Guadalupe River Raft Trip

We were in for a fun family summer outing a couple weekends back and had planned on taking the boat out on the lake, but then remembered that a river raft trip was on our "fun things to do" list. Dwaine was excited about actually getting to relax and enjoy the day a little, rather than being in charge of launching the boat, driving the boat, airing up tubes, setting up ropes, and all that stuff that goes along with taking the boat out. So here are some pics of our second ever Dement Family Guadalupe River Raft trip...

The kids being one year older and the river a lot more full (no dragging the raft) made for a better trip than last year.
It just doesn't get any better than this.

And the scenery is so beautiful!


Just like Kevin Bacon in that movie (can't remember what it was called). Looking hot keeping that raft on course. There was that one little incident with the rapids when Dwaine very briefly and unexpectedly went overboard. I've never seen anyone get on their feet and back in a raft that fast. I think it scared the kids just a little- they weren't too excited about any fast water after that. (they were completely safe down in the bottom of the raft by the way). But I was just excited that there actually were rapids. So fun!

Stopped for a picnic and a little swimming and found an old log that made a great diving board for the kids. Dwaine decided to climb up to the high board- such a kid.

We finished off the day with dinner and frozen custard at Freddie's. We were all completely exhausted but only a little sun burned. It was definitely worth it. Can't wait to do it again!

Arachnophobia!

As the kids and I unloaded from the car after being gone at VBS for the evening, Dwaine said he had something to show us...

Yes, that is a giant tarantula that was hanging out in our backyard!! EEEEK! And I don't mean way out in the back 40, but right up in the patio area on one of our potted plants. Glad Dwaine found it and not me- I would have freaked out!

First Graduation Ceremony!

Alli celebrated her first graduation! She completed her kid's day out preschool class and will be moving on to kindergarten!! This is big exciting stuff.

Whoa! Is that her preschool or high school grad picture? She looks so much older with that cap and gown on! Scary little flash forward when I first saw that pic!

Looking so adorable saying the pledge of allegiance.

Receiving her diploma from Ms Paige! Then, she gave both of her teachers a big hug!


Now that is one cute class pic!


Proudly showing off her accomplishment.

The ceremony was super cute with all the kids performing a couple songs they've learned over the year and a slide show featuring all of the students individually. Somehow I managed not to cry.



Then we headed to Chuck E. Cheese with her friends for a fun end of school party. I love the expressions on their faces. We are going to really miss this group- she made some super sweet little friends and none of them will be going to the same school together. Thankfully, we will see some of them at church, but I guess we'll have to make some new school friends in kinder!

No nap days

Apparently no nap days are starting to catch up to TJ...

If I could fit on one of those chairs laying down, I probably would have done the same thing. You can tell by the lack of nutrition on his plate that I was more than a little tired that day too- not much effort was put into preparing that dinner!

Hurtful Words

Alli: I know how I'm gonna be when I grow up and I'm a parent.

Me: Oh yeah? How? (somewhat excited to hear the answer)

A: Better than y'all (pointing at Dwaine and me).

So, at this point, I'm hurt, stunned, somewhat amused and not sure what to say, but I manage with:
You know, I can remember thinking that as a kid, but sometimes being a parent is really hard.

*************************************************************

A little later (and obviously still a little hurt by her words), I say to Alli:
So what are you going to do when you're a mom?

A: I'm gonna play with my kids whenever and I won't do chores until my wife gets home.

OUCH!

And then I proceeded to correct her on the fact that she'll have a husband, not a wife. I couldn't help it.

I later gently reminded her of all the things mommy and daddy do for her and how much we love her, but I heard my lesson too. And I'll try not to put chores before my kids. I'm just not very good at this time management stuff sometimes.

At some point during all this, Alli informed me that she is going to have 10 kids. In that case- she IS going to have to be a much better mom than me :-) Oh, and TJ is going to have 5! Woohoo for 15 grandbabies!

It's Summertime!

I really love spring so I am a little bummed that it is pretty much gone, but I am excited about summer fun- swimming, the beach, playing in the river! So we busted out the backyard pool and slip-n-slide for the first time this year...

Reminds me of the Schlitterbahn commercials... Come Plaaaay...

Except my kids are actually enjoying themselves. It's amazing how much fun they have in such a tiny pool.

Helotes Rodeo and Cornyval

Some pics from our evening at the Helotes Rodeo and Cornyval a few weeks back...

Started the evening off with some pony rides. The kids LOVE this part. For some reason, I didn't get a good pic of TJ- seems I say that a lot lately.

The Roberson family came out to join us in the fun! I thought this was a great pic of Grant and Travis.
Does it get any cuter than that? They were loving it- horses, cows, cowboys, tractors- I mean what's not to love? It was so fun having our best buds with us- Alli and TJ just adore their Grant and Jakers!

After watching a few events at the rodeo and letting the kids chase after some calves in the calf scramble and get nowhere near them, we headed to the carnival for some rides and games (I love this part). I'm sorry, but I just don't think you ever get too old to enjoy riding rides and playing games for prizes.

Those are the popping a balloon with a dart prizes in their hands. That little black and white puppy has not left TJ's side since that night. He's never really been very attached to a stuffed animal before now, but he is serious about this one. He gets a little panicky when he wants it and doesn't know where it is - and so do I :-)

More rides! So much fun now that they are both big enough to ride alone. Notice Alli holding on to TJ's swing keeping him close.

I love that they always want to sit right next to each other!

Fish Funeral

Had a fish funeral this last week. Tears were shed. Lots of questions were asked about why animals have to die. And now we have this grave in the backyard. Alli said "The decorations are love. He needs more decorations." She's so sweet. That's a drawing of Conrad on the bottom. TJ added all the other little marks.

Our Easter

Back in April...

This year we dyed and glittered our eggs. So fun. They didn't last until Easter morning though. They didn't even last until the end of that day. The kids played egg hunt with them all day and they were almost all cracked by evening. I think I found one intact about a week later.

Easter morning egg hunt. The kids were really into it this year.

Posing by our neighbor's bluebonnets. I was so excited about the wildflowers this year.

At church. We weren't able to get a very successful family pic this year. Oh well.

I did however get some pretty cute pics of Alli and Jack. She sure does miss him since he went off to kindergarten. We just don't get to see him often enough anymore.

And then we headed out to Stockdale to spend the day with my Nana and she took us to the city cemetery to see the fields of wildflowers. They were breath-taking. The indian paintbrushes were so thick and beautiful!

Alli loves to pose, but I couldn't get TJ to look up at all. He kept covering his eyes- he's not a fan of the sun shining in his eyes at all.


At the cemetery, Alli especially had lots of questions and wanted to read all the different head stones. I was very impressed with how mature she was about it all and how careful she was to follow the rules I gave her about how to respect the grave sites when walking around. A really great learning experience and deep conversation starter that I would not have thought to expose them to, so I was glad for the unexpected opportunity.

Garage Birds

We have had birds trying to build a nest in our garage for a few years now, but they would always try to build right on top of our shoes or would get shut out at night and would never be able to finish the job. Well, they found a way in and out even when the doors are closed and were finally successful...

That's mama bird sitting on her eggs in the nest that is resting in our car wash supply bucket. Oh well- guess we won't be able to wash the cars for a while (which is not a big deal since we are in 2 rentals right now, but that's another story).
And those are the tiny baby birds the day they hatched. I was so excited when I walked out there expecting to see the eggs or the mama bird and I saw those little beaks instead. Hi babies!!
Is that not the cutest ugly thing you have ever seen? They grow up so fast.

Turns out there are 6 of these little guys. We were pretty certain there were 5 until today when I could clearly see 6. I guess one has been hiding under the others. Mom and dad have been very busy flying back and forth taking care of them.

I just love checking on them everyday. The other day I found one outside the nest, so Dwaine carefully put him back in using a paper towel so mama wouldn't smell human on him. Not sure how he wandered out but it's a good thing all those car wash mits were there to catch him. We used to talk about how stupid those birds were for trying to build in our garage, but maybe they aren't so stupid after all.

Inquiring Mind

While inspecting a scrape on his foot, TJ says

"Where does the skin go when you hurt yourself?"

Lake LBJ 2010

Some pics from our annual trip to the "blue house" on Lake LBJ...

Stopped along the way for a roadside bluebonnet pic. This was in March when they had first started blooming and they were so thick and beautiful!

Lots of boat rides.

He loves to go super fast!


This trip was special because all the grandparents got to join us for a day too!

Relaxing by the lake.

Childcare so mom and dad could do some real fishing.

My dad checked drive a boat off his bucket list.

The kids got lots of extra attention.

It really was a win-win-win situation!

Thank you Grandma, Pop, Grandma & PawPaw! Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Perch fishing off the dock.

The fishing wasn't as good as it usually is out there, but we were at least able to fill an ice chest by the end of the trip.

Alli taking her turn at the wheel.

More perch!

We look forward to this trip every year and I think it will only keep getting better. Such great family fun!

Fun Videos

Just some cute videos (or bideos as TJ says) that I wanted to share...

We had quite the rainstorm a couple weekends ago and it left a flowing creek in the back yard. The kids had a blast running, splashing and floating their boats all the way down it. It's not often that we get to play in the rain around here. Sorry about the loud background noise- Dwaine was pressure washing the back patio- thanks Travis for letting us borrow it!

T-ball practice. Not bad considering we rarely do this. Maybe we need to start doing it more often!

TJ's awesome dance moves!

Kindergarten Round Up

Well, it's official. Alli is enrolled to be a Helotes Bulldog next year. And if the way I handled registering her for kindergarten is any indication of how I will handle the first day of school, then I will be in need of some serious therapy on that day. That is a warning for my friends and family. Let's just say more than a few tears have already been shed.

I can't even go into all the emotions and thoughts that are swirling in my mind, but in simple words, it is the end of an era. Not to mention the beginning of so many new things that I'm not sure if I'm ready for yet. I am just having a hard time with the idea of dropping her off and being away from her 5 days a week. And what will TJ do when his full-time playmate is out of the house so much? Okay, so maybe I can go into some of the thoughts, but there are many more. My sweet baby girl is growing up and I want to push "pause" but I can't.

Alli, on the other hand, is so thrilled about it all. She absolutely LOVED the school and can not wait for this next step in her life. I even shot a video of her standing in front of the school after registration saying things like "This is my new school and surely I am so excited about going to kindergarten because this is the best place I have ever been." I mean she went on and on and was speaking as if she was standing in front of an audience. It was adorable! Well, I accidentally erased that video from my camera. Oh yes, I did. So hopefully, we can recreate something similar on that first day. You better believe I'll try!

The most adorably sweet, smart, funny kindergarten student-to-be in front of her big new school. Can she really be big enough for this?

The Dement Ranch

Back in January, we bought our very own ranch- something we've been trying to make happen for many years now. The wait was well worth it because this particular piece of land is so much more than we ever imagined we would have. It's almost 150 acres near Camp Wood, TX and it has a little bit of everything- scenic hills, 2 Indian mounds, lots of dry creek beds, some beautiful valleys, 2 deer feeders, and lots of places to hike and explore. And it's just a few miles from access to the Nueces river and some really nice parks.

Dwaine and the kids standing on an overlook point.

Same overlook, different view.

Ranch hand in training watching daddy work on the first task after signing the papers- posting some private property signs. It took a while for it to really feel like it was ours, but lots of hard work later, it has sunk in! Getting our name on it helped...



Dwaine and I worked long and hard getting this gate entrance erected one weekend and then Corry helped with some finishing touches on another visit when the Westinghouse family was able to spend a day at the ranch with us.

Alli and Autumn having fun striking some movie star poses. I love this pic!

Alli and TJ posing for some pictures in one of the creek beds.
A picnic in the valley- this is my favorite place to relax and have lunch.

Autumn, Alli, TJ and Shelby celebrating after a little rock climbing- they made it to the top!

This fallen tree created the perfect picture opportunity.

The boys being boys.

More ranch hands in training.

Helping feed the deer.

Stay tuned for more pictures and updates as our cabin is almost complete! We have had lots of fun camping and the kids enjoyed sleeping in the tent, but having a bed, some recliners, a front porch and a fireplace will be a nice change.