Sunday June 28
We were going to go to church today, but there had been a spike in the confirmed cases of Corona Virus and so to be safe church was canceled. We finished packing to get ready for our trip the next day.
Monday June 29
I went for a run in the morning, it was so hot and muggy! Showered quick and helped the kids with breakfast. It's nice that they can find their own food for the most part now. The girls still ask for some help, but the boys are pretty good to help them if I'm not around.
We left around 9:15 and headed toward Brenham. We took a few stops along the way to break up the trip. The first stop was the Blue Bell ice cream factory. Of course the observation deck was closed (agh, I am getting so tired of everything being closed due to the virus, it really is getting annoying). But we looked around the gift shop and each had a $1 scoop of ice cream. I had peachy peach and the kids picked their normal favorites: cookies 'n cream, mint chocolate chip, and rainbow sherbet. I thought it was funny that they didn't want to try anything new. I guess they wanted the safe sure bet that it would be something they liked.
After our ice cream we weren't quite ready for lunch, so we drove for about 40 more minutes and ordered Subway online and picked it up at that next town. We still had to wait in line to get Damon's sandwich, but it was all good. We drove to a nearby park and ate it there. It was pretty windy which made eating outside a bit challenging. The playground was roped off, so we didn't stay long. Back on the road toward Austin.
We stopped at the State Capitol first. I knew it was closed, but I had been hoping to walk around the grounds- nope. They had guards at all of the entrances. We walked along the fence for a ways and tried to take the best pictures we could. So frustrating!
We picked up Panda Express on our way to the World Mark. The kids love Panda Express. The set up for this place was a town home style with two bedrooms and a bathroom up stairs. The main room had vaulted ceilings so it made it seem so big and nice. We had a dinner and then had a quick swim in the pool. You had to make reservations to swim and the hours were shortened, but we still had a fun time. There were a few boys there that were acting a little crazy, but what do you do?
Tuesday June 30th
We drove up to Canyon Lake in the morning. We rented 2 kayaks and spent two hours paddling around boat ramp 5. I had wondered if we could paddle around to a nearby park, but had learned that it takes about 1 1/2 to paddle over there. So we just stayed nearby and took turns with the kids. Damon and Tyler got some blisters and most had sore shoulders later on, but everyone had a good time. Chris especially liked being on the water. He had really enjoyed canoeing on a field trip so I wanted to let him have another chance to paddle around. We were all grateful for the clouds, but it was a bit windy so that made the paddling hard at times, but it wasn't too bad.
After kayaking we drove around to the little park and had lunch. There were a ton of flies while we were eating so we tried to hurry and get down to the water. There was a fun little island, connected by a narrow walkway that we wanted to explore. The water was great but the shore was pretty rocky. Not all of the kids had good water sandals, but we made do the best we could. The beach there was almost like a shelf in one area, with a drop off into a pretty deep blue/green colored water. Tyler and the girls and I had fun 'jumping' off of the ledge into the deeper water.
We stayed until the late afternoon and then Doug grilled steaks for dinner and I ran back to the store for a few things I had forgotten while the baked potatoes cooked. We had brownies and ice cream for dessert.
Screen time and games were a theme throughout out stay in the condo. We bought a new game called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. It is a slapping game that is just silly and fun. The kids enjoyed it. Before out trip Tyler had finished reading the last book of Harry Potter, so we started watching the movie after the younger ones when to bed.
Wednesday July 1st
Doug and I went for a walk in the morning.
All of New Braunfels was mostly closed due to COVID-19. The tube rental places and even the public parks that had river access were closed and had orange netting blocking them completely.
Doug and I drove around trying to figure out what we were going to do. We went to the main city park (Landa) and talked to so some elderly men and they gave us some suggestions. We ended up going to L&L campground that was about 30 minutes away. We paid for a day use pass and were able to get in the river. We brought our pool float toys from home. They weren't as nice as the big river tubes that the rentals would have had, but they worked for our purposes. We got a hole in one, but we managed to keep it afloat for most of the time.
At the campground there was a section of river that you could float, then exit, then walk back up and float again. The kids took turns and had a blast going over the small rapids, more like waves. The water was pretty low so the main concern was rubbing and bumping on the rocks. We also skipped rocks and read with our feet in the water. It was truly lovely in the shade. A perfect afternoon on the rive.
I made spaghetti for dinner and we had root-beer floats for dessert.
Doug and the girls and I went swimming in the evening. The pool was mostly empty and it was fun to spend some time with just Jenna and Kaylee.
Thursday July 2
We took it easy in the morning. I made cinnamon roll pancakes and the kids helped pack up and played some video games. The pool didn't open until 11 and we had hoped to swim again before we left. We asked if we could check out at 1:00 so we could have time to swim and have lunch before we left. They said yes, so we had a quick swim and ate lunch then headed out at 1:00. We just drove straight home. The girls and Chris took a quick nap and then they watched Aladdin.
After getting things settled at home we ordered pizza and then I helped the girls with a Primary Activity on Zoom. We made mug cakes - that you microwave. They had a fun time with that.
Friday July 3
Normal life again - laundry from the trip and the kids did their normal things. I made a big trip to Walmart in the hopes of not having to go back as often.
The fun thing for me was Hamilton was released on Disney +. I watched the first half. It was great. I had been listening to the music a lot for the past 2-3 weeks so that I could follow along better. The staging and performances were so fun to watch.
Saturday July 4
Since we were gone most of the week we had the kids do some condensed chores. I ran some errands to the music store and Children's Place. This was the first time I had been back to the mall. Everyone is required to wear a mask and the place felt pretty empty. Lots of things were on sale. It almost made me want to shop more.
We had fun lighting fireworks in the evening. Our neighbors and surrounding neighbors buy lots of fireworks so we had plenty to watch. I'm grateful for our country. I've been listening to a biography on Alexander Hamilton and it's been interesting to learn about all that went into making our nation get started. There were lots of hard working men that put their lives into the foundation of our country and I am grateful for their hard work and sacrifice.
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