Happy 15th, Collin!

Happy birthday, Collin! This year Collin wanted to go out to eat together as a family and see a movie. We had a hard time picking a movie, but we finally settled on the new Wonka movie. It was much easier to pick where to eat - tacos and queso at Torchy's! We went the Saturday before his big day, so Ryan could join us.

Collin really likes it when we spend time together as a family, so when we got home from the movie, everyone played 4-Square and then 4-Pickle in the driveway. 

We played until his allergies got the best of him. Poor boy. 

His actual birthday was on Thursday. He didn't do much during the day (his preference is always to code all day), but I made parmesan chicken, loaded mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli for dinner - all his favorites!  

He got new athletic pants (adult small, he's 6 foot now!) with zipper pockets, so he doesn't lose his phone. He also got magnets for the car that say, "Please Be Patient: Student Driver."  

His cake was this HEB vanilla ice cream cake, but it was gross. We've really been striking out with cakes since moving here. Not sure what the solution is. We ended up throwing most of it in the trash two weeks later.

And since Collin's love language is family time together, he played cards after Katelyn was in bed.

***

Ok, here's my annual update on Collin! 

PIANO 

Collin is still playing piano. He meets with an advanced teacher each Tuesday after school. He has his annual recital in February where he is playing Raindrop Prelude by Chopin. He is super into Chopin preludes right now, and he says that he can't wait to meet him in heaven. He loves the repetition in them. 

He loves to compose and arrange his own music, and he has numerous software applications and hardware devices for doing so. 

He still mostly plays by ear, and I am very frustrated that he still can't sight-read or accompany singing. 

ROBOTICS

Collin is on the Robotics First Team at the high school. Their challenge for this year's competition was dropped last Saturday, and they now meet after school 3 days per week for about 3 hours, plus Saturdays all day. This schedule will last through Spring Break, when both their competitions take place. The first competition is in Temple, about 3 hours from here, and the other is in downtown San Antonio, about 30 minutes away.

DRIVING

Collin got his permit about a week after his birthday. His first time in Ryan's manual transmission Ford Focus did not go well, but he is getting more and more comfortable in the church parking lot in my ginormous Ford Expedition Max. We are currently car shopping for a 4-door sedan for him to learn on and then inherit. I look forward to help with his transportation to and from his activities, since everything is 30 minutes away each way. Aww, the joys of living in Texas.

P-TECH

Collin's cybersecurity associate's degree program at the high school has been an epic disaster so far. They accepted every kid, and since it is currently the only pathway to a high school associate's degree in our district, many kids - and their parents! - totally uninterested in computers, programming, and cybersecurity are in his classes. Many are not advanced or honors-brained, therefore the course work is dumbed down to make them "successful." The kids often fool around in class, and Collin is not allowed to test out or switch to other courses. He is very frustrated and unhappy. I hope to meet with his guidance counselor before we register for his sophomore year, but he is resistant to letting me step in. He doesn't advocate for himself either, so we are in a loop of disappointment with no solutions.

BRACES

In an effort to not end this post on such a negative note, he should be getting his braces off in the next month or so. I am very excited for him! His teeth and jawline look amazing. He is definitely no longer a little boy! 

Happy 15th birthday, Tall! 

Thanksgiving Break @ Big Bend

We headed to Big Bend National Park for Thanksgiving Break this year. We originally planned to camp Wednesday through Sunday, but about 10-days beforehand, the weather forecast looked cold, windy, and gloomy for the days we would be there. We bought a huge tent heater, but I was still worried. Then, our friends' friends - who had planned to go to Big Bend with them Saturday through Wednesday - decided they couldn't go. So after an hour on hold with reservations, we were able to get their campsite for when the weather was warmer (Tender Mercy #1). But that meant we had to leave Saturday morning for the 7-hour drive before to set-up camp before dark. 

But our neighborhood 5K and Ryan's SwRI 2-mile race were both Saturday morning, and Brennan was NOT going to miss either. So, we decided that we'd tried to run both races AND THEN drive to Fort Stockton (about halfway) on Saturday. 

Sablechase: Ryan - Men's 3rd, Brennan - Teen Boy's 2nd

SwRI: Ryan - Men's 2nd, Lindsey - Women's 2nd, Katelyn - Teen Girl's 2nd

After hurrying to run in both races (Tender Mercy #2), we came home, showered, and loaded the car. After barely getting it all in, we headed to Fort Stockton, about 4 hours way. When we arrived to check in, we learned that we had accidentally booked Sunday evening instead of Saturday evening, but they had availability and were able to get us a room (Tender Mercy #3).

Sunday morning we needed to leave the hotel by 6am in order to get to the Mexican border by 9am to beat the crowds on the last day it would be open that we were there. Hotel breakfast wasn't open until 7:30, but they got out the milk and let Ryan and the kids have cereal, bagels, and juice (Tender Mercy #4). 

DAY ONE: TRAVEL/MEXICO/RIO GRANDE REGION - EAST SIDE

We found this poor bird in our grill at the Welcome sign. We didn't even hear his death. Ryan picked him out. It was horrible.

There was amazing fog our whole drive down, but it was only dangerous for a short while. Everything was so beautiful! Desert does have its own beauty. I fell in love with a plant that looked like seaweed called ocotillo. So strange and awesome. 

We stopped at the Fossil Discovery Exhibit, which was amazing. We loved the bones and the overlook. 

From there, we headed to Panther Junction, exactly as it opened at 8:30. We had to get a free 4th Grader National Park Pass (thank you, Ethan), a backcountry paddling pass (for the next day), and gas (because the park is huge and there aren't any other gas stations).

From Panther Junction, we headed to Boquillas Border Crossing. We were early (highly recommend, no line!), where we were threatened about everything we couldn't buy as souvenirs or bring back into the US, and had our passports checked. Then we walked down to the river! 

We removed our socks and shoes and waded across the shin-deep water. Then we put our shoes back on and walked 3/4 mile into the town of Boquillas. Honestly, it was really ghetto. We bought a tortilla warmer, a Fiesta dress for Katelyn, and a bead & wire roadrunner. Then we ate lunch (tacos, burritos, quesadilla) at Jose Falcon's Restaurant & Bar. It was about $100 and not very good. 

Then we walked back to the border crossing, waded across the river, walked back to Passport Control, and waited for a video call with Border Control. The office was packed with people leaving to cross, and we were so glad that we had gotten up early and gone first (Tender Mercy #5). All in all, it was a very unique experience, but it wasn't really worth it. 

From Boquillas, we headed to the Rio Grande Overlook Trail. It was HOT, and this half-mile hike seemed much longer and more challenging. We stopped in at the Rio Grande Visitor Center, where another family was asking for tips about where to launch at Santa Elena. They told us that the launch was too shallow, and that we should launch from the trailhead, but it gets super crowded so go early (Tender Mercy #6).

A Van Raub Roadrunner with a Big Bend Roadrunner

Now it was finally time to meet up with our friends, the Bosens. We parked and walked to the Hot Springs Canyon Trailhead. The springs are right in the river, so we were able to soak in the 105 degree then slide into the river to cool down. 

After the hot springs, we headed an hour away to the Cottonwood Campground. I picked this campground because they accept 14-day in advance reservations (and I certainly hadn't dreamed up this grand trip 6 months ago). It is also at the lowest altitude, so it has the warmest overnight temperatures. 

Unfortunately, when we switched our reservations, our reserved nights were split between two different camp sites. When we got to the campground, our camp site for the end of the trip wasn't occupied but it was reserved. Hoping for the best, we set up on the site we had booked for the following night. Around dinner time, a van pulled up and stopped and said we were in their site. I was SUPER nice and friendly, and asked if it would be okay if they went to our site for the night so we didn't have to move all our stuff the following morning. They were SUPER nice and friendly, and they headed to our reserved site (Tender Mercy #7), so now we didn't have to move sites! 

DAY TWO: SANTA ELENA CANYON - WEST SIDE

We started the day pretty slowly, which was perfect. Then, we headed to Santa Elena Canyon Trailhead. We waded across the stream and hiked up the switchbacks along the US-side of the canyon wall. There were lots of chances for the kids to scramble on rocks, and we took a ton of pictures. 

After the hike, we had a picnic lunch on the tables at the start of the trail. Ryan pumped up all our boards (the giant and two regular paddleboards). The park had a ton of rules (one extra paddle per group, one potty bag, an extra life jacket, car tag, backcountry pass in waterproof bag). Sigh. It was overkill, especially since there was only ever 2 feet deep of water. 

We launched about noon. Ryan and Brennan paddled the giant board with Ethan, Katelyn, and their friend Knox. Collin and I were on our own boards. It was super shallow (which is why we launched from the trailhead and not the launch parking), so many times we had to pull out our board and carry them over sand bars and mud slides. It was gorgeous, and this was Ryan's favorite part of the trip. We ended up paddling about 3-hours, and made it to this beautiful cave window cut-out on the Mexico side. So amazing! By the time we made it back to the start, we were all muddy, cold, and ready to be done. Dinner, dessert, and star-gazing rounded out our night. 

DAY THREE: CHISOS BASIN - CENTRAL REGION

About 1am, Ryan turned on our tent heater, which made it comfortable to get up and get dressed. We headed up before 8am and drove about an hour to Chisos Basin, which is in the mountains. It was COLD up there. We had on all our winter gear, which is pretty pathetic for Texans. 

We barely found parking and headed on the Chisos Basin Loop Trail. It was easy and about 3 miles long. We got lots of great views of The Window.

Afterwards, Ryan, Collin and Brennan ran up this rocky mountain, and Ethan, Katelyn, Knox and I headed to down the Window Overlook Path. 

Then we ate lunch at the Chisos Basin Lodge, which was unfortunately not heated. We were cold, but at least we were indoors. ;-) 

We spent the afternoon traveling back to the campground along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, stopping along the way at a bunch of overlooks and short hikes. 

* Sam Nail Ranch

* Sotol Vista Overlook

* Lower Burro Mesa Pour-Off: 1 mile hike with rock scrambling

I Spy Brennan! B randomly decided to run up this mountain all by himself. See if you can spot him! 

* Mule's Ears Overlook

Dinner, dessert, and tent-projector movie rounded out the night. 

DAY FOUR: HIKE/TERLINGUA/TRAVEL

We used the tent heater ALL NIGHT LONG. This was our coldest night, and I was so glad we were headed home. We could see our breathe in the tent, and there was frost around the campsite. 

We got all packed up and loaded (no small feat) and headed to the secret hike - Cattail Falls. On the drive there, the car started running really rough, and Ryan said the engine was misfiring. We had a family prayer, and continued on. We were literally in a desert with no cell signal, and we were looking at a 7-hour drive home through more desert. 

We parked across from Sam Nail Ranch Trail, and headed down a gravel road. We didn't really know where we were going and just when we were going to turn back, a park ranger drove up and gave us directions (Tender Mercy #8). About 2-1/2 miles along, there was a strange oak tree, where we turned and hiked another mile uphill through woods to this beautiful waterfall. We had been told the hike was about 4 miles (which is why our friends didn't join us), but it ended up being more than 6 miles - one of our longest ever! 

From the trailhead, we headed to Terlingua, TX. Where we wanded the gift shop and ate at High Sierra Bar & Grill. We got poco loco queso (sooo yummy!), burgers, fajitas, and chili. Good eats! After filling up the gas tank, we headed the 7 hours home. It was a long, dark drive, but the kids were good - watching movies and playing on their phones/ tablets. And (Tender Mercy #9), the car didn't misfire another time! 

Happy Thanksgiving! I prepped our meal before we left, so it was easy-peasy today. We watched the Macy's Parade, did laundry, made rolls and mashed potatoes, reheated Rudy's turkey, baked stuffing and sweet potatoes, and ate about noon. We are so grateful for Heavenly Father's watchful, loving hand over our family on this trip and always.