A Reunion and an Early Easter

Last weekend, Cade and I went to New Braunfels for some family events while Chance took one of his athletes to the Boys' State Powerlifting meet in Abilene. Chance had a very successful trip - his lifter won the meet!

After a stop in San Marcos for some great shopping, Cade got to embark on his first Easter egg hunt of the season. He was so excited!

And he's off!

Finding treasures in his eggs

On Saturday evening, my Oma hosted a family reunion for the Syamken side of the family. This family used to always get together every holiday, but with everyone's busy schedules, it has been years since we all saw each other. I'm so glad that my Oma decided to host this get-together. It was so very great to see everybody!

The festivities started with some basketball (my cousins have surprisingly impressive skills!)

Cade and Baby Cooper got to meet!

After dinner, we played one of my most favorite games - BUNCO! If you've never played this game, it is a dice game that involves no strategy whatsoever, just luck with rolling sixes and quick reflexes to cover them! I have such great memories of playing this in Oma and Opa's garage at family gatherings and we were all so happy to play together again. The players at the head table get to set the pace of the game and ring the cowbell when they reach 21 points. Guess who was more than happy to ring the bell?

All generations played together!

The next morning we had an early Easter celebration at Great Oma's house. Cade barely tolerated a family picture before looking for eggs!

Looking for eggs with Great Oma

Checking out the loot!

After the egg hunt, it was time to bring back another fun tradition from my childhood - confetti eggs!

Getting Opa!

Despite all the fun Cade had cracking eggs over everyone else's heads, he was not a fan of having them cracked on his head!

Trapped! Great Oma made sure that Uncle Chris couldn't get away!

This was such a fun way to officially welcome spring!

Corpus Christi

We returned yesterday from a wonderful mini-vacation to Corpus! Once in awhile (OK, first time in 10 years of coaching), Chance's job takes him somewhere that Cade and I want to tag along to. A little trip to Corpus was a perfect way to end our spring break this year! This weekend was the Girls' State Powerlifting Meet. Only one girl, Kara, from Caldwell qualified, so she rode in Chance's truck with us. Kara is also Cade's all-time favorite cheerleader, so he was very happy to have her in the backseat with him!

Kara and Cade spent the drive watching Shrek and having a nap. It was really handy to have her back there with him to help him with his lunch, put him in the carseat, etc. We are thinking about hiring her for all of our car rides!

When we got there, it was time to check-in and weigh-in (thankfully, just Kara) at the meet. This took a looooong time, so Cade and I explored the seawall.

Daddy joined us for a walk down the stairs and a race up to the top!

Then we went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. This also took a looooong time (since every female powerlifter, her coach, and her family seemed to be there), so Cade and I toured replicas of the Nina and Pinta ships while we waited for our table. This is the Nina, which Cade said was his favorite because it was the biggest.

We were there near closing time, so the crew let Cade help take down the flags.

Look, Mama! A big ship!

The next day, Cade and I went to the Texas State Aquarium during the powerlifting meet. It was really nice to not have to rush around and see things at whatever pace and order Cade wanted. Our first stop was the alligators and crocodiles.

Next stop, sea turtles. I think this one was waving!

Then, we went to the dolphin show. We had to get there really early to get seats, but it was worth it! Shadow, the 19-year old dolphin, and his younger brothers put on quite a show!

The aquarium has added a splash pad since we were there 2 years ago, and Cade desparately wanted to play there. It was barely above 70 degrees and really windy, but he assured me that he would not fuss or be cold. So we went all the way out to Chance's truck to change clothes and came back to the splash pad. The fun lasted for about 5 minutes before Cade informed me that he was wet and cold and "done with this". Oh well!

Gotta "warm up" with some ice cream!

Our last stop was the dolphin underwater viewing room. On our last visit, this was Cade's absolute favorite spot, and this year was no different. He had such a great time watching the 3 dolphins swim and play.

I am such a sucker for the pictures that people at amusement parks and other places take. Somehow they can always get the most precious smile out of Cade and then before you know it, I've stopped by the kiosk and spent way too much money on a silly photo. So, here is more evidence of my sucker status.

How can you pass this up? Cade loves it that it looks like we are about to be eaten by a shark, and the photo is now displayed in his room.

It has taken me 10 years of Chance coaching to attend a powerlifting meet, and I'm glad I started with the best! Cade and I got to the meet in time to watch Kara compete in her last event, the deadlift. Here she is easily lifting 245 pounds, which is almost twice her body weight. Pretty amazing!!

Her last lift was more difficult and she wasn't able to do it, so unfortunately we left the meet without a medal. But we were so proud to watch her and have really enjoyed getting to know Kara during Chance's time in Caldwell. At this meet I also realized that I am way too emotional to ever be a coach. Kara is a senior and I got all caught up in thinking about this is her last meet, last time for Chance to coach her, etc. I'm so glad we all made the trip together!

I also have to brag on Cade for a bit because he was so unbelievably good on this trip. Our very schedule-oriented child was very flexible and patient with long lines, late bedtimes, and big crowds. He was such a good little companion at the aquarium and I am so thankful for my time with him. As he reminds us all the time, he is almost 4 years old and a very big boy.

Why we love teaching

SPRING BREAK! Be jealous, all of our non-teaching friends :) While Chance and I do love our jobs, it is so nice to have breaks like this during the semester.

Cade's "vacation" started a little early with a visit from Oma and Opa last week. I had to attend a 4-day yoga conference (another perk to teaching - required conferences like this!) and Chance was gone part of the weekend at a powerlifting meet, so Oma and Opa were on full Cade duty! This is the longest I've ever been away from my little guy, and no amount of learning about or relaxing with yoga takes the place of his sweet smile and strong hugs. I was glad to come home to him and Chance! Cade had a great time with Oma and Opa. He convinced them to take him to Chuck E. Cheese twice, and they also saw the Lorax movie, fed the ducks, went to the library, and did lots of playing. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking such good care of Cade!

To officially start our spring break, the fabulous Hull family visited us! We had a delicious trip to Wings and More, followed by cookies and playing at our house. Karen and I tried multiple times to get the kids together for a picture, and this was the best one!

Thanks, guys, for stopping through College Station! It is always so great to see y'all.

On Tuesday night, thanks to Russell, we had free tickets to the Aggie baseball game. This was our first time to visit Olsen Field at Bluebell Park, and that place is amazing! Say all you want about changing the name... it was money well spent! There is lawn seating right next to the new playground, which is perfect for families. That place was hoppin'! They also had a great selection of food, so we all had our favorites - Cade: hotdog; Chance: sausage wrap AND fajitas; Alyssa: Doubledaves pepperoni rolls. One happy family! It really was a perfect night.

Cade loved the playground so much that all we really saw of him was his back! He was especially excited when a few of his friends from daycare showed up and they could all run around together.

He was actually patient enough to interrupt his playing for a cute smile!

Today we had a picnic at the neighborhood playground. Cade's favorite part? Throwing rocks in the ditch!

Chance joins in.... "Look how far that one went, Daddy!"

Can't be all fun and games... we had to work on the landscaping today!

We're about to be off on our next spring break adventure... tagging along with Chance to a powerlifting meet!