Texas Bachelor Pad

I love my cousins and their place is awesome so I just have to show it off. The boys think this place is better than Disney land! The decor brings in an understated touch of the great outdoors... The pets are friendly and well behaved....

They have incorporated welcoming and inventive seating for any and all guests...

There is even space in the gun safe to store your valuables!

Expect all food to be prepared on the outdoor grill due to the abundance of gun powder in the kitchen cabinets...

But they can reload your shotgun shells at the kitchen table during dinner!

And if you run out of essentials during your visit, like toothpaste, shampoo or ammo, just check the kitchen shelves!

Third Culture Kids

My understanding of a "third culture kid" is a child who grows up in one culture (for instance Southern California) but whose parents are from another culture (say...Texas) and thus the child doesn't quite fit in either. After a month in our motherland, the children are in culture shock.

Libby's favorite song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" now sounds a little more "twankely." Most of Daniel's words have a mysterious extra syllable (Mom, can yuh heyelp me fuhnd mah pahyunts?) It is music to my ears! The part that is bothering me is the boys' complete inability to focus on peeing in the toilet now that they are so used to just finding a tree. I have no problem with the plant watering but if you are indoors aim for the water boys, seriously!

To sum up, we skipped naps, stayed up late, got extremely dirty and then bathed in the swimming pool almost every day. We played...how many cousins can we fit in the pool?

And how many cousin can we fit on the trampoline?And how many armed cousins can we fit on the couch? Jacob definitely has a weapon of choice now...And who is the fastest shearer in the west?And who can catch the tiniest frog?

And which pole is the luckiest? Princesses or...

Spiderman.

It's good to be home! Y'all have a good day!

The Lonely Mountain of Oklahoma

Turns out Oklahoma has a mountain! We took a day trip up to the Wichita Mountain in southern Oklahoma. It was truly bizarre, flat prairie and then a random mountain that is apparently lost or has migrated. Here we are looking unorganized at the tallest point in Oklahoma.And what would any tourist destination be without a quick pic of every child, each less enthusiastic and more awkward than the previous?A little further down is a place called The Holy City which is home to the longest continuously running Easter pageant in America. The founder thought the land geologically resembles Jerusalem and built several scenes from Jesus' life along with this neat little church-thing.Of course when you are in a place called The Holy City, what is the first thing you should do? Climb on the building and desecrate everything right?At the bottom of the hill, I mean, mountain, were fun friends like cuddly flower-eating prairie dogs and longhorns. Jacob chased many a prairie dog back into their holes and then tried to capture a baby as a souvenir.

We rounded the day out with longhorn burgers (sorry buddy) and a trip to the museum. The park has several herds of buffalo which, turns out, are huge animals and leave large piles of warm "presents" in the museum parking lot. I chose not to photograph that part of the day but it was impressive.

In summary:

-Wichita Mountain...who knew?

-Prairie dogs are fast

-Buffalo are productive

-Cows taste good

-We miss Daddy alot!!!

How Y'all Doin'?

Does anyone need me to translate that? I am in the motherland of Texas for a month so expect a marked decline in grammar and vocabulary. The funniest phrase I've heard so far is "That's crazier than a goose in the new world!" Still trying to figure out what that means...

But this is the root of our childrens' need to spend a month in Texas. I am slowly forgetting my native tongue! And just the other day Jacob told me something was, like, totally cool! A pilgrimmage was the only solution, even with the ever-looming track record of Jake's Texas visits being directly proportional to ER visits.

So far we've done fun things like eat enchiladas almost every day and redneck things like eating watermelon while barefoot in the yard. We've chased chickens and found a mysterious clue on a shiny piece of pleather written in Magic Marker (highly authentic to a 4 year-old) in the barn that lead to...A possum hole in a tree with another petina-less clue that lead to...A pond and some shovels. Eventually the boys unearthed...pirate treasure? Apparently these pirates never lost their keys or kept a blow torch handy. Only a grandfather would devise a plan involving preschoolers and a blow torch. :-) Inside were animal pelts, somewhat shady holy relics, jewels and, according to Jacob, "thousands of dollars" in recently minted pennies. Overall, not a bad haul! The kids had a blast, all of the pictures from now on will have Libby bedazzled in jewels and Jacob sporting these antique keys janitor-style on his belt loop.We just finished reading The Indian in the Cupboard so he is now searching for a cupboard to put his plastic figures into.
We'll talk at y'all agin later!

Just Beachy

To celebrate the end of kindergarten and a visit from family, we packed up the tent and headed to the beach. Jealous? This interesting beach had some nice tar flows... and lots of rocks...
and a super fun aunt...
and more rocks...
and a sweet baby!
We love you Stephen and Lauren! Please come again!

Mom, This One's For You!

Dear Mimi and Grandma,

We love you. Since we are not in the holy land of Texas yet, we decided to blog a little entertainment for you. Whenever Mom needs a smile she just asks us to do jumping jacks and for some reason this makes her smile. We don't understand but maybe you will...

See you soon!
Jacob, Danny, Libby and Maggie

A Tree Grows in Lancaster

If you don't get my title then...you should read more (Erik). Our backyard is a barren wasteland most of the year and in the spring it is a swamp. If you have ever been invited over, it was either night or all the curtains on the back of the house were mysteriously closed.

It makes me think of those nature shows where David Attenborough spends 45 minutes showing you the slow demise of some pathetic alligator as his little pond steadily dries up and just when you are praising the Lord that you are not that alligator dying in the baking, fetid mud of Africa, it rains. His mudhole becomes a flourishing lake overnight and you start all over again and then the credits roll. That's my backyard with a rabbit and a currently MIA desert tortoise without the voice over, dramatic music or water fowl. This must change.

My boys purchased 5 trees over the weekend and one actually made it in the ground! Daniel is an enthusiastic worker.
And Jacob...not so much. But you have to admire Daniel's cheerful heart in spite of his methodology for hole digging.