Before leaving Texas,there was one thing we had to do. It all started in Colorado Springs where we used to enjoy a chuckwagon dinner with the Wranglers at the Flying W Ranch.  They sing in the style of the legendary Roy Rogers and the Sons ofthe Pioneers. The last time we were there in 2007, we learned that there are Chuckwagon dinners throughout the West, including our partof Texas! In fact, one of the Wranglers we had met the first time we ever went to the Flying W Ranch in 2001, was Wes English.  He and his brothers now run the Canyon Trail Chuckwagon Supper and Cowboy Music Show.

     Last Saturday we got to go!  We had a wonderful time!  It is much smaller than the one in Colorado Springs.  But that is because the one in Colorado has been in operation for years (the first oldest group of this type is the Sons of the Pioneers) and the one here is quite new.  In fact, this is their second location, having only opened a few weeks ago. 

     We were met in the parking lot by one of the brothers, who said he was the handsome one.  (They use a lot of lighthearted family style humor in their show.)  He spent some time asking us where we were from.  We said we were from nearby San Antonio.  Somehow my husband got on the topic of how San Antonio is getting too big for us (we really like the hill country where this group is located).  With dry whit I informed him that San Antonio was getting so big, that we are now moving to Washington DC.  (Remember our ultimate goal is Williamsburg!) 

     Then we went indoors and another brother assigned us terrific seats at the front table!  Then we met Wes, again. There had been trouble with our reservation so we had just been on the phone with him.  He was nice enough to act as though he remembered us from 2001.  =)  We found out we live rather close to each other.  While this business is getting built up, he is also a music pastor at Oak Hills Church, where Max Lucado is pastor. (Some of you may have read his books or seen movies he's written screenplays for.)  

     Then another brother took us outside to teach us how to rope cattle!  I've lived in Texas most of my life, but this is something I've never done.  I guess it was about time!  

My son started first.  It took him a while.  We learned a lot of appreciation of the guys in the rodeo!

 Finally he got it! 

Then my husband tried.  He had a lot of trouble too. 

Watching the instruction, I started practicing with my wrist, trying to follow the instructions.  It's all in the wrist.  Finally my husband got it! 

Then my daughter tried.  After a couple of tries, woo hoo, she got it! 

Uh oh, now it was my turn!  I had trouble the first couple of times.  He gave me a few more tips, and then I got the hang of twirling that rope.  I got so good with twirling through the air, I couldn't figure out how to let go! But one sure could hear it zing through the air!  Finally by my fourth attempt, I got the cow! 

Overall, to our surprise, the gals got the cow quicker than the guys!

We went inside and looked at the animal collection.  Most of these had been caught by their dad, and some by them.

Mr. Moose...

Put up your dukes!  This polar bear was caught in Alaska.

Pretending to be on the Lewis and Clark expedition, running away from the grizzly (which was caught in Alaska)...

More of the collection...

Flags of Texas...

While waiting for the show to start, we could watch a power point presentation of old time cowboy pictures on the large screen/scrim.  In fact, there was a Roy Rogers movie playing upstairs.  The brothers have plans to expand the preshow entertainment over time.

Finally the dinner started in typical Chuckwagon dinner style.  Like in ColoradoSprings, it began with instructions of how to proceed down the food line efficiently, with tips of how to juggle the silverware, plate, and drink, with lots of great jokes!  I confess, I do not like the food at the Flying W Ranch. gasp  The kids feel the same way. Last time Igot the steak which was much better than the brisket. Therefore, I did not expect to enjoy this meal. Too bad they were piling on the food.  I hated to waste it. We did not have a steak option here.  I was given a good portion of brisket so I moved my plate to the baked potato section.  Wes plopped more brisket on to my plate!  Was he trying to fatten me up? (I have lost thirteen pounds since Christmas, due to nerves and busy-ness with this move.)  When I sat to eat the food I was surprised at how wonderful it tasted!  It was the best BBQ I ever ate!  The brisket was tender and smoked.  The pinto beans were nicely spiced and flavored.  The biscuits were the most tender I've ever eaten and piping hot.  The applesauce was spiced with cinnamon.  Even the potato was great!  I ate everything.  I wish I could have had a take home box like I usually get.  I couldn't bear to waste anything.  Then the spice cake was wonderfully spiced and moist and flavorful.  The brothers helped serve us, seat us, and serve us refills on drinks.  During dinner one of the brothers told funny stories while telling the history of Texas through the story of longhorns and cattledrives. (At the Flying W they tell ranch stories.)  It was great!  The kids remembered it all as review from what I taught them a few years ago! Yea!  And we learned a few new things too!

     Then they sang for us.  It was wonderful.  They have a terrific range of skill on various stringed instruments. Wes is the best yodeler in the West.  The jokes were funny!  We were sad when it was over an hour later.  When you're in the area, I highly recommend a visit with The English Brothers!

     To my surprise, an event last Friday brought more than a few tears to my eyes.  There was a mini geTOGether at my friend, Corrine's house.  Another TOGger friend, Beth, drove about 3 hours to meet us.  All TOGether there were 3 moms and 13 kids!  We had a blast!  I met them a couple of years ago through my TOG yahoo group.  (TOG is our incredible history curriculum through which I've met many wonderful people!)  I met Corrine in the group while they were overseas.  We were thrilled to meet face to face after they moved to Texas.  Our families have had wonderful times together, she and I sewed a quilt together, and her husband performed my husband's retirement ceremony.  We got to meet Beth face to face for the first time at the Dallas geTOGether a year ago!  

     We had never met Beth's kids before, but I had heard a lot about them, especially her one boy.  Beth was planning a vacation to Virginia, nearly identical to ours, last Sept.  Since we went the month before, she asked lots of questions and showed pictures from my blog entries to her kids.  In fact, when we first met on Fri, her son said of us, "They look familiar."  lol  Anyway, when he saw the pictures of Benedict Arnold at Colonial Williamsburg  on my blog, he got *angry*!!!!  He did not like that traitor!  After their trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Beth told us that he chewed out Benedict Arnold to his face during Revolutionary City!  Our hearts stopped when we heard that! 

     Well, this young man is a few years younger than my son and seemed to be quite taken with him.   At lunch, they sat next to each other.  I sat across from them, inbetween two of Corrine's older daughters.  We had the best time listening to the two of them talk.  In fact, he had me in stitches for most of the day! (For ease and protection of identity, I am going to dub Beth's son, "friend" and my son "ds".) 

friend-What school do you go to?

ds-I'm homeschooled, just like you.

friend-WOW!  You are? 

ds-Of course, all of us here at the table are homeschooled.

friend-WOW!  That's incredible!!!!!

ds-That's how our mom's met, because of homeschooling.

friend-They did?????

     Beth said she doesn't tell her kids everything because then she has to answer a million questions.  I can relate!  I keep information from my kids sometimes for the very same reason!)

     Then Beth's son started asking about our summer vacation and he was shocked that we did the same things they did! He kept saying, "Wow! We did that too!" 

     After lunch I overheard Beth's son ask my son if he could call him _______________________.  This is the name of a famous American Revolution hero who shares the same first name as my son.  I never heard the response. 

     Then we were getting ready to go to the base.  Corrine and I were going to split Beth's family between us to ride in our vans, because we had military ID cards and she didn't. While waiting for alllllll the kids to be ready to go, Beth's son came to me and asked if my son could ride with them in their van.  I told him that they would ride with one of us since his mom didn't have an ID card.  That puzzled him so I suggested he ask his mom if he could ride with us.  He excitedly asked his mom and got permissson.  His older brother, about a year younger than my son, came with us too. 

     While coordinating all of this, I could have sworn I heard Beth's son ask in amazement, "How did your son learn all that math?"

   There was more funny conversation to overhear in the van.  Let's see what I remember. Hmmmmm, after discussion about something, I heard Beth's son incredulously say, "WOW!  You must be a scientist!"  My son said, "No, their labs blow up."  (My son and I recently discussed this. One night a few weeks ago, my son was going on and on and on about the Science Question of the Week, which he usually gets correct.  (My son's goal in life is to get a law degree, join the USAF JAG corps, then become President of the United States.  After serving two terms, he thinks he'll relax and become an actor/interpreter for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.)  Due to all this, I asked what his favorite subject in school was.  He said science.  I asked why did he want to become a lawyer if his favorite subject is science.  He said he enjoys labs that have already been conducted hundreds of times quite safely. He would never concoct a new experiment to discover something new.  What if something blew up?  Well, I'm glad to hear that I don't have to worry about any explosions around the house!  Nevertheless, I think he's watched too much "Monkey Business" with Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers.

     The kids enjoyed the playground. 

     They especially enjoyed that it was across from the flightline.  While driving there, we even get to drive across a portion of the flightline.  I told the boys to watch for planes for me so we wouldn't hit one.  When they saw one of the small fighter jets fly overhead, they were really impressed!  I was able to capture a picture of one of the bigger planes.

     Corrine's girls and I had great conversations too.  While in the kitchen they were asking me which books I've read that make me cry.  Hmmmmm, I had to think about that one.  I still am!  I've been so busy getting ready for the move that I couldn't even remember any books I've read.  They threw out some titles.  That helped. Where the Red Fern Grows They agreed with that. This seemed silly, but I told them every time I read a biography on Lafayette, I start to cry when I come to the end of his life.  I have to start a new biography to get happy again. (In fact, the biography I've been reading got packed by the packers yesterday. I have left Lafayette in December of 1780.  I hope to savor Yorktown this summer.) Oh they could relate!  Then at the lunch table, the girls started talking to me about great movies.  We had so much fun. In fact, I'm ashamed to admit that I was so exhausted from all the moving prep I had been doing in the last month, that it was nice to just sit there and chit chat with the girls, instad of helping in the kitchen as much as I should have.     

     At dinner time there was more great conversation.  We all sat in the same places and the girls and I were once again laughing.  I don't remember everything now.  Let's see, Beth's son asked my son if he played soccer.  My son thought a moment and said, "No, I don't play professional soccer." 

     The best part was when Corrine's husband came home, in uniform.  Beth's son's eyes got huge!  He exclaimed with enthusiasm I have never before seen in a child, "W-O-W! He's a real military man!!!!!!"  The girls and I loved it!  I have learned something about Beth's son, after she told me a story about his talking to a soldier.  He is a huge fan of those in the armed forces.  However, beware of anyone who decides to become a turncoat like Benedict Arnold.  

     About that time I realized we had to go.  We said our goodbyes, and I started to get teary eyed.  It was certainly a day of mixed tears...joy and sadness.  I will miss these two friends and their wonderful kids! 

Before we went to the IMAX last week, we ate Mexican food on the riverwalk. 

 We had two types of waiters:  the ones on my left who patiently served us food and drink...and the feathered ones on my right who impatiently waited on us to give them our food. 

Here is a greedy duck hogging a tortilla all to himself (obtained from a nearby table).  There was quite a bit of ruckus and chasing going on but the duck managed to keep the tortilla all to himself.

The Riverwalk almost never existed. Because of constant flood issues and city mess with the San Antonio River in the early 1900s, the city nearly paved over it. After all it was no more than a mere trickle of garbage, that during heavy rains, flooded downtown.  Impassioned citizens set out to save the river and convinced the city with a play called "The Goose that laid the Golden Egg" that the river could become an asset.  An architect envisioned a recreation of Venitian canals with gondolas.  The WPA employed workers to build the riverwalk with local stone from a nearby quarry (by the zoo).  The original stonework can be seen in many of the walkways and bridges today.  However, the riverwalk was still a scene of crime and pollution, with the backdoors of businesses facing the river.  Eventually store and restaurant owners were convinced to open their businesses with access on the river side.   The first restaurant to open facing the river was Casa Rio, where we had lunch.   Today there are ongoing extensions and improvements to the river, with access to the streets throughout most of downtown. Floods are now controlled with flood gates and an underground tunnel for overflow.  Big name hotels and restaurants abound on the river. Whenever we have visitors, the one city trip I usually recommend is the river, which is quite unique. The plants and flowers are huge because of the unique ecosystem.  Located below street level, it is warmer than the city streets in the winter and not affected as much by the rare frost.  Also it is usually a bit cooler than the street level in the summer.

Having tediously made their own mosaics when we studied Ancient Rome a few years ago, the kids can appreciate more intricate craftsmanship when they see it.

Across from the Riverwalk is the Alamo. 

We didn't visit, because we have been there so many times, I don't want to see it the same way again.  Instead, after we study it at the dialectic level in history in a few weeks, we will pay a visit.  It should be interesting seeing it through a fresh perspective.  This was how I approached our vacation to Colonial Williamsburg this year.  My husband had made it an option the year before, but I suggested we postpone the trip until we had studied the American Revolution at the dialectic level.  This produced excellent results as the kids were able to actively engage and experience everything in a new way.  We will also be doing a parallel study of the American Revolution vs. Texas Independence!  Stay tuned!

After the zoo, MIL and the dc and I went to Brackenridge Park for lunch.  The Japanese Tea Gardens, zoo, and museum all border this lovely park.  The headwaters to the San Antonio River begin nearby and meanders through the park.  I took the dc back here last Fri and we had lunch on the island, fed the ducks and rode the train.  I have a host of childhood memories at this park. Enjoy!

The Japanese Tea Garden is next door to the zoo.  MIL loves zoos!  Even though we had planned to do lunch in Brackenridge Park and then do the museum, she suggested we sqeeze in the zoo too!  At the gate MIL was so sweet that she paid.  When asked if she had a military id for a discount, I dug mine out.  An elderly gentleman behind us was so sweet...he said that being military, we should get in free.  He saw me later in front of the bears and asked me which branch my dh was in.  He told me that he served in the Navy many years ago, for about 4 years. As he thanked me I was thanking him! He was a great encouragement to me!

Well, we never got to see everything.  DS spent a lot of time getting the perfect picture...in the reptile house even!  MIL really wanted to go to the museum too, so I told her to lead us to her favorite animals.  Because she adores kitties so much, she really wanted to see the lions.  Well, in years past I could have taken her right to them.  But the zoo has changed so much and the Africa area is going through more renovation phases, I'm not sure where they were hiding!  In all I think we saw 1/3 of the zoo.  Enjoy!

Saturday we drove out to the hill country to climb up the batholith of an old volcano with the teens in my 14yod Awana Club. Called Enchanted Rock by the Indians and early settlers because of strange spooky noises at night, we now know this is merely a result of this granite hill cooling off at night after  daytime heating. Now, I realize this is merely Texas, and this hill we are climbing is a scant 1825' elevation.  Unlike our hikes in the massive Rocky Mountains, this was a mere 300' elevation climb.  However, have you ever climbed 300' straight up?  The teens take this hill running, whereas my thighs are burning, my lungs are about to bust, my heart is racing...and I must take frequent stops to enjoy the view.  Yes, there is a bit of a view in Texas!

 That pink hill ahead is solid granite...the hill we must climb.

Heading up...

My first of many huffing and puffing breaks...so I took a picture of the view...

Time for another break...see the interesting mushroom shaped rocks?  I think we found one one time that looked like a throne.  But with this group, I have to hurry.  The teens and the dads are out to conquer...

Taking another break to gather air and check out the surroundings...

The Indians used this hill as a vantage point...

Almost to the top...

Finally, the view from the top...

We had to climb down a little bit on the other side to get to the caves under these rocks. The teens spent quite a bit of time climbing and exploring...

These huge lizards were playing all over the rocks too...

Finally, heading down to a hiking trail...

Who picked this hiking trail?  I had an awful time trying to balance (with one balance nerve, weak back and knee) on tons of rocks in a gully.  Thankfully, there was no threat of flash flooding.  I was in a hurry, trying to keep up with those teens!  I did get a shock looking up at the rocks (praying that there'd be no rock slide!)...

Finally, a flat dirt trail.  Although it was easier, it was about an hour around the backside of the hill where we got lost, as always.  But 3 of us adults and my dd beat everyone else to the picnic tables...

After a picnic the group played tag football.  12yos intensely dislikes football.  But when he found out I played a little flag football in jr. high PE, he couldn't be outdone by Mom.  So he played.  I like how the Awana leader of the teen game time (who led the football playing that day) includes everyone.  Even 12yos got a few moments to carry the ball and play quarterback and kick the ball.  He never gets to do that in the lower club!

On the way home, we had to stop because a group of animals was crossing the road.  As all the cars slowed down, I grabbed my camera for a photo op, reminiscent of the times I captured Colorado wildlife on the side of the road with my camera.  This never happens to us in Texas.  What could be up there?

Oh, goats.  Oh well.  Come b-a-a-a-ck soon! 

Sunday was ds's 12th birthday!  Eversince his arrival into the world, he has been full of boundless energy and I've been wiped out!  lol  In fact, he was so excited about making his appearance into the world, he was born 6 weeks early!  He's had more than his share of doctor appointments for various issues, one of which was diagnosed by 1 year of age, Sensory Integration Disorder.  He had seriously fallen off of the growth chart, not enjoying most textures in foods.  His wonderful occupational therapist gave me tons of OJT in how to incorporate a sensory diet to nourish his vestibular, proprioceptor and texture senses.  In fact, dd was also diagnosed.  One of the best things I learned was that the outdoors makes for wonderful sensory diet experiences.  Even though we were then living 350 miles away, we often came back to the San Antonio area, mostly for medical check ups with specialists.  To celebrate his birthday, we started a tradition of taking him to Landa Park in New Braunfels, about 30 miles north. (By the way, the elementary school where I student taught is in view of the park.) He continues to enjoy going to this park every birthday. DS grew up loving trains, and this park has a wonderful train ride around the lovely park.  DH told the train conductor it was ds's birthday and he got a free ride!

After a picnic lunch and train ride, we headed for the springs.  There aren't a lot of springs in TX.  But in central Texas, an ancient earthquake left huge changes.  Numerous springs from Austin to San Antonio pump water from an aquifer.  This is how we get our water supply.  So we watch the aquifer levels daily.  During drought, I have seen these springs dried up.  Heavy rains this summer has caused the springs to flow in abundance this year.  These are the Comal Springs.  While looking at these springs, to the left of us for miles to the gulf coast extends the flat  Blackland Prairie.  To our immediate right begins the Hill Country.

Look how crystal clear the water is...

Looking towards the springs...

Further upstream looking towards the springs...

Looking upstream....

We usually have a science lesson here, talking about the springs and their formation.  I wasn't even thinking of doing that, since I was so busy taking pictures.  But ds started asking me about specific details, pointing to the diagrams on the signboards.  I told him I have tons of material on the subject at home that we could incorporate into his science lessons.  He's excited about that!  Where the stream becomes a lake (that's a pink and purple paddleboat out there, time for us to catch one!)...

We all got on the same paddle boat and the guys did the paddling.  I had to work at not falling out while I tried to keep my balance and take pictures (I have only 1 balance nerve because of previous head surgery....makes life interesting at times!)

Can anyone identify this fruit????

Turtles sunbathing...

Another sunbather....

Fine feathered friends coming to greet us...

The train...

You can see the play area in the spring fed pool where the water is a constant 68-72 degrees year round...

The first hill of the hill country up ahead...

Impermeable limestone...this is the type in our backyard.  No water from our backyard can seep into the aquifer, even though our house sits on top of the aquifer.

Permeable limestone...that type that makes up the ground in the recharge zone.  When it rains, water drips through those cracks where it is purified by the time it reaches the underground aquifer.

The lake becomes a river again...you can see the water spilling over the banks...

Looking at the edge of the park at the dam...

Further down river, families often tube....something we've not done yet!  This is the Comal River, the shortest river in Texas.

Giant oak...bet you never thought Texas had trees and water!  I don't know how many people I've met who thought that all of Texas looked like the cowboy movies!  lol