Spring Break part 1: Villa Arcos, Rodeo & Galveston

It's already Spring Break!  So hard to believe that the year is going so quickly!

On Friday after school, we went to Villa Arcos to help plant the new butterfly garden.  We drove with Kim and the boys and met Chris and Jill & the girls there.  Roy was at work and was smart to avoid the Friday afternoon crazy traffic and Christian had the flu, so they didn't join us, unfortunately.  Leighton, Renee, Kai and Koli played football, and Riley & Rosalie actually helped with the gardening!  After we finished up, we went over to El Tiempo for dinner!

Saturday we went to the rodeo for the afternoon.  We intended to take the kids to the actual rodeo events this year, but they weren't overly keen to go, so we saved our money and just did the carnival and livestock area as we usually do!  The weather was really great, and it didn't feel overly busy at all.  We started with the Pedal Tractor Pull, which Leighton has done several times, but it was Riley's first attempt.  There were 20 kids from ages 4-12 participating, and Riley was one of four to make it to round three and she was the only girl!  The girl has strong legs!  But she was nervous and trying hard to hold it together with the crowd all focused on her and cheering.  She did super well, and we were so proud of her.  And big brother Leighton was so sweet with his arm around her and comforting her when she was a little teary and nervous after each round.  She got a pink ribbon that she is VERY proud of!

We did the Fun on the Farm, where Riley loved being in the corn again!

 And then they played some games, did a couple rides, and had some cotton candy!

We went inside to see the animals next.  Riley really wanted to see the bunnies, but the lineup was SUPER long.  So we had a long watch of the sweet baby pigs (my pick every time!) and the chicks hatching in the incubator, which Leighton really wanted to see again.  We also watch a cow milking demonstration, and in the big crowd of adults and kids watching, Leighton was the only one able to answer the man's question of what the one mammal is that doesn't produce milk to feed babies (the answer is a platypus)!  The random facts this kid knows come in handy!

Today we spent the day in Galveston with Rachel, Arun, Zach, Rory, and Leah at the house they've rented for the week.  The kids played in the sand and swam A LOT - we were shocked at how warm the water was!  But, I guess after our non existent winter, the water likely didn't have as much of a temperature drop as usual.  It was so fantastic to have a house with a bathroom, kitchen (and a fridge and real glasses for proseco! and a freezer for ice cream cones!), a table away from the sand for lunch, and an outdoor shower.  But mostly, it was wonderful to spend the time at the beach with such sweet friends.  It was so nice of them to invite us own for the day.  The kids had such a fun time together swimming and digging and throwing the football.  We are so sad that they are moving back to Ireland in the summer :(

A couple years ago, Leighton got a jellyfish sting in the water in Galveston, and this time we saw MANY beautiful blue (what we thought were) jellyfish on the beach, but we learned they were in fact Portuguese man o' war!  Probably not the best to be swimming with them considering the possibility of a sting from the super long (like 10m!) tentacles!  There is also a rattlesnake warning so you need to watch in the dunes.  I know I've said this many times since we've lived here, but there are so many strange critter (possible) encounters here!!!

Roy has to work for a couple days, and then we hope to have some more Spring Break fun!