Round Rock Express Baseball: a Family Tradition

Our crazy family seems to make a habit of cramming several birthday into one month. June is packed full! Ron, Scott, Jamie, Samantha, Sophia, and Sophie all have birthdays in June. It is always such a busy month anyway, with school just getting out, family vacations starting, and added to the mix; Father's Day. One year, we decided to spend an evening in Round Rock at an Express baseball game, and have gone back every June since then. The Round Rock Express is a feeder team for the Texas Rangers so we follow them closely, often seeing players move up to the big league.
It usually is pretty toasty in June; but, evening games are fairly comfortable after the 3rd or 4th inning.  The grands haven't always enjoyed the games; but, they like the food, playground, music, silly infield games, and just spending time with each other.
This year, our gathering was a little smaller than normal.  Ryan had to skip out because he has some sort of viral thing going on and his body is miserable, fever blisters, an odd rash, aching joints, fever or chills, and bulging eustachian tubes. He figured he would be extra miserable with the heat the way it is this year.  Becca and Ed just moved into a different house, and Becca is now working in Waco. They missed the game as well. Gerson was working as well.  But, those of us who went, enjoyed the company and the game. Which, by the way, was super exciting... in the last inning! I almost talked Ron into leaving at the end of the 8th inning because I didn't think they could come from behind and win. Happily, the grands wanted to stay and I was wrong! They won!!
Here are a few pics from our 2018 trip. I look forward to many more.

Scott's gift from Gerson. I doubt the big, white guy will be wearing this shirt very often.

I absolutely LOVED Sophie's Goodwill shirt! I have to find me one just like it.

Seth is a pretty good sport about hanging out with his grandparents and
tiny cousins. 

Maggie has started watching the Rangers on TV... a girl after her Mimi's heart.

Oh, Scott. He doesn't believe in a normal picture face... unless he is caught off guard.
Thank goodness these ladies are beautiful enough that he isn't a distraction.

Happy Birthday Boy!

Samantha sat next to me most of the game. She is a great
conversationalist! We had quite a few really nice chats.

It was a bit of an intense moment in the game. 

I was super excited to see 2 Rangers playing. I'm not sure if they were there getting ready
to be taken off the disable list or what.

Austin Biben-Dirks and Ryan Rua both play for the Rangers.
Exciting!

I was lucky to get them lined up for 3 pictures!

Sophia has learned so much from Ryan. Even not so good things like making
strange faces in pictures.

Leslie and the girls. Gerson wasn't able to get away from work.

These girls love the crazy dances between innings.

Rua! Rua!

Can they be any more adorable?

Meridian State Park Camping Trip

Ron and I have been taking our dumb dog on longer and longer rides, hoping to prepare him for life on the road in an RV.  On one of our long drives, we stumbled across Meridian State Park.  (https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/meridian) It is a pretty small park, in a relatively hilly area of north-central Texas. It has easy hiking trails, a lake for fishing, canoes, or kayaks, full-hook up sites, and the cleanest park restrooms of all the parks we've visited. I scheduled a family camp out over a holiday weekend in February, which is really the best month for camping in Texas.  It seems like the worst of our "winter" is over by then, and it is a relatively dry month.  Unfortunately, this trip ended up getting cut short because it rained the last day we were there.
Meridian State park is centrally located betweenTemple, Gatesville (where Becca lives) and Ft. Worth (where Leslie lives.) I think it was about an hour and a half drive for each of us, with the added benefit of not having to drive on I-35! Ryan and the twins didn't get the Monday holiday at their school districts, so they weren't able to join us. Otherwise, we would have tried to find a park a little farther south.
Ron, Scott, and I went out early to get camp set up, that way the rest of the family could come and go as time allowed.  We were even able to run back into town for church on Sunday, so weekend camping at this park will be perfect.
For some reason, I didn't get as many pictures of the park as I thought. It really is beautiful and my pictures do't do it justice. But, the subject matter of these photos is pretty amazing to me.

No matter where we go, Maggie spends time
reading and writing.

Sophie loves the yard games we have in the RV.
She will even play by herself.

This was Pete's first trip. That boy needs
socialization classes!!!!

Tico is getting better. He is usually a nervous wreck at night,
especially if it storms.

Next to the lake, there is a really nice group picnic area
with a pavilion.

Becca and Ed came out to spend the afternoon with us.

Hoss LOVED the lake!

We ended us with a wet dog smell around camp for a while.

There was really nice fishing pier and cleaning station; Scott
took the girls down for some fishing but they
didn't catch anything.

Meals still tend to be a challenge. This one was a hit with the
grands and so easy! Chili, chips and cheese.

Another meal that ended up being super easy and required no
refrigeration was Dinty Moore beef stew over egg noodles.
Everyone loved it; but, we were pretty hungry.

The dogs on leashes, camp chairs, and a fire pit
require lots of coordination!

Ahhh; my favorite way to spend an evening at camp.