Tyler and Daphne's Blog

Monday, August 8, 2016

USS Lexington

We spent one night aboard the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi with Tyler's cub scout pack. We all had fun but it was hot and Tyler said it was the most exhausting day of his life. We walked all around the ship during the afternoon and then did a scavenger hunt after the ship closed to the public. Certain parts of the ship were air conditioned such as our bunks but most areas were not air conditioned. Daphne had to sit this trip out since she didn't meet the minimum age 5 requirement.

Ready for adventure

The bunks were separated by gender, which
meant poor Michael had to clean up after Tyler
vomited at 1 am likely from heat exhaustion. Don't
worry- he ended up being just fine (Tyler that is).

Getting the run down of the Lexington protocols and the schedule.

I wouldn't want to meet up with Noah and Tyler in battle!

In the brig

Nearby beach in Corpus Christi

Before we got on the ship I told the boys they would have to walk
the plank so I was tickled to see "The Plank" on one of the signs.

The flight deck was pretty impressive!

Damon runs from the shark.

Tyler and Noah took turns sitting in the cockpit.

We all took turns sitting at the helm of the ship.

Posing in the barber shop during the scavenger hit

Excited to have turned in their scavenger hunt form

Harbor Bridge

Damon was a fan of the heavy artillery.

Rounding out the day with some fun in the game room.

I'm on the top left of the closest bunk shown. I have to confess
that I had another mom help hoist me into my bunk!

Damon is fired up!

Exploring the jetty

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Kid Swap

The past week or so has been action-packed: a partial kid swap, Corpus Christi, Splashway, and Houston! Last weekend we traded Daphne for Noah and Damon because Daphne was too young for the age 5 minimum for our overnight stay on the USS Lexington. Damon barely made the cut as he turned 5 on the day we brought him back to Austin.

Full house in the back seat

Ice cream for Damon's 5th birthday

Cousin pile-up

Ready for sleeping bags in Tyler's room

Monday, July 25, 2016

ANW vs. Spartan

Tyler has been getting his summer fix of American Ninja Warrior (ANW). We also started watching Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge, which Tyler also likes. The Spartan show is a 1-mile obstacle course that teams of five compete in. Tyler told me that he would rather be an ANW than a Spartan racer because on ANW when they fall off an obstacle they only get wet (in clean water) whereas on Spartan they get really dirty doing the obstacles (e.g. crawling in mud under barbed wire and swimming under walls in murky water). Tyler is definitely his father's boy!

Friday, July 22, 2016

Lake McQueeney

On the way back from Houston we headed to Lake McQueeney with my dad and Mary. Michael drove down from Austin to meet us. We all enjoyed going out on Mary's boat and trying out her new tube.

We took the paddleboat for a spin but it was a little hot without
a breeze. Tyler and I took turns helping Michael pedal.

Jamie is the second mate on the boat.

Daphne and PawPaw hanging on

Daphne was fearless and even rode the tube by herself. She
would have gone first but PawPaw took the tube for a test spin
first to make sure it was good to go for the kids.

I had to bribe Tyler with video games to get him to try the tube.
He was scared but loved it once he rode it. He even rode it by
himself, with me, and with Michael but we ran out of camera
storage for videos and photos by that point.