Frio River Trip 2014

Chillin' in the river.
Chance would have it that our friend Angela took the very first picture with David's new waterproof camera.  (Our other waterproof camera was lost last year at the Frio!)

Penny eats pistachios and contemplates things.

David shows the boys a thing or two about "bug-a-salting" while we wait for everyone to be ready to hit the river.

Cooper found a good sit-and-think rock.

Buds reunited!
Since we have moved we have really missed our Naiser friends!  The kids really enjoyed each other over the weekend after being separated for so long!

Penny just swam and swam and swam.

Ellie enjoyed her first trip to the Frio River!

The babies were such troopers but a few hours at the river took its toll.

The river took its toll on the big kids too. Again, they were so happy to be together again!

On Saturday night we went to watch the bat flight!  So awesome!

Daddy and Penny watch the bats.

Cooper is mesmerized by the bats, but not so much that he can't "keep Penny safe."

What a beautiful batty evening!

Seven Months Old!

Fastest. Seven months. Ever!  Yet another month of Ellie's babyhood has slipped by without it even seeming like it!  We have kept busy over the last month, which might account for how fast it seemed to go.  In between friends and family visits, day trips exploring the area, family reunions, and holidays, Ellie has made her seventh month a big one!  The changes for Ellie in the last month include:

• Growth!  Ellie now weighs 16 lbs and is 24 3/4 inches long.  (That is a TWO POUND gain from last month.)
• Food!  Ellie breastfeeds every four hours but has learned to take a bottle.  She now gets one right before bed.  She is also steadily learning to eat solid food.  Right now she eats two solid food meals a day which includes many things.  So far she likes oatmeal, butternut squash, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and green beans.  She makes a horrible face every time I try to feed her peas and rice cereal doesn't seem to agree with her tummy.  
• Sleeping in her crib!  For the first six months of her life, we kept her upright, in order to alleviate her acid reflux.  She has improved so much in that department (no more spit up!) that we started laying her flat to sleep in her crib.  She isn't sleeping any worse (or better) than before, and she still prefers to be swaddled.
• Teeth!  After months of constant drooling and gnawing on everything in sight, Ellie's right bottom tooth finally poked through the gum.
• Action!  Ellie can sit up unsupported for quite a while and seems to prefer that position to laying down (back or tummy) for playing.  So far she doesn't seem that interested in crawling, but we suspect that has something to do with the fact that her older siblings bring everything to her.  (She also is happiest when Mama is holding her, and being the baby, Mama obliges.) 
• Sounds!  Ellie is a much more vocal baby than she was just a month ago.  Her favorite sound to make is a raspy, growly "Ahhhhh" sound when she is excited.  She also uses an "mmmmmmm" sound when she is working on getting upset.
• People!  We traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas for a family reunion where Ellie got to meet countless family members.  She also enjoyed a visit from the Eggers, Aunt Amanda, Matt and "the cousins",  Bill and Libby Morgan, Uncle Clint, and Ma-mas and Pa-pa.  

Seven month photo shoot...

Cooper helps to extract a smile.

Surprise!

Family Reunion in Fredericksburg

The summer fun continued through the weekend as we traveled the whole 40 minutes to Fredericksburg for a family reunion.  Ma-Mas and Pa-Pa and Uncle Clint came too!  We all had fun staying in the old (looking) house for the weekend, strolling and shopping on Main Street, and visiting with lots of family at the reunion.  Dooley's, the Fredericksburg Brewery, and Lady Bird Johnson Park were a few of our stops.  This marked Ellie's first (of many) trips to Fredericksburg, and Cooper and Penny had lots of fun playing with cousins.

Playing under the pecan trees in the backyard.

Ellie played too!

Of course we brought trains and Super Mario cars with us.

Out on the town on Saturday morning.  

Saturday night super moon rising.

Keeping cool at the reunion by eating lots of ice.

All the Germans and the heat were a little much for this one. She won "Youngest Family Member" at the reunion, though only by 10 days!   

Ellie meets some cousins!  

Cooper and some cousins invented a game that involved dumping sand on each other...I couldn't be too bothered by it...I recall playing a similar game with some of my cousins.

Birds of a feather...

Friends & Family For the Fourth

We had a pool party for the Fourth of July!  Our friends the Eggers came for a long weekend visit and "the cousins" joined us for the Fourth festivities.  It was a perfect way to celebrate our country's birthday...swimming and margaritas in the backyard, burgers and banana pudding for dinner, and fireworks on the front porch.  The only caveat was a big rainstorm that blew through right at dark.  It knocked out the power for two hours, but we did enjoy watching the rain!  We had planned to go to Boerne city park to watch the fireworks but didn't because of the rain.  To our complete surprise and enjoyment, we could see them from our house!  Monday was a tough day as we all needed to recover!

Pool party! The most people we have had swimming at once so far.

Even Ellie got in the water!

This little guy never stopped the whole weekend!

Look who decided she can sit up by herself?

Brewster LOVED all the attention from the kids and went WILD!

San Antonio Children's Museum

Over the last two weeks we had a break in scheduled activities (swim lessons), so we were able to get out and explore some of the nearby attractions.  Daddy had to travel to Corpus for work which left Mama to wrangle three kiddos to the San Antonio Children's Museum.  It was a little loud, which scared Penny at first, but after a little while everyone had fun!  This is just the first of many fun spots to visit!

Cooper and Penny sell goods in the general store.

This little lady just relaxed.

Piano!

Cooper books me a ticket at the airport.

Penny plays house.