Day 2 of Fun- Nature Center

We went to the River Legacy Nature Center, and all the kids loved it. The center is so close to our home, I sometimes forget that it is there. I think we will be making more trips there in the future. Riding on the big bumble bee

Aunt Wendy helping Joaquin look at the turtleMarkus and Joaquin rolling logs. Just more evidence that kids are happy with the simplest things. :) I think I will buy Joaquin a tree for his birthday. HAKids looking at the tiny fish in the creekHector, the butterfly whisperer. Claudia really wanted him to catch one, and he finally was able to. This picture cracks me up. As Hector released the butterfly, the adults seem more interested than the kids.

It is so hard to get 4 kids to look at the camera at the same time Markus and Claudia

Family shot (minus me, the picture taker) Maybe I will photoshop myself in. Again, playing with simple blocks that kept their attention forever. These are actually very popular in Germany, but I had never seen them before. Thank you Aunt Wendy for buying the boys a set at the Science and Nature Museum. They love building towers and knocking them down. Later that night we had a family dinner at our house. Here is the kids’s table and Marco showing how he loves asparagus.

Joaquin mimicking Claudia’s photo pose.Uncle David and Aunt Jamie reading books to all the kids.

Family visits from Germany

My sister, her husband and their two children came to visit us for a week. We had so much fun showing them some of the fun things we do here in Texas.

Marco and Uncle Bernd swimming at the water park Markus checking out the water sprayer

Claudia, Markus and Joaquin playing in the water

And of course, relaxing on the couch after swimming watching cartoons. We had to show them what the American Tom and Jerry looks like! :)

Swim Lessons

   This was Marco’s last day of swim lessons.  He learned so much this year.  Can’t wait to see how much he remembers when next summer comes along. 

            

Riding down the big brown slide all by himself and then swimming to the steps

What does Joaquin's shirt say????

His new role will start sometime January 2011!

Swimming Boys

The boys are really enjoying swimming this summer.  It was a slow start, especially for Joaquin.  But now they jump in, do tricks, and Marco has learned a lot from swimming lessons.

 

CANNONBALL!! Marco figuring out how to coordinate the arm/leg motions

Budding Artists

 

The boys are really getting interested in art.  They did great working together until the very end when Joaquin decided that Marco’s page needed a little neon color.  Too bad I didn’t get a picture of that finished product. 

    

4th of July in Brady

We went to Brady to visit with Hector’s parents this past 4th of July. This trip as become customary, as Hector’s birthday is on the 5th and it is nice to experience small town Independence Day festivities. Unfortunately there were no fireworks this year because the weather did not cooperate. But we did attend the parade in “downtown” Brady and the boys had a great time.

Marco is unhappy because he is tired of waiting for the parade. But Joaquin and Nancy don’t seem to mind.

Marco is in better spirits when we tell him that they will be throwing candy at him.

Notice Hector’s dad’s attire. He wears that same shirt and hat every 4th of July an only on the 4th of July.

Not much to say about this picture, I just love Joaquin’s smile! He is such a happy boy.

Quin and his cousin Nancy. They are less than a year apart.

M: I think I see the horses!The fire trucks were too loud for Joaquin.

I guess both of them are not really into loud noises.

Marco chasing after candy.

Only in a small hunting town would you see something like this. In both pictures it doesn’t look it the truck has a driver. And come to think of it, I don’t remember if it actually did either!!

First time I have actually seen a humming bird this close.

Marco learning a skill every boy should know…. slingshots.

Yummy corn right off the grill.

This is the first time I have ever seen a mobile traffic light. On back country, 2-lane roads you don’t expect to see this. They were fixing a “bridge”, and had the road down to one lane.

And the boys missed it all during their nap. Because it takes about 45 min. –1 hour to get to the next biggest town, not much else to do but take a snooze.