Spring break in Texas = family coming to visit

It's been a fun week of family visiting this past week. James' folks arrived last Saturday night, as well as his brother Jason and his fiancee Nelissa and her daughters. We had a very fun week of hanging out with folks we love but don't get to see nearly enough. They made the 15 hour drive just to see the grandkids...and us, I think.

This trip has been planned for some time, in spite of the fact that James' mom had just had surgery to remove a cyst in her ear(for the second time in two years). It ended up being pretty major, but she was determined to come and made the trek just two days after surgery.

Jason and Nelissa

They were recently engaged and will be married in July. Nelissa is a teacher, and Jason is getting his Masters degree in school counseling. They live in Austin, Texas.

Everyone arrived Saturday night, and Jason and Nelissa and her girls Ebony and Olivia joined us for church Sunday morning. Shannon's preschool choir sang, and Shannon stood with them and frowned. I am thinking singing on stage is not his forte. If he ever said he didn't want to do it we wouldn't make him, but he seems to like the idea of going up on stage with them, he just doesn't want to sing. Or look happy.

Sunday it was raining and nasty, and stayed that way through Monday. Monday was spent hanging out at the house. Olivia is eight, and Amelia, Shannon, and Avery had a blast playing with her.

Tuesday was a beautiful day, and we all spent some time soaking up the sunshine outside. The kids rode tricycles and bikes, and Shannon brought out his rod and reel for some practice.

This is serious business.

He called it "road fishing," and it apparently has it's own set of techniques.

The windup...

..and the throw. He could get it WAY down the driveway.

When you're ready to do some road fishing of your own, be sure to let Shannon know. He can give you some pointers.

Avery in Papa's hat.

Thankfully the weather was so nice on Tuesday, because Jason and Nelissa had to leave early Wednesday morning. We made a fun day of it.

Nelissa and her oldest daughter, Ebony.

We headed to the barn so the girls could ride.

Maverick grows a ridiculously long winter coat, and this is shedding season, so we worked on him for a long time. Hair flew everywhere.

Shannon tries to protect his nose from the flying hair.

Note the hair pile starting to collect at Maverick's feet. He looks like a different horse in the summer. A smaller, thinner horse.

Olivia gets a few pointers before taking Lady for a spin. Might I just make the vain comment that I am ready for my hair to hurry up and grow out?

Both girls did well riding, and took turns swapping horses with each other and giving Amelia and Shannon turns too. I hope to be able to teach Amelia to ride by herself better this summer.

On our way back to the house we stopped at the lake to throw in some rocks. My kids could do this for hours.

Ebony chunks a big one. They make a more satisfying splash than the baby ones.

This was amazing. Amelia actually levitated a rock. I wasn't aware it was a talent she had until this day. Wow. (James and I just finished watching all three X-Men movies this week. If you've seen them, you'll know why this picture was extra weird for me. If not, see them, they're good!)

Elizabeth and Uncle Jason.

Wednesday morning Jason and Nelissa and the girls left before the crack of dawn (and before the crack of my eyelids). James and his dad got in some fly fishing, something they enjoy together and do whenever they get a chance. Thanks to Mimi I got to spend some wonderfully terrific time at the barn Wednesday morning. I rode my new favorite horse Reggie, and also got to ride one of Susan's awesome horses. It was another beautiful day, started one of my favorite ways. (Thanks, Mimi!)

Wednesday night the kids and I headed off to church and James stayed home with his folks. He had to work a lot of the week since this is crunch time at camp with promotions, hiring staff, and all the other things that go into making camp great. We've often said that camp is 10 months of work for a two month production.

Thursday we had more family come to see us. James' mom's twin sister Sherry lives in Senecca, SC, about an hour and a half from us. She came down for the day with her daughter, James' cousin Tracy, and Tracy's daughters London and Harper. Ameiia is just six months older than London and loves playing with her. Thankfully it was another great weather day. The kids played inside for awhile, then headed out to the (bear tested) play set. Later we went back to the barn.

Amelia and London feed Dante.

It's golf cart weather again. I love golf cart weather! We've been able to dust it off after a cold winter and use it for our means of travel around camp again.

On the way back we stopped to throw some rocks in the lake. I hope the lake doesn't get too full due to water displacement from all the rocks. If so I'll just have Amelia leviate some out.

They also requested a stop at the daffodils. Harper is two, born just before Avery.

We love daffodils.

Don't let the flowers fool you. He's still a man's man.

Aunt Sherry, Tracy, and Cherry (aka Mimi/Mom H.).

Aunt Sherry also goes by Mimi. It's a twin thing...decided independently of one another. So here are the Mimi's and the grandkids.

Thursday night we went to Rebecca's for dinner. She has a Wii, and the kids are always begging to play. This time it was adult Wii time, and we played Rock Band, a fun game where you can sing, play drums, or the guitar. Your band can get booed off the stage, or you can earn money if you're good. The kids kept asking to play, so being the good parents we are, we said, "No, we're playing. Find something else to do." We like to set the example for sharing.

We said our goodbyes to Mimi and Papa Thursday night, since they had to leave dark and early (as opposed to bright and early) Friday morning. We always hate goodbyes, seems like the time is always too short. We look forward to their retirement and move to Georgia in a few years.

Friday and Saturday I worked on catching up on some stuff around here, mostly e-mails for camp and some other responsibilities I had put off earlier in the week. James headed down to Strong Rock school Friday for some camp networking, and since our friend Curtis rode along with him the kids and I joined Jenny and kids for dinner. She invited the older two for a sleepover the following night with the Davidson crew, so I trucked them over Saturday evening and went to Ingles with the other two. Did you know it's actually easier to go to the store with two kids than four?

We went to church this morning...and would you know the Davidsons with their four and our two STILL beat us there? I got to spend another fun afternoon riding after lunch today. On a sad note, I did lose a horse today. One of our camp horses started losing weight a few months ago and has been getting progressively sicker, not eating, etc. The vet couldn't figure out what it was, so I waited it out, until today when the poor guy couldn't get up. James ended it for him. I am sad, but that's how it goes with critters sometimes. It's very probable that he had a tumor or a type of cancer an exam and bloodwork couldn't pick up.

Well, that's a sad note to end on, but I'm done. There's nothing else to report. No more pictures to post. And it's time for bed and then some. Adios, amigos. Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you. Farewell, and goodbye.

Or not. I forgot something. If you're reading this and are free next Sunday afternoon, please come to Open House here at camp. It's from 1:30 to 5:30, on the 28th. If you're reading this...huh. If you're not you must be using your powers of telepathy. I'm telling you, you have to see the X-Men movies.