Our Last Day at Corpus Christi

Before we came back home for Grandpa's funeral, we were able to spend Monday at the Surf museum, The Texas State Aquarium, and the "Two-Story" Whataburger.  :)
It was a typical, WINDY day in Corpus Christi, TX, but a productively, fun one!
(If I had one complaint about Corpus Christi, it is: WINDY....very windy.)

We started our day off by visiting the Surf Museum.  It is a quaint little spot, showing several kinds of surf boards, videos, and pics.  Here we are with some of our favorites. :)

Outside of the museum, there was an antique car constructed out of wood, and a neat fountain area with colorful furniture and pieces of art.

As you can see from the pics, the kids are wearing their new hats that Uncle Mike gave them, and they wore them PROUDLY! :)
Next, we went to Whataburger for a snack and enjoyed shakes. YUM!

Parker was trying to "hide." How did he do? :)

Finally, we ended our day at the Texas State Aquarium.  It was FABULOUS!  They have it all organized really well, and being a Monday, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.  There were SO many sea creatures to admire; it gave us many opportunities to recognize how creative and marvelous our God is; to create so many different kinds of creatures. :) 

Here are some of our favorites:

Here is Hannah petting a sting-ray.  They were slimy feeling, and moved really quick!

We all took a vote, and agreed that the dolphins were our favorite. Hands Down.  There was a spectacular show with their trainers, and the kids absolutely loved it.

We also saw an enormous crocodile, and a caged Bald Eagle.  Although I appreciated seeing the eagle up close, it just felt wrong seeing our national bird, that represents freedom, locked in a cage. 

Our time in Corpus Christi was special, and we were able to do so much in a short period of time.  One of the MOST exciting parts of our trip happened during our school hours, though.  :)  Emily completed her reading curriculum!  She has been working on, How to Teach Your Child to Read in a 100 Easy Lessons, for most of the school year, and she finished her 100th lesson on Tuesday!!!  She is reading really well, and we are SO proud of her hard work.  YEAH EMILY!!!! 

Blessings,
Steph

Heading Home -Funeral

Well, as I am learning, the RV lifestyle is one of flexibilty.  This is a great lesson for not only the kids, but for us adults as well.  So, right now, we are heading home to attend Todd's grandfather's funeral.  We are SO thankful to be close enough to home, that we can all come back, for this is something we would not want to miss.  If we were across the country, Todd would have flown home.
Lewis Wisenbaker passed away on Monday at the dear age of 102. :)  He lived a blessed life and the Lord gifted him with 8 children.  His precious wife Wesley is already with the Lord in Heaven, and so now they are together singing praises. :)  Even though we will miss him, we are thankful to know that he is in Heaven with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

We love you Grandpa, and will miss you!
Blessings,
Steph

Campground Review: Colonia del Rey

***On this page, I am making an attempt to share my opinion, and ONLY my opinion about the campgrounds where we stay; whether it is for a day or for a night.  Please know that I am NOT an expert in any way, but thought this might be helpful to those who are searching for "family friendly" RV parks. :)
(not a formal disclaimer, but a disclaimer nonetheless!)  :)


Colonia del Rey RV Park, Corpus Christi, TX
http://www.ccrvresorts.com/
***This RV park is our first RV experience, and I have to say that it was a great experience. 

Facilities: Very Accomodating- Laundry, pool, rec-hall, very clean shower house/restrooms

Staff: Wonderful!  Very friendly and helpful.  They were more than willing to help us and answer any questions.  They guide you to your spot, and help leave, if you need help getting around tight corners.  When Tanner offered to work in any way available, they actually allowed him to earn a little money for raking!  :)

Area: This location was very close to all the attractions. (20 min. or less)

Price: For our family of 7, it was $193/week.

Overall: I would recommend this RV park to a family, or older couple.  Everyone was so sweet.  We even hung out and played BINGO one evening, and everyone made us feel welcome. :)

Blessings,
Steph

Pizza in Kingsville, Tx

After our "flight training" we were SO hungry.
Uncle Mike took us to a great Pizza place close to A&M Kingsville University;  Young's Pizza.  It is tradition to write ON the walls!  Of course, we HAD to do it.....peer pressure....UG!  :)

Here is Zach going up against the Kingsville Javelina. :)

We had their pepperoni and sausage pizza.....

As well as their Texacali sandwiches.  YUM!

We enjoyed Young's Pizza, and found that Kingsville, Tx is an interesting place to visit.  King's Ranch is the largest Ranch in the WORLD with over 800,000 acres, 60,000 cattle, and 300 quarter horses.  Its founder, Captain Richard King has a reputation of strong work ethics, and high standards.  If you are in the area, they have a visitor's center and the ranch also has tours.

Blessings,
Steph

Time with Family :)

While we are here in Corpus Christi, Tx, it was a wonderful opportunity to see Todd's Uncle Mike and Aunt Judy!  They are such a joy, and have always been so encouraging and supportive.  When they heard about our plans to travel America, at first, they felt overwhelmed for us! :)  But, now feel that it is really exciting, and support us 100%. :)  We were able to spend the weekend with them and had a BLAST!
Uncle Mike manages an airport, and coordinated a time for the kids to get to ride in a Cessna airplane!  Tanner and Hannah actually got to DRIVE (FLY) the plane! ;)
It was so special, and the kids were so thankful for such an experience.

Here, he is showing us some of the planes in the hanger, and a private jet tour. :)  This was a "first" for all of us. 

"Pilot"  Tanner getting a good view. :)

Thank you Uncle Mike!  It was AWESOME!



The Flying Car!!

Blessings,
Steph

Museums, and the Beach!!

Well, I can honestly say that Corpus Christi is an interesting place to visit.  There is a great variety of stuff for the whole family to experience. 
Yesterday, after we finished school and had lunch, we went into the downtown area to visit the Art Museum.  I would LOVE to share some pics, but they do not allow you to take photos inside. :)  This was our first time to visit an Art museum of any kind, so I do not have anything else to compare it too, but we enjoyed it.  At first, the kids seemed REALLY bored with it, but then, I pulled them in, and quietly told them to think through the eyes of the artist.  I told them to try and figure out what the artist was trying to teach us or tell us through their piece of art; whether it was a painting, sculpture or pottery.  Tanner took a lot of notes, and the others started picking their favorites!  It was cool. :)

Afterwards, we were getting ready to go back home, but then I realized that the History & Science Museum was right around the corner!  So, I asked the kids if they were up to it; OFCOURSE they were!
This museum was AWESOME.  There were SO many exhibits and artifacts, but I will share some of our favorites. :)

From the dinosaurs to the HUGE crabs!  To the old buggies and mercantiles. :)

There was a wonderful play center with a lighthouse and boat, complete with fishing poles, dress up clothes and even bricks to finish building the house! 

There are many "hands-on" exhibits including this!

But, our favorite was the replica of Columbus' ships, the Nina and Santa Maria.  We were able to walk onto it's deck and a retired history teacher gave the tour.  He also asked Zach to volunteer during his speech. ;)

Oh yeah!  Is this great, or what?!!  Tanner was in one of his goofy moods!  :)

Then, today, we hit the beach! :)  Todd surprised us at the last minute, and said he would go too!  I was so thankful to have him go along.  (Thankfully his work schedule was not too hectic today!)

When we arrived, Parker was SO excited!  This is his first time at the beach, and this was his first reaction to the water and waves:

But, very soon, his mood changed to this:

Emily was a little nervous too, but big-brother, Tanner, came to the rescue!

They had a blast, and I was just thrilled to experience it with them.  :)

Even washing off the sand was exciting!  It's the little things.............. :)
Blessings,
Steph