50 Miles

Since school started, the scouts have been working on their Cycling Merit Badge.  Each Tuesday night a group of scouts, along with their scout master and Jim, would leave the scout hut at 6:45 and take to the streets of New Braunfels.  Each week the rides would get a little longer and the number of boys a little fewer.  Last Saturday (9/26), all the hard work culminated in the final ride of 50 miles!  The group rode from the scout hut in downtown New Braunfels to San Marcos and back. 

All the boys did a great job!  Here is Jacob crossing the pedestrian bridge on the way back and then (on the left) he's the first scout to arrive back at the scout hut!

After a long, hot ride...what could be better than taking a dip in the cool waters of the Comal River?!!

River Rats

In the summer, this area is a haven for tourists trying to beat the heat. Not only is New Braunfels home to Schlitterbahn Water Park, it is also home to the Comal River and part of the Guadalupe River. Each summer tourists flock to these rivers and go "toobing". No, I didn't spell that wrong...it's spelled like that on all the signs around here!

In late July, we finally took our first evening "toob" down the Comal. We started at the public entrance in Prince Solms Park, rode the tube chute and floated to the last public exit. We didn't go far, but it took 2 hours!! It was fun and the river on a Wednesday night wasn't crowded at all.

And He's Off...

...to middle school! A little nervous and a bit excited, Jacob mounted his bike this morning and was off to Oak Run Middle School. He left the house promptly at 8:00 for the mile long ride through our neighborhood and over the new bridge to the school. I'm sure he was there by the time I started writing this blog.

I don't know how this happened. I'm sure it wasn't that long ago that I was putting him on the bus that took him to Red Hill Elementary for his second day of kindergarten. Where did the time go???

Feasting at 41

Yep, I'm 41... I know, I'm shocked too!! This year I suggested to Jim that we have my birthday dinner at The Melting Pot (thank you Stephanie for the tip!). I figured he'd have to work all day and it would be a yummy night out. Little did I know that my whole day would be around food.
I know, scary picture!


Jim unexpectedly came home from work early and gifted me with a "bouquet" of fruit from Edible Arrangements...it was yummy! After a game of mini-golf on a hellishly hot day in the sun, we went for a late lunch at P.F. Changs. Being that it was late in the day we shared appetizers...chicken lettuce wraps, crispy green beans and steamed pork dumplings...yummo! After a little shopping and driving around (which I found out later was to kill time since we were close to our finally destination), we arrived at The Melting Pot.


For starters...

The nearly 2 1/2 hour feast began with a our choice of the traditional Swiss cheese fondue served with an assortment of breads, veggies and crispy apples. Our second course was a choice of salad...I went with my favorite, Caprese salad and Jim and Jacob both had Caesar.


Tasty second course...


For the main entree we chose the Fondue Fusion, which was an incredible selection of seasoned meats including lobster tail, shrimp, filet mignon, chicken, and pork and included mushrooms and fresh veggies. All of which we cooked in the Mojo Style (a Caribbean- seasoned bouillon with garlic and citrus. It was such a delicious combination!


Cooking away...


Our fourth and most sinful course was the chocolate fondue. We went with the Yin & Yang...a half dark chocolate and half white chocolate served with strawberries, bananas, cheese cake, marshmallows (that was interesting), brownies, pound cake and rice krispies treats!!!!


Perfect finish...


We all over indulged, but it was such a wonderful feast that restraint was impossible!

Weekend Getaway...

Feeling the end of summer closing in on us, we decided to get out of town for a couple of days last weekend (8/7-8/9) and take a mini-vacation to Houston. We drove down Friday night and stopped at one of our favorite places for wings (Wild Wing Cafe, which we had in SC, but not in our part of TX). Jacob has a "rule" that when we are on vacation, we can't eat in places that we have locally.

Saturday morning after a breakfast of Kolaches and Jamba Juice, we headed to Space Center Houston. This truly was a day for "the boys". I mean really, could there be a nerdier place than NASA?

I'm not sure who knew more about the things we were looking at, but I think Jim may have had a slight edge.

Of course, what could be better than the whole family touching a piece of the moon?

After leaving the Space Center, we headed to Kemah Boardwalk on Galveston Bay. It was a busy and steamy Saturday night at the boardwalk, but we had a great time riding the rides and had an awesome dinner at Landry's Seafood.

Before dinner, we talked Jacob into getting on the Boardwalk Bullet and he over came his fear and then rode a second time!! It was fun and fast for a wooden coaster! By the end of the day we were all exhausted.

yes, the boys are somewhere on there!

We all slept in on Sunday and woke up to rain; however, it played right into our plans of visiting the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

What a great place!! We even purchased a family membership, so we can visit again and again. While there we had the pleasure of seeing a special exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors from China. It was amazing. Learning the history of why they were built, how they were found and seeing the detail of the pieces...it was just incredible!

We couldn't take pictures of the real exhibit, so this is a replica.

We fit in so much fun, in such a short period of time that it felt like we were gone much longer. Texas is proving to be a great state for weekend getaways!

Tenderfoot No More

We missed the family reunion this year to allow Jacob the opportunity to attend his first Boy Scout summer camp at Bear Creek. Tuesday night, Jacob was awarded his Second Class rank in scouting. This is the second step on the path to becoming an Eagle Scout, which right now is his goal. He worked hard in the 100 plus degree Texas heat and he made good use of his time by also earning his first three Boy Scout merit badges...Swimming, Fishing and Leatherworks. From what we understand, camp also gave him a jump start on his next rank, First Class. We are so proud of him! He came back from camp this year exhausted and dirty, but also with his head held a little higher and a clear difference in maturity. Oh yes, and he had campfire stories to tell!

Meet Spike

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Spike is a resident of our backyard. We discovered he is a Texas Spiny Lizard. We don't know if he has any friends and we don't know if he is a he, but we usually see him perched on the tree. One day Jacob and the lawn mower had him scurrying across the yard. Spike is quite photogenic and he seems to enjoy the buffet.