Freedom Fest

On the Fourth of July, Fort Hood hosted their annual Freedom Fest. There was a lot to do. The first order of business was to explore the tanks that were on display.

Camera shy.

Driving a combat firetruck.

Climbing in the other side of the tank.

The best part, in the kids' opinion, was the free rides. The motorcycle was cool.

The boat was great - they both could drive.

Taking a break from dinner.

We also enjoyed a Army working dog demonstration and a show by the horse detachment. They also had a 50 canon salute (one for each state, along with all the state flags). Lottie was so excited, she fell asleep in the middle of the salute. Then there was a flyover and someone parachuted onto the field. We left before the hard rock concert, but not before we bought some funnel cake - Adam and Chris insisted!

Belton Fourth of July Parade

On July 3, we headed to Belton for their Fourth of July parade. Belton was mentioned in USA Today's article, "Top Ten Places to Fly Your Flag on the Fourth," so we had to see it. It was a great small town parade, with lots of hand-decorated floats.

Lottie was excited!

Adam and Dad liked this crazy Longhorn car. (Anyone can enter the parade, so there were a lot of random cars.)

Excited Adam.

Shriners.

Lots of horses.

Elvis!

Our little meat eater devoured her sausage wrap.

Even Bill White (candidate for Texas governor) made it out.

We got to enjoy a festival at the park afterward with bounce houses, and all kinds of fair food. There was even a booth with real shave ice. Yum!

Inner Space Caverns

On Friday, July 2, we took a trip to see Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown. They found these caverns when they were digging to put in I-35, which now runs right over the caverns. Everyone was excited to go!

Adam was a little nervous, but was reassured when we let him carry a little flashlight. He tried to get us to buy this one for him too.

Lottie had to try on the spelunking hats too.

The big highlight was riding a little tram down into the cavern. Then we were ready for our tour.

The hole the contruction team drilled to see what was eating all their drillbits.

Sitting near a cavern pond where the tour guide turned off all the lights to show us total darkness. Aparently, you can hallucinate in total darkness after only a few hours. We didn't try it. We almost didn't get to experience total darkness at all - the tour guide turned off all the lights... then we saw a little light turn right on. It was Adam and his baby flashlight! We did manage to convince him to turn the light off.

After our cave tour, we panned for minerals. Adam and Lottie had a great time identifying (well, having Mom identify) all the minerals we found.

Pudding Face

What happens when you let a two year old feed herself pudding.

Japanese Gifts

Adam and Lottie got some presents from Gram and Bapa. Lottie got a bag - which she turned into a hat. It helps her singing.

Adam got a happi coat. See, he's so happy! Thanks, Gram and Bapa!

His Rack

Adam saw that our neighbor was back from training in preparation to deploy to Iraq. His comment: "Mr. Gary is back. Now he's ready for his rack!"

Blackberry Picking

On June 18, we headed to Sweet Berry Farm (where we picked strawberries in April), this time to pick blackberries. Although Lottie thought we were still picking strawberries, she got into the swing of things pretty quickly.

As usual, Adam waited for me to show him which berries were the best to pick before touching anything.

Adam and Bryan take a break from picking.

Everyone in the middle of the blackberry patch.

We had a great time and ended up with some delicious freezer jam and cobbler. Yum!

Kisses

A picture to remind me that they really do love each other, no matter how much I doubt it during the screaming, hitting, and tears.

Wazoo's

For our friend and neighbor Mary's second birthday, we joined her at Wazoo's, an inflatable wonderland! The kids had been once before and loved it. Lottie is little monkey and is all over the place.

Adam's favorite is the giant double slide.

A picture of everyone before lunch (Patrick, Adam, Mary, and Lottie).

The birthday girl with Lottie.

Birthday Bike

Adam finally got the big boy bike that was promised at his birthday. We went a little big, since he's so tall. He's doing really well with the training wheels, and Lottie is happy to have the tricycle all to herself.

More Pool

Adam's picture of Lottie.

Lottie's picture of Adam.

Mom takes one of them both.

Pool Time

Our best purchase of the summer has been a dinosaur pool, complete with a slide (that they promptly popped), a waterfall, and two blow-up dinosaurs to "ride".

Checking out the drainage hole.

Giving the pool a big thumbs up.

Making the pool more dangerous by adding a second slide.