Road Warriors

Wow!  What a road trip with the kiddos, 2720 miles round trip. They are such ROAD WARRIORS!  I am so grateful we started teaching our children the art of traveling early in life.  We are definitely reaping the rewards.  It doesn't matter if it is a 20+ hour flight to Australia, traveling space-a on military aircrafts, or driving in a van for 12 hrs at a time, they always choose to make it an adventure.  Of course, the technology and electronics kids have these days sure make it much more adventurous.  Heck, we adults tend to take advantage of it too.

We left for the Texas coast two weeks ago to help our family out during fireworks season leaving Papa Roo behind to tend to the farm, all while commuting to and from his full time AF job at the Pentagon.  I have to admit, it seemed a bit strange since the kids and I are usually the ones left behind to hold down the fort.  And of course, as he always does, Papa Roo handled it all!  He even found the time to sharpen his canning skills.  I am so blessed to have this man as my husband.

Canned Pickles by Papa Roo

Our first stop was at Crystal Beach to drop my son off to help our aunt and uncle sell from their beach side location.  He was able to fish in the morning and sell/shoot fireworks in the evening.  Talk about a teenager's dream job.  I have to say, I am very proud of the young man he is becoming.  I was able to witness first hand him interacting with customers and getting them excited about the products.  When you know what you are talking about and love the product yourself, it is easy to make a great sale!!!  If any of you following our blog is ever at Crystal Beach or Lufkin, TX during a fireworks season, stop by the several locations of the Pyro Shack and make your holiday special!

One of two of the Crystal Beach locations 

One of three of the Lufkin, TX locations

After dropping my son off, the Chicken Girl and I headed north to Lufkin to spend time with our cousins and my mom.  I was blessed to be able to care for three beautiful girls while their parents worked the fireworks stands.  My tongue stayed twisted all week.  Lol!  These three cousins all have names that begin with the letter "L", so I just call them the Triple Ls.  Boy did we make some memories!  I won't bore you here with all the details, however, I will share a few photo moments.  Family is our primary reason for moving back to our hometown after retirement.  We cannot wait to continue making memories!

Fishing with a friend 

Collecting shells 

Checking out the view with Aunt Debbie

Feeding the seagulls 

Chilling out for the evening with a little TV

Future Pyro Shack Employees

At the Lufkin Zoo

A little mud does the soul good

The 3 "L"s and Hitch

Hitch (hiker)
She deserves a post all her own!

Mud Mask #1

Mud mask #2

I got the Mud mole!

Cheap carnival ride!
Thanks Home Depot

Dress up time

A little shopping at Claire's 

Doing a little shopping with Grandma Brock 

Grandma is rocking the air guitar!

It's a Papa's T-Shirt kind of night! 

Hanging out at the "Troll Bridge"

On a mission to see Despicable Me 2 

Ta Da! 

And that folks is only a peak at the fun we had over the last couple of weeks.  Now we are back on the farm and the rains have been passed back as Papa Roo focuses on his AF job.  It is good to be home.  The kids and I  have missed all of our animals.  Now that we have taken a couple of days to recharge our batteries, there are projects to do, vegetables to pick, and more memories to make!