Super Bowl Sunday

Last night Van Go drove back to the Hasz Lodge for a Super Bowl party! What a game! The Steelers and Cardinals both played amazingly well, and as the Smiths were pretty evenly divided over who they were "going" for, the cheering was... er, a little loud. Grammy and GrandDad made some great Super Bowl snacks (like caramel corn, brownies, pizza, and little h'ors deouvres thingies). In the middle of the Super Bowl, a huge thunderstorm blew up-- and at one point, we thought Van Go might have been struck by lightning! Fortunately, it was not (or we'd probably be sitting at the auto repair shop right now). The impressive storm did not knock down the dish either-- thank you Lord! I guess God wanted us to see the Steelers win :D !!

Today, Van Go will probably not go anywhere, as the Smith family will be doing school at home and cleaning up. However, Van Go's smaller friend, the Millenium 2000 (Dad's little white car), drove off to take Dad to his first day of the new job! Yay!!

Home At Last

Taco Bell
Below: Van Go sights the Aliens (again)

Van Go has returned home!! We are all so thankful to be back at home, and to finally be able to scan the pictures from our cameras onto our computers! On the way back, Van Go stopped for one final adventure as it spotted the same alien crew it met on day one. Apparently the friendly aliens were stopping by Earth for a flying saucer trade-in, and we photographed the aliens with their new hybrid starship (lower carbon footprint plus 3,800 lightyears per gallon) before we went our separate ways. Live long and prosper, everybody.
Van Go also stopped at Taco Bell and Braum's for a special treat, and at the Kwik Car Wash for a car shower. Ahhhhh! Back at the Smith house, Van Go completed its wash when the kids and Mom deep-cleaned out its inside. Home at last!

The journey is over. Van Go is parked outside the Smith House, resting peacefully in the cool breeze. The Tour of Texas is over!

On the Road Again!

By the time you read this, Van Go will be on the highway headed back to Frisco, Texas. Last night we hung out at the mall and made a few small purchases. JonMichael got a Broncos pennant, Tori got a sign that says "Denver Broncos Drive", and Caitlin got a shirt that says NO EGO (EGO stands for Edging God Out of your life). Haley also got a pair of new Airwalk shoes that look really sharp. We then hung out and ate pizza and watched Man vs Wild until 9:30 or 10. Whew! This morning, we got up bright and early at 7:45 and will head back home right after breakfast. What an adventure!

What city does T-N-I-A-S-U spell?

Austin! After spending most of the day at Enchanted Rock State Park (a totally AWESOME place!) Van Go headed off to Austin, and is now resting comfortably outside our new hotel.

Enchanted Rock was so much fun!! It was a moderately hard trek to the top of the HUGE rock, where the older six found the famous Enchanted Rock Fissure quite by accident and had some fun exploring the caves before we headed back down. It was great to get some exercise climbing and hiking! So much fun!

JonMichael also added another "squooshed penny" to his collection-- he now has one from the Witte Museum, Natural Bridges Caverns, the Zoo, and Enchanted Rock. These are great souvenirs because they're cheap, fun, and easy to store (a pressed penny takes up about as much space as two unpressed pennies and costs 51 cents. Much better than the $6.99 chintzy stuffed gorilla!)

Van Go is probably heading off to someplace else tonight too... I will try to update the blog before we go to bed tonight!

Yesterday-- San Antonio Zoo

Oops!! So sorry I forgot to update the blog yesterday! Well, better late than never, right? Yesterday we had a blast at the San Antonio Zoo, where we spent the day walking around and looking at the amazing animals God created!! We were especially taken with some Japanese ducks, which were very strikingly colored, and Dad had a great opportunity to tell us how God's glory is revealed through His varied creations, including colorful ducks. The kids had a great time in the petting zoo, although JonMichael got taken hostage by some goats! JM had a great time squawking at some birds too-- every time he squawked, they would squawked back. And Buddy discovered some magpie geese that really liked him-- whenever he walked away from their exhibit, they started honking for him to come back (either that or they were rejoicing in the fact that he had finally left them alone!) While in the Reptile House, however, we discovered that Abby has some- er- misconceptions about snakes. While looking at the 17-foot-long python, Abby remarked, "Oh look! That's a nice one. If I saw that one in the wild, I would go up and kiss it." Mom corrected her, "No, Abby, I think you'd probably want to run if you saw that one in the wild." "No," Abby said. "That's a nice one. He would like me to hug him." Later, while Dad was explaining how Komodo dragons kill their prey, Abby announced that they, too, were "nice ones" that would like hugs and kisses. Pretty brave coming from a kid who can't stand bugs or spiders!

Another favorite animal was the hyena, which was rather scary up close. Dad told us that, contrary to previous opinions, hyenas are predators more than scavengers, and that in Africa hyenas are considered more dangerous than lions (there are so many of them, and they live almost everywhere, so the chances of meeting a hyena pack are much greater than meeting a lion). Dad told us that many mysterious deaths are now being chalked up to hyena attacks. Yikes! And up close hyenas are much larger (and much uglier) than they look in pictures.

Back at the hotel that night, we all played charades. It was great, and when Josiah drew "hyena", it didn't take us long to guess what he was acting out! Other favorite charades included JonMichael's act as "Ripley's Believe It or Not", Tori's act as the Alamo, and Josiah's version of Indiana Jones (Josiah is really becoming a good actor). We all hung out and had fun before heading to bed... at 10:00!

Natural Bridge Caverns

What a day! At about ten-thirty we drove to Natural Bridge Caverns, a FANTASTIC underground monument to God's glory as seen in the beauty and intricacy of creation. The formations were absolutely awesome. The stalagmites, stalactites, draperies, etc. had combined and overflowed each other to make weird and beautiful formations with descriptive names such as "Bomb Burst", "Fried Eggs", "King's Throne", and "Fairy Castles". After the walk-through tour, we got to pan for gems, and Josiah found a baby emerald. The kids had a blast.
We had lunch in Van Go as we headed to Guadalupe State Park, where we were the only ones around. The river (most scenic in Texas, after Big Bend) was magnificent. We played all along the river bank, and the older kids all rolled up their pant legs and waded into the freezing water to climb the rocks in the middle of the river and fish. After a while, everyone's feet got numb and they waded out to play on the bank. The boys and Caitlin discovered a hollow tree with a "critter hole" in it and tried without success to locate the critter. Ana, Abby, and Buddy had a blast playing on the nearby playground, and Tori and Haley skipped stones and built rock artwork. It was great.
For dinner, we stopped by the hotel to change out of our wet clothes before heading to the Cracker Barrel for dinner.

And, in the saga of the digital cameras... all the cameras:
A) have dead batteries
B) are broken
C) both of the above

We did get some great pictures today, but as it's kind of hard to get pictures on the blog when the cameras all have no power, we'll have to wait till we stop at a Wal Mart tomorrow before we put more pictures on here!

More Pictures from the Mexican Market

It's about ten in the morning, and we're taking it easy this morning, working on schoolwork at the hotel and resting before we move on to more fun and adventure in Van Go. But I thought I'd post some more pictures from the Mexican market and Alamo... oops, time to go!! I'll write more later!

The Alamo

Today was so much fun!! Van Go has been going all day long today- first to the Mexican market, then the Imax and Alamo, and a final visit to the Witte Museum before heading back to the hotel. Whew!! The kids all really enjoyed the Mexican market, where Abby found a very Mexican hobby horse (lime green and pink) and JonMichael found some authentic Mexican playing cards-- no face cards or aces, but every card has its own picture! So fun! Josiah also bought Ana a Mexican flute-pipe, and everyone had fun looking at the cheap and colorful wares at the market! Van Go then kept going for a visit to the Imax theater where we saw an impressive historical re-enactment of the Battle of the Alamo. It was well done and stimulated some great discussion about man's role as a protector and defender- and it really helped us gain respect for the Alamo, which we visited right after lunch on the Riverwalk. The kids had so much fun feeding (and chasing) the sparrows, pigeons, and ducks during our meal. We even got to see a momma duck and her 13 baby ducklings! They were little balls of fluff, and momma enjoyed all the chips and tortillas the kids kept throwing to her!! Halfway through our lunch, the cold front came rolling in, and we all had to put on coats before heading off to the Alamo, where we spoke in hushed tones as instructed (except for that one time Abby got upset) and did NOT touch the walls!! Apparently people are still allowed inside the Alamo, but the historians are still making a valiant effort to protect it from human contamination. We enjoyed this historic monument despite the "no" signs inside and out, and Dad gave the kids a lesson on Texan history on the lawn outside, where hushed tones were no longer mandatory. After that, we visited the Witte Museum where all the kids had fun with the interactive science displays... and all the cameras ran out of batteries!! We were VERY tired and cold by the time we came back to the hotel, so Mom took some of the kids to the grocery for dinner while Dad and the others took a much-needed nap. After devotions, Abby and Buddy hit the sack early and right now the whole Smith Family is watching "Wreckreation Nation" at the boys' request and watching "demolition schoolbus racing". What a day!!

San Antonio!!

Today Van Go drove from Quitman, Texas, to San Antonio, Texas, where it's now resting outside a hotel. After a late start from Grammy's house (where all the kids learned to play Ping Pong), the Smith family stayed inside Van Go all day-- with a quick break for supper at McDonald's. Abby and Buddy especially enjoyed the playground there and had a great time before Van Go finished the journey to the hotel. Tonight we hung out and did our family devotions before Dad introduced the older three to the Rockford files on TV! It's so much fun spending time together!

Unfortunately, my camera is inside Van Go right now!! I'll update the photos tomorrow morning.

The Adventure Begins!!

Late this afternoon, Van Go left Dallas, Texas, in search of new destinations and more adventure!! Driving into the Piney Woods area of East Texas, Van Go made its first stop as it encountered a U.F.O. full of aliens descending near the Quinland area. After making first contact and directing the friendly aliens to the nearest Starbucks, Van Go moved on to its first destination, Lake Fork!! Van Go is currently parked in the driveway of the famous Hasz Lodge near the Horsehead Bay, where the Smith family is enjoying the matchless hospitality of the Hasz grandparents!!
Who knows what where Van Go will be tomorrow?



Above: I told you to ask for directions!
Below left: The alien captain & his first officer.
Below right: The rest of the alien crew.
Far right: The famous Hasz Lodge welcome sign.