Happy Birthday, Russell!

Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop...ahhhhh, I love this place.  It was such a treat to go there sans kids, just to relax, rest & hike along the river by ourselves.  Did I mention the lazy river?  One of our favorites too.  We made Russell an apple pie for his birthday & Benjamin declared that it was better than birthday cake (at least my birthday cakes!).  One day at the end of July we met up with Russell at a history museum close to his work to watch the IMAX film - Rocky Mountain Express...telling about the amazing contruction of the Canadian railroads.

 

Pizza Party time

Such gracious friends we have...hosting a fabulous pizza party, play time & hymn sing.  It was a wonderful way to end the summer and gave us a chance to say goodbye to our workers...who have now headed off to conventions & preps.

Destination: Brenham, Texas

We had do much fun meeting up with friends to tour the Blue Bell Creamery in historic Brenham about 2 hours from our house.  The tour was fantastic & the sample of ice cream at the end was a pretty sweet treat.  Trevin was so worried he'd miss out on his sample.  One impressive thing we learned:  They use milk from 60,000 cows to make one day's worth of ice cream at Blue Bell. 

We're screaming for more ice cream!

Off he goes...to 2nd grade!

 

I'm learning...it doesn't get easier to tell them goodbye on that first day back to school, I just don't have to bend over quite as much to get a hug.  It doesn't get easier to say goodbye to all the summer fun, but we look forward to the learning & discovery that the next level brings.  It doesn't get easier for little brother to let go of big brother's hand, but I love to see their excitement when they are together again.  Life is full of changes, I'm learning to embrace them & enjoy the ride.