Off to Corpus Christi

Ever since moving to San Antonio, we've been excited about getting down to Corpus Christi to see where Katie's parents survived hurricane Celia in 1970 (still talked about today by both her family AND most of Texas as it was the last hurricane to date to directly hit Corpus Christi).  While Katie's dad was in the Navy he was stationed in Corpus Christi and her parents spent their first few years of marriage there.  So, on the last Friday in April we loaded the kids in the car and made the 3 hour trek down Texas to the Gulf of Mexico.  In case you were wondering....there is NOTHING between San Antonio and Corpus Christi.  After 2 dozen "are we there yet?"s and a few "I'm hungry"s (...the girls and Katie complained a little too...), we finally arrived.

We were able to stay right on the beach but the wind was so bad most of the weekend that we didn't get to enjoy the beach until Sunday morning before checking out.

Our first stop was to visit the USS Lexington.  This was an aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 1943 and decommissioned in 1991.  Tokyo Rose nicknamed this ship "The Blue Ghost" because on 4 different occasions the Japanese reported that it had been sunk.  When my parents were living in Corpus Christi the Navy would periodically bring the ship into the bay for Navy pilots to practice landing.  My dad always wanted to go aboard but the only way on was to ride with one of the practice pilots.  Since it was not uncommon for them to miss the ship and crash, Dad wisely decided it was not worth the risk!

We spent over 3 hours touring the ship and the older 2 girls were disappointed when it was time to go!! They had so much fun exploring all the various decks and learning about the ship.  We were pleasantly surprised at their interest!  We took too many pictures to post so here are just a few:

Girls manning the guns

F-14 Tomcat

F-18 Hornet

Abbie has had it with the big sisters...."you're going in the brig!"

"Off we go, into the wild blue yonder..."

Britta takes it all in from the comfort of the stroller

 After our tour of USS Lexington, we decided to drive around Corpus and ended up taking a Ferry boat to Port Aransas.  The girls were very excited that our car could ride on a boat!!

Sadly, I did not get any other pictures of our visit.  We were able to explore the Navy base a bit as well as Mustang Island.  We were hoping to get more time playing in the sand but it was too windy and many of the beaches were a bit disappointing....very smelly and full of lots of washed up rotting seaweed.  We do feel there is enough to explore to warrant a return trip so stay tuned!!

**When we finally began our trip back home, we got a flat tire about 30 miles north of Corpus Christi.  It was 5:00 pm on a Sunday night!  Thankfully, Wal-Mart automotive was still open and so we were able to walk around Wal-Mart with the kids while we waited for our tire to be repaired.  3 hours later and we were back on the road and headed for home. 

Uncle Phil and Aunt Rachel visit Texas!

We were SO delighted to have Paul's younger sister Rachel and her husband Phil visit for Easter this year.  We had such a wonderful time with them and the week went much too fast!! They say a picture is worth 1000 words which is good because I have had a really hard time narrowing down the fun photos we have from their visit! Here are some photo highlights:

Rachel and girls at the Lackland AFB Open Air Museum

Uncle Phil with girls on an old time buggy

Out at the Flying L ranch we discover something new about Uncle Phil.....He is an ARCHER!

Uncle Phil helping Emily with her bow-n-arrow skills

...and now Libby

Next is Abigail!

Aunt Rachel is a mean shot as well!!

Libby and Emily decide it is time for this Irishman to go to jail!

The girls and some old time Texas cowboys

Emily gets roping lessons

Papa ropes a steer....er....um....hay bale

Rachel ropes a Libby

Paul gets a roping lesson

The girls try on some cowgirl gear

Time to ride the chuck wagon

Uncle Phil (being the history teacher that he is) shows the girls how a gallows works

Never trust an Irishman!

Happy Easter!

So sweet!

Uncle Phil chillaxing with the girls and watching "Shaun the Sheep"

All too soon it is time to say "good-bye"

As you can see, it was a great visit full of fantastic memories!  COME AGAIN SOON :)

Strawberry Picking

April in Texas Hill Country means good strawberry picking!!  Our dear friends (The Lee Family) invited us on a strawberry picking expedition complete with a stop at an old school house on the way out to the farm. 

The girls and some of the Lee children at old school house

Abbie and Mom picking berries

Abbie and Benjamin hugging :)

2 large boxes filled with berries

We were able to make 12 jars of freezer jam and a couple of strawberry pies along with some delicious strawberry shortcake!

Mumsie to the rescue!!

Paul's mom (affectionately called "Mumsie" by her grandkids) came for a visit the end of March.  Woefully, most of the pictures we took are on her camera and so the pictures we have do not even begin to cover this great visit and all the help she provided!!  We enjoyed a week filled with park trips, swimming lessons, movie watching, laundry help, car cleaning, and (drum roll please) FREE BABYSITTING!!  The blog postable pictures don't do this visit justice but rest assured it was a wonderful week of memory making and a much appreciated extra set of helping hands!! THANK YOU MUMSIE!!!

Mumsie picnicking at the park with some homeschool moms



Britta smiling at Mumsie while she pushes her in the swing



Mumsie watching the girls at swimming lessons

She may not appreciate my posting this one (forgive me) but this sweet picture shows how we wore her out and definitely appreciated having her extra set of helping hands all week! 

Chaplain Min comes for a visit

March also brought the treat of a visit from the Army Chaplain Paul served with in Iraq.  Chaplain Min had some training to do in San Antonio and therefore was able to join our family one day for church and then dinner at our house.  What a blessing this visit was!! It gave Paul and the Chaplain a chance to connect stateside after many months deployed together AND it gave me a chance to meet someone I had heard so very much about. 

Paul and Chaplain Min

I wasn't able to find a good picture of Chaplain Min and Paul together while on deployment but these will be fun for you to see nonetheless:

Chaplain Min celebrating Christmas with Paul & his platoon of medics

Paul (by American Flag) and platoon of medics

Stockings were hung on the ambulance for lack of a chimney

Just a brief glimpse into their deployment life together.  Both Paul and Chaplain Min have repeatedly stated how thankful they are that God ordained the two of them to be deployed together. 

About time for some updates.......

Goodness me...it has been over a month.  Buckle up (or skip ahead), we have lots to cover :) As I wade through the pictures snapped & events that have taken place....it looks like we need to start with the Colonial Birthday party!  Here goes:

I know I've said this before but, one of the beauitful things about moving to San Antonio has been the wonderful community of homeschoolers we have been able to join!  One dear homeschooling family has girls the same age as Libby and Emily and they too have been studying Colonial USA in their history lessons this year.  Their eldest daughter Joy had a birthday the end of March and wanted to do a Colonial themed party.  My sewing skills were put to the test and my March evenings were filled with making skirts, mop hats, and scarves for the girls to wear to the party.  There was soap carving, sack races, a Boston Tea Party, rag doll sewing, and a chance to make pomander balls (apples covered in cloves).  Needless to say, we all had a great time!

Emily helping with the Boston Tea Party

Birthday Girl Joy and her Colonial Flag Cake

Did Abbie like the cake?....Oh YES she did!!