We spent the past 9 days in New Braunfels visiting Grammy and Poppy. We drove down last Thursday, July 3rd. The drive was quite "interesting," to put it nicely, with Ashlyn asking 30 minutes into the 4 hour drive, "How much longer?" and Avery having played with every toy in the 2 bags full of toys I packed before we were half way there. We stopped at Baylor in Waco, my alma mater, to see the real live bears. The loooong drive for the girls was well worth it though; we had a great week!
We stopped in Round Rock to see Mag and Ross' new home. Abbie had fun showing us her cute tea cup bedroom and cool playroom. Then we went to her 1st ballet class to watch the budding ballerina. Afterwards we traveled on to New Braunfels. Ashlyn and Avery immediately wore Poppy out by taking turn after turn being pushed in the swing hanging from on
e of the many huge trees in the yard. We had dinner that evening at the local, hole-in-the-wall, but reliable Mexican restaurant. We frequent this restaurant while visiting because there usually isn't a wait and it is very casual (most important) and secondly the food is good. Anyone with kids knows these things are important when you have tired, hungry kids who like to be loud and often make messes (ie: Ashlyn spilled her entire cup of milk all over the table, Grammy and floor while we were there). They also have quite an interesting and extensive menu (Chris ordered a steak which was quite tasty and tender; also on the menu is a whole fish-scales and tail included, which no one has been brave enough to order yet).
On July 4th the girls took advantage of Grammy and Poppy's big yard and all the outdoor toys and fun. The girls once again wanted to swing and swing and swing and somehow convinced Grammy and Poppy to take turns pushing each of them. We went to the feed store to buy food for the "wild" rabbits and birds (although one rabbit came right up to Ashlyn when she shook the bowl of food). Then we went and had barbecue at Rudy's-delicious! You can't celebrate July 4th without BBQ! When we got home to Grammy and Poppy's, Poppy filled up with water the big kiddie pool with slide and the girls (Ashlyn, Avery & Abbie) played in the pool while mom (Grammy), Mag and I snuck off to do a little shopping. Chris and Poppy graciously stayed behind to entertain the kiddos. This was a 'no brainer' decision for Poppy since he would rather have a root canal done than go shopping (I'm not making this up-he has actually told me this) but Chris took a little more convincing as he is more of a shopper than I am. Later we watched fire works. We had the best seats... we just walked out the front door of the house, a little ways down the street and plopped down in our lawn chairs which were practically in the middle of the street and had a perfect view. Ashlyn loved the fire works; Avery on the other hand was a bit torn... the loud noise caused her to want to bury her head in my shoulder but she would peep up and look over her shoulder with one eye to see the beautiful colors and sights.
On Saturday we planned to spend the afternoon at the lake on the boat. However it rained early in the afternoon. We were able to still drive out to the lake and enjoy dinner on the outside patio of the restaurant on the lake. There was live music which the girls enjoyed dancing to and entertained the other dining guests. The band even played songs for the girls, such as Old MacDonald Had a Farm, which they sang along to.
Sunday was a fun-filled day. We started off tubing the Guadalupe River in the late morning. Once again the rain interrupted our plans. The rain only lasted a short while but left the sky overcast. We had fun tubing but the one word I'd use to describe the experience would be BRRRR! Boy were we freezing! The water stays cool coming from the Comal River so without the hot sun our bodies took a shock as we entered the river and sat down into our tubes. There were a few rapids that were exciting, especially to Ashlyn (she kept calling them rafts), that got our adrenaline pumping as we tried to maneuver the rocks and obstacles. Ashlyn loved every second of it and was yelling out "Whoo-hoo, lets do it again." While going over one rapid, Chris somehow was "captured" by a giant rock that he had to work to free himself from. I'll admit it was a bit humorous to us, maybe not so much to him. We took lunch with us in a cooler down the river but were too cold to get out and picnic along the 2 hour ride. I was afraid if I got out of the water I couldn't convince myself to crazily get back in the frigid temperatures! Avery rode in a tube with me and Ashlyn had her own tube. We all tied our tubes to one another to stay together. I was able to keep Avery mostly out of the water while on my lap. Surprisingly she fell asleep shortly after we started- I think she decided she would go to sleep to put herself out of the misery of the cold. Later that afternoon we went to Lily's 2nd birthday party (my parents' neighbors who recently moved to a home directly on the river). The kids had fun playing games, eating (the food was delicious: how about that steak Chris, or was that pork? ha, ha!) and riding on a platform boat. Lily's dad let the kids take turns "driving" the boat. Avery had a blast driving and the hum of 
the boat must have been quite relaxing to her since she feel asleep while at the wheel. Good thing the co-captain was paying attention! Ashlyn thought she was grand while at the wheel and especially took pleasure in tooting the horn on the boat. I think what brought her the most enjoyment was irritating Preston, Lily's 5 yr old brother, each time she tooted it. The day was all fun and games but we had a breath-stopping scare. There was a 2 level deck with stairs leading to the top where everyone was hanging out and the food was being served. While standing at the top of the steep, wooded stairs Ashlyn was bumped (by accident or purpose we aren't sure) by Preston and she took a tumble down the entire length of the stairs. Chris and I both saw the whole thing happen from behind, and what a gut-wrenching feeling to watch your little girl in a dangerous situation and to be able to do nothing but watch from a distance. God was watching over Ashlyn at that moment because miraculously she walked away with nothing but a black and blue bruise on her left hip.
For some reason I can't quite remember the details of what we did on Monday. It must be due to the lack of sleep I got while there. We stayed up late each night plus Avery refused to sleep in her pack 'n play. Which means she slept with me! She was a restless sleeper moving all over the bed. I'm a light sleeper which means I woke up every time she turned over, rolled over up next to me or rolled to the VERY edge of the bed... well, I use the term "bed" loosely- not bed, 
but air mattress. The mattress was actually fairly comfortable, however I am use to a totally comfortable, best ever bed at home. What made Avery's restlessness so disturbing was the noise the plastic mattress made as it moved against the hardwood floors. That's what caused my sleeplessness which leads to my forgetfulness of the details of Monday. Chris also left to go back home on Monday which meant 'double the trouble' (I say that jokingly, but with some truthfulness) for me with the girls for the rest of the week. ...Oh, how could I forget? Monday evening, after it cooled off, we went out on Poppy's boat. Ashlyn and Abbie fished, but didn't catch anything. Their version of fishing is... having one hand on the fishing rod while eating chips with the other and giving their bobber an occasional glance. Poppy let them practice their driving skills they learned earlier in the week. Avery made sure she got a turn in the captain's chair and was not going to let us forget her! 
On Tuesday Stephanie arrived with Payton and Hudson, so now all the grand kids were together. Mag and Abbie had been staying at Grammy and Poppy's since July 4th as well. We drove to Austin Tuesday evening (after the rain stopped, AGAIN!). We went to dinner- ALL the kids (a bit chaotic but Ste
ph came to the rescue with her bag of candy which did a great job; some times you just do what you have to do...). Then we went and saw the bats come out from under the bridge at dusk. As we arrived we could not yet see any bats, however we could hear what seemed to be millions of them and even more noticeable was the smell- or should I say- odor. Ashlyn would not sit on the damp grass (from the rain earlier) because she thought the grass was wet from bat pee. It was hilarious! It was quite amazing to see the black swarm of endless bats leave there habitat under the bridge to go feed.
On Wednesday we took the kiddos to Schlitterbahn water park. It was a hit for our dare devil, Ashlyn. She would have ridden any ride there, I think. We stayed in the kiddie area which also had some nearby larger slides. Ashlyn spotted them immediately and asked repeatedly to ride them. She and I, along with Abbie and Mag, rode a slide called something like Blastoff which dumped us swiftly into the lazy river, pulling us under the water forcefully enough to cause my sunglasses to fly off my face and my sun visor to vanish from my head. As this was happening I was a bit panicked about being able to get myself as well as Ashlyn to the surface of the water quickly while in this fast rushing water. But as soon as we came up and into the calmer water Ashlyn was ready to go again. Avery loved the kiddie area where the water was just up to her knees. She liked sliding down the small water slides and experimenting with floating in her life jacket. As she discovered she could float, she would squat down in the water, bring her knees to her chest and briefly float. On most attempts she was able to get her feet back down to the ground before tobbling over. But, when not quick enough getting her feet down the life jacket would cause her to float face down in the water. She found this rather amusing... I on the other hand did not as I could not take my eye off of her since I had to grab her up each time this happened. Grammy rented a cabana for us to have a nice place to sit in the shade to eat lunch and relax. The funnest part was the lazy river and the giant alligator rafts floating in it. Grammy was finally able to wrestle one away from all the teenagers so that the girls could have a ride.
Thursday was my birthday. Grammy treated me to a pampering session of a new hair cut and high-lites. I went for a few hours of pampering while Grammy, Mag and Steph held down the fort. Later that evening we went to Greune to the Gristmill for dinner. We ate out on the patio while enjoying live country music. Afterwards, the kids enjoyed running around in the open grass while we adults continued to enjoy the music.
On Friday we packed up and headed home. Grammy and Poppy came too. We stopped in Austin at a cool toy store where they treated all the grand kids to a toy. What a fun way to end our week long vacation. Thanks Grammy and Poppy for a fun-filled week! I imagine you are still recovering from it all! I guess I got a bit long-winded capturing the events of our week. Oh well, I love remembering the details.
