Poetry from the Boys

Pandas

by Eli

Pandas are fluffy

And very, very big

Nibbling on bamboo

Dreaming in the sun too

Amazing pandas

Wildfire

by Peter

Wildfire

hot, huge

burning, destroying, killing

A wildfire leaves whole forests charred and black.

Blaze

Zeppelin

by Lincoln

Have you ever been in a zeppelin?

If you have you'll know it's fun.

If you haven't, come on in!

We'll soar up high with the sun.

We'll zip and zoom high in the air.

The height we'll get to is way

higher than the wheels at the fair!

I hope that you can stay.

If you can't stay,

it's a bummer.

But there's a way:

you can do it this summer!

Until you come back, I say goodbye,

I really want to pilot you, but I'll let it slide.

Please come back, because I'm a nice guy, 

and all I want to do is give you a ride.

Beach Day

Between trips for work and obligations at church, we weren't able to squeeze in a proper family vacation this year.  So last night, we had a family council and decided that we had earned a beach day.  

We quickly loaded up the body boards and beach gear and headed down to Corpus Christi for the day.

We ended up at Mustang Island and it turned out to be a beautiful day!  The surf was just right for the kids (not too big!)

And we pretty much had the beach to ourselves, with just a couple of other families farther down the island.

Everyone gave the body boards a try - with a little help from Andrew to make sure they caught the wave.

We perfected our summer tans...

And when the surf started to die down, we settled in to make a few sandcastles before heading home.

Lovely!

Pioneer Day Breakfast

Our ward had an activity this morning to commemorate Pioneer Day.

It's always a great excuse to hang out with friends

Eat yummy food

Climb some trees

and play a few games

We also got to hear some great stories about how members of the Church played a big role in 

establishing and strengthening settlements here in the hill country of Texas.

A great way to spend the morning!

Wildflower Center

One of our Summer Checklist items was the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Most of the popular wildflowers have already faded by this time of summer, but there are still lots of them around... especially the butterfly favorites.

The Center has added a new section since the last time we came - the Family Garden.

It has a wandering stream that ends in a waterfall and a cave.

Exercise equipment that my kids seemed to think was playground equipment

Tree stumps to climb on and build forts around

And huge bird's nests - with giant wooden eggs!

We spent a lot of time playing in this area, but made sure to leave some time for our favorite...

the tree swings!

Superhero Training Camp

 Our city library system always comes up with fun summer programs for the kids.

The favorite this year was the Superhero Training Camp.

Since my kids are really into superheroes right now, they loved getting to make up their own alter-egos!

Batman

Invisible Man

Not so strong Man

Cat woman