Saturday Night Rodeo!

Last weekend we went to the Rodeo. Not the huge once-a-year San Antonio Rodeo, but the small Tejas Rodeo just 15 minutes up the road from us. It was so much fun! Ella, Ruby, and I all got "cowboyed" up, donning our boots and hats, and we all stood on the fence and watched the entire rodeo. Ruby loved the "Neigh-neighs" and the "Baby Moo-moos," and the rest of the kids loved everything! If Tyler was just a year younger, I'm pretty sure that he would have been out there for the Mutton Bustin,' but Ella, who was the right age, said "No thanks!" The boys both got to go out into the arena to chase the calves around, trying to get something off their tails. I don't remember the name of that event, but it was great fun to watch! When the rodeo finished up around 9pm, there was live music and dancing outside, and we all had a fun time dancing before heading home for bed. Living in Texas is pretty cool.

Spencer's Swim Team

We have been telling Spencer for years that he has the build to make a great swimmer - long skinny limbs, double jointed shoulders and elbows - minus the muscle. Which he's bound to get at some point. So this year he decided that he wanted to swim on a swim team. I have to say that I was so incredibly proud of Spencer. He had never really swam before, except for playing around in the pool, and he certainly didn't know much about the different strokes. I assumed that they would do a little instructing at the first practice, but boy was I wrong. They gave a couple of verbal instructions and then said, "Swim!" I wondered what Spencer would do, since he was the first swimmer in his lane on that first practice, but he just started swimming! The coach told us later that Spencer was a dream student all season long, because he listened to all the advice that she gave him, and always tried his best to do it. Another thing that made me really proud was that he refused to get down on himself. There were races that he was in last place, and he was even lapped by a much older boy in one race, but he knew he did his best and got right back in the pool for his next race. He also rode his scooter to and from practice every day, and he worked his little tail off for the whole season. Spencer was actually quite competitive in the breaststroke, and by the end of the season he had moved up an entire heat in that event. And he had incredible form on his freestyle, backstroke, and his breaststroke. I really think that with some more meat on his bones, some more muscles on those skinny arms and legs, and some more endurance, he could have a real future as a swimmer! And next year Tyler and Ella want to join the team with him. Should be fun!

The 4th of July

We love the 4th of July! We had been having a few days of heavy rain prior to the 4th, and of course it was right smack dab in the middle of our planned camping trip. But I refused to get bummed out about it, and I have to say that it ended up being really fun. We camped in a trailer up at Canyon Lake, and every time the rain would let up we would run to the beach and swim in the lake. Then when the clouds would roll in, we would book it back up to the trailer and have hot chocolate and play games. It was great! Even despite the fact that our trailer sprung a leak at 3am our first night, right above mine and Bryan's bed, we figured at least it didn't wake up the kids! And then on Saturday, it cleared up just enough for us to enjoy a really fun day out on the boat with a big group of friends, but not quite enough to lure the masses up there. So it was perfect!


For the first time since we moved to San Antonio, there has not been a "burn ban" in effect - so we were able to do our very own fireworks!! It was quite a little bit of nostalgia as Bryan and I picked out the fireworks from the little stand (the snakes, the wild spinning things, the fountains, the grand finale) and the best part was that they were seriously like $0.75 each! It's a far cry from driving to Evanston, Wyoming every summer...but it was still a pretty fun little front yard show. The kids really loved it. Ruby was quite nervous, as you can see from the pictures, and she wouldn't get near the sparklers. She eventually warmed up to the loud noises, thanks to some red white and blue cookies, and ended up enjoying the night with the rest of us.

Then on Monday morning, the 5th, we all went to a little breakfast and bike parade at the church. It was a hit! The kids loved their decorated bikes, scooters, roller blades, and helmets, and we had a fun time taking pictures and enjoying a beautiful morning. Later that afternoon we had a 4th of July BBQ at our house with about 40 people (25 of whom were kids!). Bryan smoked a 10 lb. brisket and some sausage, and I, of course, made the flag jello and homemade ice-cream with Texas sheetcake for dessert. It was a really fun time, with good food and great friends.

The Carlson Family Reunion

This year was the first ever Carlson Family Reunion, held at Turtle Lake in Minnesota. It was such a great and memorable trip - I definitely hope it is not the LAST Carlson Family Reunion! We only had really nice weather one day out of this trip, but it couldn't have been on a better day - the trip out to the hunting shack! The first day after we all arrived we made the trek out to Aiken, to the Carlson's hunting shack. I've heard a lot about this shack over the years, and so it was really fun for me to get to see it first hand. Bryan's grandpa also brought out the 4-wheeler, so the kids all had a fun time riding around on that. We roasted hot dogs over a fire for lunch, and just sat around listening to stories about what life was like "way back when." It was a wonderful day!

On the way back from Aiken, we also stopped by the family cemetery. I love this picture of Ella sitting next to the headstone of her namesake - Bryan's great grandma, Ella Carlson.

Bryan and Scott really wanted to get some waterskiing in this trip, even though the weather was far from warm. But in order to fit it in with the rest of the scheduled events, they left our cabin at 5:00 in the morning and drove out to Bryan's Uncle Ron's house to ski. Despite the cold weather and early morning hours, they all had a great time waterskiing and driving Ron's race cars around. There are a few things that Bryan will skip sleep for...and this is one of them!

The entire family stayed in a giant 11 bedroom cabin for the reunion, and it couldn't have been more fun. There was a playground right outside, which Ruby spent a lot of time at, and a lake for fishing just a few steps further. Since the weather was quite rainy for most of the time we were there, we decided to get the kids out and take them to a little indoor water park one day. They had a blast! It was a lot of fun for them to run around together, going on slide after slide after slide. A very fun day!

Next came the day of fishing! We rented a pontoon boat for one of the days, and we fished and fished and fished! We have taken the kids fishing before, but we usually just catch and release. But this time we had a bigger goal - a fish fry that night! I wondered how the kids would do with the flopping, suffocating fish sitting in a bucket, and they actually did quite well! Spencer was not a fan of baiting the hook, or touching the fish afterward, but he did love the actual fishing. Tyler and Ella didn't bat an eye ripping that worm in half, shoving it onto a sharp hook, and then pulling that flopping fish off the hook after catching it. No problems at all! I was quite surprised at Ella. She wasn't one bit squeamish, and she loved that day of fishing. And even though I'm much more of a fishing spectator, I sure did enjoy the fish fry that night! Bryan's grandma has a way with fish. Mmmmm!



Here are a couple of pictures of our last night there, with all of the kids gathered around for Catherine's nightly story time. The boys all slept out here together, with the two girls in the bedroom just next to them. They all loved being with their cousins, and they were not happy that it was time to go home. But like I said...we just hope it isn't the LAST family reunion up in Minnesota!

Ella's Dance Performance

Another year of dance has come and gone for Ella, and thus so has the highlight of the year...the performance!! Ella loved dance this past year, especially since she was in a class full of her friends from Pre-school, church, and soccer. This year her class was assigned "tap" for the performance, and they did a darling little dance to "Happy Tappin' With Elmo." It really was a cute little dance, with a bunch of cute little girls. Ella had been telling me that there was a big surprise that we'd see at the performance, and she was so excited about keeping it a secret all year long. If you watch the video you'll get to see what that surprise was - a little Elmo that was strapped to each of their backs! Ella did a great job, worked really hard, and looked just beautiful in her costume.


I've also included a second little video here. Now Ruby, who has been watching Ella's dance class all year long, once a week, has learned a lot of this dance! Ella brought the CD home to practice with, and the two of them have been upstairs dancing away to this CD for weeks. So on the morning of Ella's performance, we decided to video both of the girls doing the dance together. It is so cute! The girls are just hanging in their pajamas, laughing and dancing away in the family room. I just thought this video was too cute not to share.

The Boy's Piano Recital

The boys just completed their second year of piano lessons, culminating with the big piano recital. As usual, they both worked really hard on their songs, and did an outstanding job. I am so so proud of them!! Tyler played "Hedwig's Theme" from The Sorcerers Stone, and "Spring" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. He was great! Spencer played Phantom of the Opera and Maple Leaf Rag. A couple of weeks before the recital he decided that he wanted to SING as well as play Phantom of the Opera (he was inspired by the You Tube 6th grade Lady Gaga performance), and so I wrote the words out for him to "just try it", since it is quite hard to sing and play. But lo and behold...he nailed it! The boys also played (and sang) their songs at their class talent show, so I was pretty proud of them for doing that too. Way to go boys!!!