2016 Summer 1

Summer has arrived. The days are scorching hot, but baseball and softball go on. Both kids' regular season is over, just the special games or 'All Stars' games remain. This means a lot more practices each week. 
To counterbalance the roasting on the ball fields, we opened our pool season and are getting in even more exercise by swimming and playing in the water. We are not the only ones cooling off at the pool. Andrew met up with a lot of his team members at the pool and had a grand time playing with them. 
We have also wrapped up all our our science studies. Andrew still had to finish his math program, and we continue writing and reading. The kids signed up for another summer reading program at the library. The theme is very appropriate - ball games.

Not all of Saara's team was able to come to the award presentation. Rubies became the champions in their little division.

Having some pizza to celebrate the awards.

This is the flower of the wild cucumber.

This is wild cucumber. Edible.

The kids foraging for wild cucumbers.

This is an owl pellet. We have a number of owl living in our forest, but this is the first time one of them dropped its pellet by our front door.

Of course, we had to dissect the gross thing and see what the owl had had for dinner. Most likely an mouse.

Art. A little creative summer art activity: paint your own ice cream cone cookie.

All Stars. After Andrew read a story with Jackie Robinson in it, he wanted to wear # 42. 

The SeaWorld

I do not know, who were more excited about the SeaWorld, us or the kids. We all had so much fun from the minute the gates were opened until the last show. 
We spent the morning watching different educational shows about the animals and how SeaWorld takes care of them and studies them. We had been to plenty of zoos, so some of the animals like seals and otters, flamingos, snakes, penguins, etc. were not a surprise for us. At the same time, we had never seen a walrus or an orca, or a beluga  or even a dolphin. It was a wondrous time.
Before the evening shows began, we had plenty of time to ride the rides. Andrew got his first roller coaster experience, and Dad and Saara got soaked on a rapids ride. It was a lot of fun!
The evening shows were filled with a lot of laughter and wonder. We managed to watch every single show, and all of them were memorable. Andrew's favorite was the Pet Show and Saara's the orcas' show. I loved the beluga and dolphin show the best. We all agreed that we would come back as soon as we can to watch the shows again and maybe take some time to interact with the animals as well.

The Riverwalk

After touring the Alamo, our family took a walk on the Riverwalk. We thought, it might not be a spectacular event for the children as it is just what it is - a walk, dodging people and trying not to fall into the river. However, the kids loved it, and it was them that noticed so many things about the river, we would have missed. We also took a boat ride and learned a lot about the history of Riverwalk and the town itself. 

A hearty meal by the river before our boat ride.

Somehow we squeezed in a round of darts

I believe, this is called the 'lovers' bridge'. We witnessed a engagement proposal that was cheered on by all the people walking by and the boats sailing under the bridge.

Andrew's keen eye noticed some duck eggs on the shore.

A duck family.

Besides an abundance of ducks and the usual city fowl, we saw three herons while waiting for our boat.

Finally, on the river.

When we returned from the river, we were treated to a pretty picture of Alamo at night.