A New Chapter in the Lives of These Girls!

Daughter #2 and Daughter #3, whom we are so proud of!

Emma is an EMT, a first responder.  Beside working on an ambulance, she volunteers at a fire department out in the country.  She recently graduated from Fire Academy and is currently working her way through the (very tough) application process.  On top of the new certification behind her name, she moved out on her own.  We are so excited for her as she begins this new chapter in her life!  God bless all first responders!

Maria is planning on becoming a first responder as well.  She is attending the local college where she is studying fire science.  She is currently juggling school and her job as a life guard and swim instructor for a local school district.  Maria turns 18 in less than a week, and we are very proud of her as well!  We look forward to seeing what God has planned in her future.

Don't be afraid to encourage your kids to think outside the box!  You'll be amazed at the opportunities that are out there for them.

Patty

Hickory Creek Camping Trip / Labor Day Weekend 2021

 

It was a lovely weekend filled with some much-needed R&R.  My husband hauled the camper out to this spot on Thursday so we could enjoy nature for four nights and days.  The first 24 hours, Miss Clementine had a friend stay with us.  

On the second day, Miss Clementine met a few new friends who were also at the lake camping.  They were such sweet kids who love being outdoors just as much as our little one.  I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear squeals of laughter coming from a lake.

(I was Face Timing my mom when I snapped the two photos above.  I had such a gorgeous view all weekend.)

It was so bloody hot out.  All weekend!  But the heat didn't stop her from having a great time. :)

David, Stan the Man, and Mabel came out on Sunday and stayed until Monday, when we packed up and headed back home. 

Our August ended up being pretty hectic, so this time away was welcomed.  Next up is a trip to the canyons.  I've been looking forward to this next one for a long time!

Until then...

Patty

Back-to-School 2021

 

Stan the Man is a sophomore this year and his first day of school was last week. He is really looking forward to driver’s ed. This is his third year in the public school system. 

Miss Clementine is a fourth grader this year. She actually is on her sixth week of school! (I love the perks of homeschooling.) This girl finished school by early-April last spring. For realz. I couldn’t let her sit around for 4 months, although she preferred that. Ha ha!

Since school started in June for her, her teacher threw in plenty of RVing trips to ease the pain. ;) 

Prayers for all students and teachers this year.  May the year be fruitful for all!

Patty

Tubing the Guadalupe River - RV Trip 2021

 Y'all!  It is HOT in Texas in July, and nothing feels better than cooling off in a frigid, Texas river that is usually fed by natural springs.  This is actually a favorite past time for Texans.  There are so many rivers to choose from, especially in the Hill Country Region.

We took a trip down to the Guadalupe River this week and stayed a few nights at Rio Guadalupe Resort, near Canyon Lake, Northwest of San Antonio. 

It was so! much! fun!

For 20 bucks at this particular resort, you can rent a tube, a cooler tube, a cooler, and catch a ride to one of two drop off points.  You end up floating right back to the resort.

We chose the shorter one, which was 3.5 hours long.

On day two, we hung out in the clean, refeshing pool and then went into town for a little sightseeing.

Gruene Hall.  If you know, you know.

Day three had us using our pool floats in the river, anchored close to shore.

We had only two of the kids with us on this trip.  The others stayed home because of work schedules.  

It had been 10 years since we last went tubing on the river with the kids, and I was pregnant with Miss Clementine!

Getting this in right before the start of school was a good idea.  One last hurrah for them.  

Does anyone else have a last hurrah planned before the start of school?

Until the next one...

Patty

Galveston Island ~ Sandpiper RV Resort ~ Week 2

 Our second week of our trip to the coast was so incredible!  The weather, the location, the activities... We had an amazing time!

This was our first time at Sandpiper RV Resort.  We checked in on Monday, July 12th, coming over from Jamaica Beach.  The resort is in a fantastic area of the island (much closer to the places we like to tour) and has an amazing infinity pool overlooking the small resort and the Gulf of Mexico.

This was David and Stan the man's work week.  So I had plenty of activities lined up for Miss Clementine and myself. 

All the kids have been to the Houston Space Center except for Miss Clementine.  We weren't too far from the center which made for an ideal field trip while the boys were working that Tuesday.

It did not disappoint!

On Wednesday, Stan had the day free so I took the kids exploring East Beach on Galveston Island.  Wow! We saw sea life galore while we explored the tidal pools and shoreline.  The cargo ships were coming and going thru the channel next to us.  There were even horses on the beach!

I have to pause here and share the view from some of our camper windows.  Gosh! They were great views of the ocean.  I just love the ocean!

David had off from work that Thursday, so we got on the ferry (it was nice to see cruise ships back in port) and headed over to Bolivar Peninsula.  We stopped at Stingaree's for lunch on Crystal Beach.  The food was fantastic!  Afterward, we headed to the beach for some swimming and fishing.

And my fisherman reeled in this 60" black tip shark! His biggest yet.  Woot!

He released this one.  That mark on the top of its head? It's either a love bite (from mating) or another shark bit it in an attack.

We painted seashells that we collected.  That was fun!  I found the paint markers on Amazon.

On that Saturday, the boys had to work again, so I took Miss Clementine to the train museum down near the harbor. 

On Sunday, we attended this spirit-filled Mass. Holy Rosary Catholic Church was one fo the first African American Parishes in Texas.  I took a snap shot of the historical marker that contains all the interesting facts about the parish.

We did some souvenir shopping afterward and hung out at the pool soaking up the last day of this amazing trip.

I am so grateful to my husband for making the trip possible.  It was harder for him since he didn't have his normal routine nor his work trailer.  And the weather was glorious when he had to work.  But! He did catch that awesome shark, a record for him.  :)

On Monday (July 19th), we woke up to rain.  Just like the trip started!  We made it safely home.

If you missed the first week, we were over in Jamaica Beach, Texas.  

As I type this post and sort through photos, I am still feeling the gratitude for experiencing Galveston Island the way we did this time around.  Hopefully, we will be able to do it again soon!  Until the next time...

Patty

Jamaica Beach, Texas ~ Week 1

We just arrived back from our first extended-stay, RV trip.  It was an amazing experience, and I am so grateful we were able to do this.

We started planning this trip to the Texas coast back in January.  It took some creative thinking since we would be with David while he was also working.  By the grace of God, we did it!  We pulled it off and really enjoyed ourselves.  

We spent July 4th at Huntsville State Park.  It is such a beautiful park!  I love the tall pines.  The humidity was off the charts high, but it is always such a nice place to spend the night if you want to break up the drive a little bit.  The kids were able to see the alligators, so that was cool. 

Then it was on to Jamaica Beach RV Resort.  Our itinerary had us there for one week, from July 5 through July 12th.  

We had sun for the first afternoon and then it stormed.  It stormed and rained for almost six days due to a tropical storm.  There was just a little break in the rain here and there.  We can honestly say that this week was the worst week for weather we ever had in all of our trips to the coast.

We tried to make the best of it.  David and Stan had to work the second day there, so I took Miss Clementine on a field trip to the Moody Gardens Tropical Rainforest.

We managed to get a couple of games of miniature golf in where I got my first-ever hole-in-one! Woot! There was a little trip to The Strand, the historical harbor area in Galveston. But mostly we hung out at the resort hoping for a break in the storms.  We used the lazy river a lot and hunted for crabs in the bay.

The sun ultimately broke through on day 7, so we headed to the beach.  

I felt bad for David since this was his actual vacation week and was hoping to get plenty of fishing in. It didn't work out for him though.  That was a bummer.  I was grateful that the second week brought tons of sunshine and a new resort for us to try out! 

On July 12th, we packed up and headed over to our next stop, Sandpiper RV Resort in Galveston, which I'll post about soon!

Patty