Baseball Camp

 Round Rock Express baseball camp is one of JD's favorite summer activities.  It was a beautiful but HOT week of baseball.

Lunch at the Salt Lick on the final day of camp may be his favorite part of the week.

Catching Up

I have been so lazy with my blog let me catch up on a few things.

 JD and his boy scout friends have been SO HELPFUL in my friend Pat's effort to collect and distribute bras to needy women.  they were silly at first but then got right down to business.

JD found some of the biggest bras I have EVER SEEN!

 These fine young men graduated from elementary school!

 I'm just not ready to say goodbye to some of my favorite elementary school teacher friends.  I'm going to miss them!

Thunderbird District Adventure Weekend

 Our Boy Scouts participated in District Adventure Weekend.  It was a beautiful weekend with just a few passing showers.

 We had a great group of boys camping with us.

 I'm especially fond of these two.  Only one of them belongs to me officially - but you have to love those smiles.

 George and I set up the troop kitchen and cooked some great looking Fajitas for the adults.

First Court of Honor

JD attended his first Boy Scout Court of Honor where he was presented with three merit badges.  WAY TO GO JD!

Austin Aquarium

 The Austin Aquarium was one of our spring break adventures.

 JD got to feed the sting rays and . . .

hold a snake.

Spring Break Visitors

The great thing about living in a place like Austin is that the party comes to you.  We enjoyed all our spring break visitors.

 Uncle Keith came to watch a baseball game and break some geodes.

 We were very happy to see all the Ridings.  They all enjoyed their UT t-shirts.

 If there are blue bonnets you have to take a picture with them.

 Love all that red hair.

 JD was happy to see that Jack had grown up and could play video games now!

We also got to visit with an old (or YOUNG) college friend Lorrie.  THANKS to everyone who came to visit.

Eating on the Run

We've had a lot of food on the run recently.  Here we are at Mighty Fine eating in baseball clothes on the way home from practice

 JD is on the Cubs team this year so I have been working on a new banner.  Opening day is Saturday so we are almost ready to go.

 Another burger on the way to Boy Scouts.  I promise we eat food other than hamburgers - BUT - that seems to be our meal on the run choice.

 JD helped me vote.  Our candidate didn't win - but we are used to that.  Apparently my vote isn't very lucky - or maybe its just that I'm willing to vote for a candidate that doesn't have a chance to win.

Merit Badge University

 This group of boys did a great job Saturday at Merit Badge University.  They navigated the U.T. campus and spent the entire day in classes.  They were even able to explain to us what they had learned when it was all over.

 We met in the morning at Littlefield Fountain.

 The boys got out their map of the campus and planned out their strategy.

So proud of all of them - and a little scared that they are getting so big and independent.

Tinker v. Des Moines

 Met one of my heroes today - Mary Beth Tinker.  She was at our Law Related Education conference.  Mary Beth's case involving a Vietnam War protest went all the way to the Supreme Court

Dawgs

JD and I went to a basketball game at Bowie.  He had to have a picture with the bulldog -- because that is what we do.

Arrow of Light

 JD has earned his Arrow of Light award and crossed over to a Boy Scout Troop.  WOW - he's getting big.  I'm not ready for him to be a Boy Scout yet --- we have chosen a great troop and he has a good bunch of boys and leaders to work with.

Tarzan

JD has been a fan of Bowie musicals since he saw Les Misarables years ago.  This year's performance was Tarzan.  They had some pretty impressive rope climbing effects.  I'm always amazed at what a high quality performance high schoolers are capable of.

Science Fair

HOORAY - another year's science fair project is in the books.

 JD broke geodes and did observations about what was inside and how that compared to what the outside looked like.

Dad helps - so naturally power tools were involved.

Christmas and the Aftermath

 JD got this giant nerf fun for Christmas.  Rosie looks worried about being used for target practice.

We continued our day after Christmas tradition of going to Fort Sam Houston.  Here JD posed with Army Santa.

Merry Christmas

The Christmas season is upon us -- even at school.  Every year on the last day of classes before finals begin the choir roams the school caroling. 

I gave my economics students this little economics treat with their final exam.  Since they all snickered at the pun I have decided that we have had a successful semester together. 

 Our last cub scout den meeting of the year involved a craft project.

 The Zilker Trail of Lights has become a tradition for us.

 Since you can buy your way into the trail an hour before they open it to the public it has actually been a pleasant experience the last couple years.

I bribed JD with a hamburger to get him to take this picture with Santa.

Elf on the Shelf

The sad and inevitable day has come when JD has figured out that Santa is not real and that the elf on the shelf doesn't really report to him every night.  We put the elf out but I haven't been moving it around.  This morning though ---- the elf has moved and a sign by him said, "take a selfie."  The elf's handwriting looked suspiciously like JD's!  He tried to selfie this morning and I ended up taking his picture - of course Gumball had to get in on the action.

Camping With the Boy Scouts

 We are still working on our crossover decision and trying to figure out which of the Boy Scout Troops in the area is the best fit for us. We spent our time this weekend with troop 395.

 For boys the main attraction is always the fire.  They sit by the fire during the day . . .

 . . . and sit by the fire at night.  They also did a ceremony by the evening fire to retire several flags.  They tore the flag into strips, dedicated them to several events in U.S. history and then burned them.

 Even these little boys found it to be a pretty serious event.

Of course, when we camp this little girl goes to the kennel.  She was very happy to see us come home!