The whole idea to have our reunion in Texas revolved around Schlitterbahn Water Park. Ben and Jenny went with some friends (or was it family?) and had such a blast that they wanted to share it with all of us. We spent two days at the water park, with a day of rest in between. The first day, we went to the newer part of the park, and it was awesome! There were so many fun things to do!
There was an uphill water roller-coaster ride that was so amazing! The kiddie pools were amazing, and their lazy river was so awesome! We loved that we could take Gabe on most of the rides with us, and at the end of the night, Jenny watched Gabe and Rachel play in the kiddie pool so we could enjoy the rides that Gabe couldn't go on. We loved it so much! It made the Texas heat worth it!
The second day at Schlitterbahn was spent at the older part of the park. It started out quite frustratingly just due to logistics of a large group and lugging children around, but by the end of the night, we were really sad to go because we were having such a good time.
On one of the runs, Kirt lost his glasses when he got flipped off his tube. He looked and looked at the spot, and then kept looking as he went further down before finally giving up and just finishing the run. We were all concerned about his glasses, and tried looking through the rushing water to see if we could spot them. I immediately started praying within my head that we would find them, but as we were all standing around their at the bottom of the run, I felt really strongly that I needed to gather my kids and say a prayer with them, out loud, in the waterpark, that we could find Papa's glasses. So, I gathered the kids that were near me, and we said a prayer. I knew that the Lord knew where the glasses were, and I knew He could get them to us. Within a minute of saying amen, someone found the glasses. It was miraculous, and I felt the power of an answered prayer, and I hope that my kids will remember that the Lord hears us, even in the middle of a noisy waterpark.
When we weren't at Schlitterbahn, we were hanging out at our rented ranch in Wimberly. The kids loved roaming all over the grounds, but Brian and I found it a bit stressful, thanks to our little busy toddler. It was impossible to keep him contained with so many cousins running around, leaving doors open and enticing the little mister to follow after them. This meant that he would escape without shoes on, and occasionally without clothes. It was a constant effort to keep that little boy safe from the pond, the pool, the fire ants, and the scorpions. The most constantly uttered phrase of the reunion was, "Where's Gabe?"
Thankfully, the washers and dryers were constantly going, and Gabe loves watching laundry being washed and dried. This definitely helped out.
But outside was just too enticing for our little man.
I loved when he was content to just stay inside where it wasn't so hot.
He fell in the pool once, and I was grateful that he knew how to float, and I was so proud of all the times he started floating when the water felt too deep for him. Unfortunately, by the time we left, I was just done with the water and the stress from keeping our little man safe.
The kids really enjoyed the water while we were there. I'm hoping that by the next reunion, he will no longer be so hard and I'll enjoy it a lot more. The life with toddlers can just be so stressful. It's a good thing they're so cute!!
Despite the Texas heat, we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores.
Ella helped Rachel with gymnastics.
And Jenny planned all kinds of fun crafts and activities to entertain the kids. One of the things we did was make a handprint quilt...well, at least the blocks.
We also surprised Kirt and Julie with a special rock garden. Everyone painted a rock that was then placed with in a heart outline made out of red rocks. Here's Brian's rock:
Mine got dubbed the "Bob Ross" rock.
One night, we went and checked out this old west type town that was near the ranch. The town had a little merry-go-round
and a lot of funny photo-ops:
While we were there, we got the official grandkid photo
and grabbed some pictures of all the granddaughters.
Jenny had a piñata for all the kids. I loved that it was a cactus!
On Saturday, it was time to pack up and head off to the next adventure! Thanks for all your planning and hard work, Ben and Jenny! The ranch was beautiful and Schlitterbahn was just as awesome as you had said! Here's hoping that the next time we visit Texas it won't be hot as Hades (in Jenny's words)!
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