The Wilderness

We were busy this past weekend here in Texas. Our first, Charles William, turned 5 years old on Friday the 18th. Despite the fact that Liz and I can't possibly be that old, it is fun to see him grow and mature. He was very aware of the event and the fact that he was turning five--especially because it meant that he will be starting school this year. Joey is also very aware of this (uh oh).

If that weren't enough, our church held a Father and Sons campout Friday night, that I and the boys attended. They were sooooo excited in the days leading up to the campout, especially after we got the camping gear out and set up the tent to check it. I'm not sure what Charles was more excited about--his birthday or going camping. We struck out Friday afternoon for the Hill Country State Natural Area near Bandera, TX. The Texas Hill Country is one of the most beautiful places I've seen, and this time of year it is especially lush. The Edwards Plateau is what makes up most of the Hill Country and is characterized by limestone hills, cold clear artesian springs, and deep caves. In fact, two of these caves right here near San Antonio house the two largest bat colonies in the world. The bat colonies are so big that they actually show up on the Doppler weather radar every night as they leave their caves. The biggest (in fact, the biggest gathering of any mammals anywhere in the world) is the Bracken Bat Cave, which is only 20 miles from our house. The second largest in the world is the Frio Bat Cave, where they were secretly developing the "Bat Bomb" during WWII (really! click the link!). A different project (Manhattan something-or-other) won out over the Bat Bomb--too bad... Another common feature of the Hill Country are the deep aquifers, including one of the most well-known and prolific aquifers in the world, the Edwards Aquifer, which happens to be San Antonio's water source.

One of the funnier recurring themes was the boys' addition of "The Wilderness" to everything we talked about. For example, I would say, "are you guys ready to go camping?" and they would quickly add, "to the WILDERNESS?" When we got there and set up our tent, the boys looked around at the different groves of live oak and juniper and asked, "Dad, is THAT the wilderness?" They treated it so ominously, like there was going to be a spooky forest somewhere that was definitely "the wilderness." Then, at the end of our hike the next day, as we were going to the car, I asked them if they enjoyed the wilderness. Charles said, "YES Daddy, I really did," then after a beat and in the sweetest way asked, "Daddy, what's the wilderness?"

Anyway, we set up our tent and went on a quick exploration hike around our camp where we identified heron, coyote, raccoon, and deer tracks, and caught a scorpion. Charles found and caught a baby red spotted toad. We cooked our dinner (hot dogs) over the campfire and made smores. The boys weren't thrilled with the smores, handing them back to me after a few bites. I realized that smores really are overrated. I mean, I love the time-honored, traditional IDEA of smores, but they're messy and gross. Oh well, I guess as long as there are campouts there will be smores (and vienna sausages). We had a long campfire with skits and songs and then spent some time with friends talking, playing, chasing fireflies, and even celebrating Charles' birthday with a few candles that Liz sent along stuck in a pecan roll. Charles was delighted when his buddies belted out Happy Birthday to him. It was a beautiful night--perfect for sleeping under the stars so we opened up the top of our tent to have nothing but sky above us. The three of us went to sleep sharing a queen air mattress and listening to the coyotes howl and the whip-poor-wills sing.

The next day we woke up, had breakfast, played some games, and went on a longer hike to the top of one of the taller hills. We tried to count all the different wildflowers (lost count at twenty-something), turned over a bunch of rocks to find animals, and enjoyed the perfect weather. The boys loved camping and want to do it again soon, which is just fine with me. Here are lots of pics (click on them to see a larger version):






Now for the stuff we found under rocks:

A really cool looking caterpillar... That would rear up to bite you if you touched it.
These spiders looked like they belonged at the bottom of the ocean.
Under a single rock we found a scorpion, a weird orange centipede, and three crab-spiders.
An especially scary looking spider protecting her eggs (about as big as a silver dollar)

A big orange and black butterfly sitting dangerously on an ant mound.
Another caterpillar, this one much more relaxed than the first.
And of course, on the way home, we passed a herd of Texas Longhorns grazing. I yelled "HEY COW!" rather than "MOO!" and he/she stopped grazing and actually posed for the picture!

Finally, two collages of a few of the wildflowers we saw. There were dozens more that we didn't get:

Tagged.....

Joe and I were recently "tagged" by our good friends from Wharton, the Feldmans.

Here are some individual answers to random questions:

Favorite cartoon as a child?
Liz: Smurfs
Joe: Superfriends



Follow up: Favorite character in that cartoon?
Liz: Jokey Smurf (although he got annoying after the 10th exploding present)
Joe: Gleek the monkey



Favorite article of clothing in the 80's?
Liz: Ditto jeans
Joe: original Chuck Taylor's



Favorite childhood toy?
Liz: Strawberry Shortcake doll
Joe: For some reason, all I can think of is my dirty clothes hamper/coat rack combo in the shape of a lion with "Joey" written on the front. I'm not sure why and we had lots of good little ghetto toys, but that won't leave my mind.

Favorite halloween costume?
Liz: Witch (every year)
Joe: Mexican Jumping Bee (and thanks to my brother James, here is the photo proof)


Food you hated as a child but like now?
Liz: tomatoes
Joe: I didn't hate very much as a child, but what I did hate, I still hate, and for good reason. The worst was Marco Polo casserole, which was brought over when Jonny was born and I literally puked it down our turtle hole and IT SPROUTED!

Your favorite guilty pleasure?
Liz: Dark chocolate
Joe: Peanut M&M's

First real job?
Liz: Scooping ice-cream and decorating cakes at Baskin-Robbins in Morgan Hill
Joe: Golden State Chem-Dry carpet cleaning in various scary places in the LA area



Biggest childhood crush?
Liz: Jon Bon Jovi (actually, Liz's crush is much bigger now than it was then)
Joe: Erin Grey



A weird quirk you do with your appendages?
Liz: I always cross my feet when I lie on my stomach (and Tori already does it--Joe thinks this is very weird, but...)
Joe: I sit with my toes crossed all the time (big toe over pointer/second toe).
Also, did we mention that Joey has two partially webbed toes on each foot? We even signed him up for swimming lessons, but he hates them. Also, Joe's entire family pinches each other with their toes (talk about freaks!).

Where would you most rather be at this very moment?
Liz: In a bed without any kids around anywhere and where I could just SLEEP and when I woke up it was BECAUSE MY BODY WANTED TO AND NO OTHER REASON.
Joe: Sailing on BMW Oracle in the America's Cup.

Latest song you heard that you liked:
Liz: Into the Ocean by Blue October
Joe: Cupid's Chokehold by Gym Class Heroes

Who do you tag next*?
Liz: Natalie
Joe: Heather

*No need to follow our format. Just make it up on your own like we did.

She's One Amazing Woman

My Mom has always been such a great example of what kind of mother I've always wanted to be and strive to be today, she has so many good qualities that I try to emulate. She is loving, strong, giving, understanding, patient, forgiving, spiritual, a hard worker, charitable, generous, caring, sympathetic, gentle, thoughtful, benevolent, considerate, compassionate, smart, a good housekeeper, a great cook and an all around amazing Mom. I am so lucky to have her in my life. Happy Mothers Day Mom, I love you!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

So I think this will be the first Mother's Day where I don't talk to my mom. Even as a missionary in Spain I didn't miss a year (although technically it might not have been exactly on Sunday, but it probably was). This year she and Dad are on a cruise in the South Pacific! Not to worry--we already called and sang and wished her a happy Mother's Day the day before they left.

It's strange for us kids to see them on a cruise, but I couldn't be happier for them to be able to enjoy their time together as they start their retirement. Actually, after 42 (and no, that's not a typo, as much as Carol would like it to be) years of putting all seven of us kids first, I'm delighted to see them doing things that they can enjoy alone once in a while, and they certainly deserve it.

My mom worked her whole life so that they could raise a large family properly and responsibly. Looking back, there was always so much love and attention that I never even knew the difference. Having both come from somewhat fractious backgrounds and each having to make their own way, it's amazing to see the family they have raised and nurtured. I wonder sometimes, if our own circumstances were different, if I would have the selflessness and dedication to do everything I could for my kids and put myself last like they always did.

We surely lived a charmed family life, even if there were struggles along the way, but we never lacked love or togetherness in our family. I wonder sometimes how alone they must have felt when they started all of this, with little to no family support of their own. Perhaps that is part of what has made their bond so strong. My mom has always been a nurturer, shoulder to lean on, listener, psychologist, and even a strict disciplinarian (remember the words, "GO GET ME YOUR BELT!"?) She is responsible for a very large part of the man I am trying to be today. I have the best mom in the whole world, and I love her more than I could ever explain. Happy Mother's Day mom, and happy cruising!

Is that a poison apple?

Liz caught Joey falling asleep at the table yesterday. Is it bad that we laugh every time we watch this? I love how he even whiffs on a few bites and never stops chewing...



Also, Liz made a new dessert the other night. She told me, "I'm going to make fruit pizza for Enrichment," to which I replied, "what the heck is fruit pizza?" She said, "you KNOW what it is--we've had it before." I thought a minute and said, "no, I'm pretty sure I've never heard of it." So she says, "It's like a big sugar cookie with cream cheese frosting and fruit on it," like it's no big deal. I mean, are you kidding me? Does she really think I wouldn't know EXACTLY what this was if I had tasted it before? A gigantic sugar cookie with sweetened cream cheese and fresh fruit on top of it? Doesn't she know how much I love cookies--and especially big ones covered with frosting? She made it while I was at work and when I saw her get it out that evening I even thought for a minute if there was any way I could distract her and knock it out of her hands on the floor. She wouldn't take it and I could eat it. But she would be so mad that it wouldn't have been worth it. Of course, because she loves me so much, she brought me home a big fat piece and I finally got to discover fruit pizza for myself. How can something with such a lame name taste so good? Here it is:

"The Bear's not there"

This morning we all went to McAllister Park here in San Antonio for a race. The boys were excited about running, even if they were a little wary of their previous race experience (see previous post). Joey seemed to remember this last race well, since while we were driving to the park this morning, he said out of the blue, "Charles, the bear's not there."

The boys ran the kids race (about 60 meters) and didn't do too badly. They were both happy to report that they had both beaten Liz, although I'm not sure Liz was really trying. Once they finished, they kind of had a "that's it?" look on their faces, so I told them they could run it again if they wanted. They went ahead and ran it again, and again, and again, as can be seen in these videos.



They also were very excited to receive ribbons AND medals. Here are a few pictures of the proud participants. Liz will not want this made public, but she also ran the 3 miler, and did pretty well, exceeding her goal. Also, there are two Tori pics at the bottom.


Joey is rocking the Bruce Jenner look with his hair (which was chopped tonight, by the way)

Holding their ribbons on the finish line.

Action shot of I think maybe the 6th or 7th iteration of the race.

Tori is better and better at sitting these days. Especially when Liz makes her do the splits.
I think in this picture she is determined to grab the camera. Either that or Liz is blowing in her face.

Like Mother, Like Son

I recently got this picture of Liz from her Dad and was surprised at how much she and Joseph look alike. Here's a side-by-side. Isn't Liz adorable?