Meeting Idols or Heros or Somethings

In December Jonah's coach had three former Olympians-gymnasts he coached come to the gym to talk with the boys and parents.  I think I may have been more excited than Jonah until we showed up at the gym.  Then Jonah was a little awe struck.  Chris Brooks, Johnathan Horton, and Raj Bhasvar spent time working with the boys and answering questions.  Then they generously signed items and posed for pictures. 

Chris Brooks

Raj Bhavsar

Johnathan Horton

It was an awesome experience for the boys and I learned tons about down the road gymnastics. 

Today it was Emma's turn.  I took her to meet Aly Raisman this afternoon.  She was so darn excited.  Aly signed her state meet shirt and a generic picture and then pictures.  She was lovely.

So, that was not the only gymnastic activity for us this weekend.  Jonah had his South State level 5 gymnastics meet.  Boy was it a mess.  Jonah has just had a mess of a season and it has been hard...maybe just painful for me as the mom to watch.  His meet yesterday was mediocre at best.   He made mistakes he has not made all year.  I was never so glad for a meet and a season to be over.  Level 5 is in the past and on to level 7 he goes.  Yep, he is skipping level 6.  I am the only person who is strongly against skipping a level, but I despite being the mom have been out voted.  I pray that I am wrong and that this is the best decision for Jonah.  He is excited so that is great.  We shall see!

Rodeo Time

It is crazy rodeo time in Houston.  Since the end of February the news, the papers, everything are all about the rodeo.  It is a huge deal and I still find it kind of funny.  This was a totally new thing for me and Drew.  The kids on the other had love all things rodeo and beg to go every year.  Well, that did not happen this year, but they still were able to dress up for various activities at school.

Drew and I are not from Texas.  But, our kids are Texans and they love "Go Texan Day".  They wanted to know if we had "Go Texan Day" when we were little.  Um...no silly people.  That did not happen in Pennsylvania and Virginia....neither did "Go PA Day or Go VA Day" for that matter.  Some things are just special in Texas and this is one of those things.

On "Go Texan Day" Haude has a hoedown for the kids.  They dress in their best cowboy and cowgirl girl...hats too...and dance for moms and dads.  These dances have been practiced in PE class for weeks.  Like I said, it is a big deal.

A week later the Kindergarteners had rodeo day.  The afternoon was spent playing rodeo like games.  There is some learning involved such as the life of a cowboy and the Wild West.  But, really it is just a fun excuse to play fun games and the kids love it.

Finally, Elena's preschool has ponies come to ride.  Yep, a real pony and it is one of the year's highlights for Elena.  It has been for Emma, Jonah, and Samuel as well.  Elena loved dressing the part.

Rodeo fever ends this Sunday.  The kids were annoyed we did not go this year.  I think next year we will have to go to the real deal.  I might even break down and finally get cowgirl boots!

Bastrop State Park

On Monday the weather was finally nice.  We were able to enjoy one park before we had to drive home.  We spent a portion of the morning and afternoon in Bastrop State Park.

Before I share our pictures I have to say that being in the park was very sad.  This park was severely damaged during the 2011 Texas wildfires.  Having looked up exactly how bad the fire was in the area I learned that the fire began in Bastrop on 9/4/11 and was not fully contained until 10/10/11.  By that time over 34,000 acres burnt including over half of the state park.  The part of the park we were in was hit hard.  The kids' minds were boggled by all the damage and why this forest looked so strange to them.  It was a great learning experience for them.

We hiked on the Red Trail which was a 1.6 mile hike through the burnt woods and along some ridges.  There was not a single area on our hike that had not been effected by the fires.  It was truly just so sad.  It was also encouraging to see some new ground growth and pine trees.  Despite the obvious damage to the forest, the paths have been fully restored and we had a great hike.  It was hilly and winding at times, which the kids loved.  The could jump across small streams and play on bridges.  They were in heaven!  Our hike ended at a lookout where we had lunch. 

A new tree

The bridges were very cool

We think this was a water fountain at some point

Elena had just fallen and was needing to rest

At the lookout point

Samuel used this tree branch as a see saw

Yes, his shirt says "my wife rocks" and I did buy it for him!

Elena thought maybe she should take a little nap before we left for home....

See the pile of rocks in the truck?  Jonah collected them on the hike and refused to leave any behind.  Just what we need are more rocks in our house.

Someday this park is going to be a "normal" kind of beautiful again....

Bastrop adventure day one

This past weekend we ventured to Bastrop for the weekend.  Jonah had a meet in San Marcos on Sunday so we decided to turn his meet into a little trip.

As for the meet, it was quite uneventful.  Jonah did not do well overall, but he did some things better than at previous meets.  First, he had his best vault score of the season.  Second, he had a good floor routine.  Third, he stayed on the high bar and did his kip. 

This meet was filled with quality gymnasts that we don't normally compete against.  These kids are quite good.  Jonah has the potential to be better than he is, but he has yet to get in that right mindset on a meet day.  He knows most of these boys will be at the state meet.  Time will tell if this motivates him to be better.

As part of our adventure we decided to have a little food tour through Central Texas.  The first two places we ate were recommended and they did not disappoint.  Both places had lines out the door.  Saturday night we ate at the Roadhouse in Bastrop.  This place is all about the hamburgers....all 7oz's of them.  It was worth feeling stuffed!

Sunday for lunch we ate at Black BBQ in Lockhart.  Texas BBQ has grown on me, but still not my favorite type of BBQ.  However, I will say that this food was yummy.  We all enjoyed our brisket, sausage, potatoes in many forms, and pickles.  All BBQ needs pickles according to us!

Sunday night for dinner we decided on Mexican and ate at La Hacienda.  I think I had the best salad I've ever eaten.  It was really amazing.  All the kids loved their food and so did Drew.  We did not go hungry!

The end of our food tour was at Buc-ee's, which is legendary in Texas.  For all our northern friends, it is like Sheetz or Wawa on steroids with the absolute cleanest bathrooms you will ever find.  We got sandwiches for our picnic lunch on Monday.  I am pretty sure that I don't need to eat this week or I need to run more.  So, if anyone goes to Central Texas eat at all of these places!

Besides the gymnastics meet, we had planned on spending our free time at the many state and city parks in the area.  Austin and Bastrop have great parks.  Well, the weather on Sunday was cold and rainy so we had to decide on an alternative plan.  Being a little crazy we took the kids to Cabela's and spent 2.5 hours there!  Elena, Samuel, and Jonah were so happy to see all the animals, play in tents, walk through the aquarium, shoot guns (a Duck Dynasty game), and just look at all the stuff in Cabela's.  It is quite the store!

We all thought this was awesome and it was comfy too!

We missed our Emma and were wishing for sun.  But, we made the most of Sunday and it was fun!