LBJ Ranch and Museum Visit

We took the kids to the Lyndon B Johnson state park last week. They had a great time! The park features the LBJ ranch and nice picnic areas and a living history farm. All for free. Here is a pic of the kids next to some of the cars that Lyndon B. Johnson used to drive when he was president. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/lyndon_b_johnson/

Here is a picture of the farm. Everything was as authentic as they could make it and was exactly as an early 1900 fully functional farm would have been in rural Texas. Water was pumped by a windmill, they grew, butchered and cooked all their own food on a wood stove. etc. They didn't have any electricity or gas.

Here we are with one of the volunteers who worked there in time period clothing.

Here is the lady giving an explanation on how they preserved the things they grow on the farm.

Here is an old fashioned milk separator

The kids collected the eggs from the hen house, which they though was really cool. Over all they had alot of fun at the LBJ park and ranch. There was alot they saw that we didn't get to record but at least these are the high lights.

Happy birthday Alan. 7 Yrs old

This weeks big event is that Alan turned 7. We had a fun birthday in the park with our friends. It was a bit cold and windy but the kids had lots of fun. Alan had wanted his birthday with just Mommy and Daddy and the baby. but in the end agreed to have Kenny, Ashy, Jade and Adrian there too.

Leila made a beautiful cake and decorated it with a little Alan figure boy, which was made out of frosting. it came out looking pretty good.

Kayaking at the Boerne lake

here are a couple of pictures of the boys out kayaking. They had a lot of fun and were learning how to get the hang of it. We have since gotten two kayaks and more life vests. And the boys sure enjoy going out on the lake. plus its good coordination. Enjoy

Tract & Treating

Here are some pics of Ashy and Jade passing out tracts on Halloween in Boerne, which by the way is a really cute little Texas town about 5 minutes from where we live. The girls dressed up for the occasion and passed out salvation tracks to the different people they met.

Ashley really enjoyed herself and explained to each person she met all about her little bug outfit. She likes to meet new people and is very outgoing.

The other day we went to pick up a wrought iron candle stick for our living room which someone was donating. Ashy offered to sing "Away in the manager" to the lady at her front gate. The lady happily agreed and Ashy stood there and sang her carol from start to finish. To say the least we were all quite impressed.

Ashley and her friend Jade showing off the salvation tracks they passed out, and their cute little outfits that were donated to us.

Here's a recent Jolynn pic, so you can see how much she is growing.

National Museum of the Pacific War

In Fredericksburg, a town pretty close to Boerne, they have an awesome museum and we were able to take the kids there recently. It's called the National museum of the Pacific war and it started with Pearl Harbor and went through the US's involvemnt in WW2 in the Pacific.

Admiral Nimitz, who was the commander in cheif of the US navy during WW 2 was from Fredericksburg and the museum is in his family house. The kids loved it and were so impressed by how many real artifacts they had at the museum.

Kenny, Alan and Ashley in the Japanese Garden of Peace, a gift from the people of Japan to the US people and Admiral Nimitz after the war.

One of the shells of a "fat boy", an atomic bomb like the one dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. This would have been one of the third or fourth bombs dropped had the Japanese not surrendered.

Inside a Q hut fitted out as a medical facility.

Having a tour of the combat zone.

This was a real PT boat, a restored boat that saw action during the war.

An audio visual show, part of the museum tour.

Some of the neat displays.

The boys loved this. It's a real B29 bomber plane.

Another favorite, this was a real Japanese midget submarine. During the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese brought five midget submarines on the backs of big submarines and sent them into the harbor. This was one of those five and was displayed as if it were riding on a Japanese submarine.

They had really put a lot into making the museum displays as authentic as possible with paintings on the walls, sounds, lights, etc. very fun and exciting for the kids. They went through it so fast as they couldn't wait to see what was around the next corner.

http://www.nimitz-museum.org/index.htm

Ashley's first Ballet class

This week Ashley and her friend Jade went to their first ballet class. They were both so cute!