turn off all the lights in the cave so you can experience the total darkness. They then bring up certain lights at a time, highlighting rare formations and showing the dramatic setting of a cave. At the end of the tour, we sat in one of the caverns and they did total darkness again, for about 5-8 minutes. Katherine did a great job, Colin got anxious halfway through, he kept turning to me saying "lights on, lights on!". Kannon stole the show from the tour guide, while she was explaining about the different formation, he was blowing bubbles loudly with his mouth, the rest of the tour thought it was too cute. At the end, we got to take a group photo of all of us in the cave.

After the tour, it was time to get back on the road and head for home. It was a great trip even though it was short, we got to do a lot in a day & half. I am so glad everyone else got to go with us this year. As soon as we got back Katherine & Colin asked when are we going back.. A sign of a great trip!. Katherine said her favorite part was swimming with Turner, Colin said his was the boat and choo-choo. Everyday this week Colin has told me…" Mamma, I go boat, choo-choo again, I go boat choo-choo again"! I told him soon, maybe we can go back before the summer is over.

Colin kicked Kannon out of his carrier.. silly Colin!

New Braunfels Trip - Part 1 - Landa Park

We had such a great trip to New Braunfels this weekend, so great that I am splitting it into 2 post. We had such a fun filled two days, everyone really enjoyed themselves. It was a much needed trip. We had good luck with the weather, it was a little hot, but not as hot as it has been. I have so many pictures, will not be able to post all 112 of them :) What can I say, I like taking pictures, so here are just SOME highlights!

Saturday morning we left the house at 6:30am with the kids in tow and the car packed for Landa Park. It is a beautiful city park on the river with spring fed swimming pools, water slides, picnic areas, playgrounds, train ride, and paddle boats. My brother and his family were able to join us and so was Matt's friend and his son who is close to Katherine's age. It was great to spend quality time all together.

Katherine loved swimming in both pools and going down the smallest slide, she had no desire to go down the bigger blue slide. On the other hand, Colin loved the blue slide, the two of us went down it about 12 times. Each time we got off, he would look at me with a big grin and say "AGAIN"! Colin liked the choo-choo and both kids loved the paddle boat.

On the beginning of the road trip, Buc-ees is a large gas station\store, Katherine just had to have her picture with Buc-ee!Wee.. down the water slide we go!Matt and Colin ready to go swimming!Katherine playing in the pool fed with water from the Comal River, which stays a constant 72 degrees.Uncle Russell and Colin having their picnic lunch by the water. Colin is saying "CHEEESSEEEAnother slide, smaller, but just as fun!Ready for the choo-choo ride. The train goes all through the park and along the river Kannon's first train ride!Katherine HAD to sit next to Turner!

What a beautiful day, beautiful park, and wonderful family time!Colin is oh so ready for his boat ride!Colin decided he needed to be the captain, not just a passenger!Katherine enjoying her ride while daddy and Tim paddled them around.View from the paddle boats

Next post will cover our evening in historic Gruene, TX and our trip to Natural Bridge Caverns.

Kemah and Family Visit

The picture above was from Chuck-E-Cheese last weekend, isn't so cute!

This weekend my aunt came in from Phoenix for short but very nice visit. We had fixed a nice dinner Friday night and had my brother over. Saturday we got up and took her to the Kemah Boardwalk where they have shops, carnival rides & games, restaurants, and there was a Camero car show going on. We had fun walking into the shops and of course the kids had to play the carnival games, which we came home with two new family members. After a few hours it was getting pretty hot, so we went back home and played in the sprinkler. Then it was time to take my aunt back to the airport. It was very nice to get to spend sometime with her even if it was just a day and half.
Sunday we hung around the house and steam cleaned the carpets.. I know you are envious of that! But it had to be done, between two kids and a dog & cat, the carpets needed a little refreshing. Plus Houston was at over 100 degrees, so we needed to stay inside for the day anyways…yep the summer heat came early this year, aren't we all so excited about that. We had movie night a few nights with popcorn and our new guests, the kids LOVE it, and fight over it!
This week Katherine started the summer camp at school. Since she graduated from pre-school, she is in the "big kid after-schooler" room. They have activites everyday and go on fieldtrips every Thursday. This month they are going to a gymnastics place, Kemah, Wildlife Nature Preserve, and the movies. Colin's class has activites too, today was waterslide day for the whole school, so they had to bring their bathing suits and towels. I know my kids had a blast at that, yesterday was pizza day from Little Ceasers… yummy.
This weekend we are going with my brother and his family to New Braunfuls to swim on the river and cool off from the Texas Heat. You know I am going to have LOTA of pictures for you next week! Summer has officially started and with as hot as it has got already, we are breaking record temps right and left, I imagine you will find us at the pool or beach on the weekends. But looking forward to it, as hot as it is, I am a southern girl and I like it, no thanks to cold places that snow.

Having fun with the remote control boats even though the boats are missing :)In "Jail" on the boardwalk
Snuggled up on movie night

Katherine's Pre-K Graduation, Cat Springs, and Beach Day

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. This post has LOTS of pictures, we did so many fun things, had to include them all. I was off for 4 whole days :) Friday I took off for Katherine's Pre-K graduation. That morning, I took Mocha to the vet and then went and got a massage (my Valentine's present from Matt). Then off to graduation. They put on such a cute show. Katherine had a speaking part where she had to recite a bible verse. She did so good, all that practicing at home paid off. They sang songs they learned in school and got diplomas. I am so proud of her, I even felt myself getting a little sappy realizing my baby girl is growing up so fast. Now it's off to Kindergarten, I know she will do great. After the ceremony, I gave her the choice of the Ice Cream Shop or Barnes & Nobles, she choose the bookstore. So we went and got a new Barbie book and brownies from the Starbucks. Where did the years go? Saturday morning we got up and went to an early birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. The kids of course had a blast. I even hit the jackpot on one of the games and won 250 tickets. Katherine was very kind in sharing her tokens with her friends. They were both a little upset when it was time to go. But we had another party to get to. We then packed up the car and drove about an hour away to Cat Springs, TX. Matt's family was having a family reunion at a relative's property out there. It is such a pretty place. They have a nice size pond on the property to go swimming, fishing, or canoeing on. Colin loved riding on the big tractor with Uncle Brian, or having his cousins drive him around on the golf cart, and having Katherine drive him around on the toy tractor. Katherine loved playing with all the toys, driving the tractor around, fishing & passing out the worms, and playing with a new friend she made. The kids played and played for 6 hours, they had such a great time. They had so much good food. At about 7:30 that night we put the kids in the car for our hour drive home, they were both passed out the entire way, they were both exhausted from such a fun filled day.
Sunday morning we got up and decided to head down to the beach for a few hours. It's not Memorial Day weekend without the beach. We got down there early, about 9:30am before it got crowded. The kids ALWAYS love to go to the beach. They had a great time playing in the water, sand, and having a picnic on the beach. We left about 1:30pm, it was getting crowded by then. It was a nice and relaxing time to soak up some sun (a little too much on my back) and play with the kids. That afternoon we just relaxed around the house and watched a movie. Monday we took the kids over to Matt's parents while we went to see Hangover 2 and go out to lunch for our wedding anniversary. I kind of felt the whole weekend was such a great time, Monday we just wanted it to be low key and the two of us. It was a funny movie, definitely not one to watch with kids :0. We had a fun FILLED Memorial Day weekend.. I didn't want to go back to work. I really enjoyed being with my family and enjoying time away going on our little day trips.