Raingutter Regata

November 8th, 2008

Today we went to the Cub Scout Raingutter Regata at one of our local parks. The weather was gorgeous and the boys had so much fun showing off their boats to each other. We worked on Brady’s boat throughout the week and got it all finished up last night just in time for today’s race. He did a lot of the work himself, although Scott helped him out with the final sanding and painting and of course gave him some helpful tips along the way. They had so much fun working on it together! I did the jolly roger symbol on the sail for him when he told me he wanted a pirate boat. He painted the gold stripes on the sides and I applied the clear coats of paint while he was at school Friday. We tested it in the bathtub this morning and it worked great. The boat was really fast and he won most of his races.

 Working on his boat earlier in the week, getting it sanded down.

Spraying on the silver paint

The boat did really good on the water!

Posted in Events, Family | Comments (0)

Halloween ‘08

November 1st, 2008

This was probably the most fun Halloween yet! I think the warm weather and the fact it fell on a Friday this year helped. There were tons of people out and lots of great decorations at everyone’s houses. The kids were hyper and ready to go out as soon as the sky was hinting at getting dark. So we got ready and went trick or treating. Brady was grim reaper with a bleeding chest and Kacey was a dainty little Cinderella, quite a contrast huh? We left Scott at the house to hand out candy and I took the kids out, mostly so I could take pictures. We didnt go too far and after the kids got an “acceptable” amount of candy, we came back to help pass out candy. They ended up with enough to put them into a sugar induced coma for the next 2 months! We loved seeing all the little kids dressed up and there were several adults dressed up too! Everyone was is such a festive mood, it was definitely the best year yet! I was especially proud of my pumpkins too, I worked feverishly over the last 24 hours to get them done. I had 2 left over and decided my arms needed the break so I stuck them out front for decoration. Not an hour after I did that Scott sent over two patterns he wanted to do and when I saw them I knew I had to go get them and get started. Overall it was a fun night full of candy and smiles!

Halloween ‘08 Photos

Posted in Misc | Comments (0)

Pumpkin Carving

October 30th, 2008

We got a late start at pumpkin carving this year, but nonetheless we pulled it off. Kacey and I started early in the morning then after Brady got home from school we did 2 more. I still have 2 more pumpkins to carve but I don’t know if my arms can take any more! The kids had fun cleaning out the slimey, stringy insides and retrieving the seeds for toasting tomorrow. I didn’t get any photos of them helping because I was elbow deep in pumpkin guts! I always look forward to carving them every year and it has become a tradition. I started carving pumpkins when Brady was almost 3 and have carved every year since then. We’ll see how my poor arms and hands feel in the morning, I may go ahead and carve the last 2. I usually carve one or two so it would be neat for me to say I carved 5 this year!!! We lit our carved pumpkins in the living room tonight, the kids were anxious (and me too!) to see them lit up. We are very proud of how they turned out. Here are a few pictures from tonight.

Posted in Misc | Comments (0)

Cub Scout Campout

October 20th, 2008

This weekend we took Brady down to Garner State Park for the Fall Campout. This was our first camping trip as a family and we had so much fun! I grew up camping so this brought back so many good memories for me. We took Brady out of school early on Friday and headed out of town around 11am. We stopped in San Antonio for lunch then headed out Highway 90 to Sabinal then up to Concan. For me, we just couldn’t get there fast enough and the kids were really anxious too. They did really good on the drive there and they both had their headphones and music so it was nice and quiet in the car most of the way there! As we pulled off onto the main road leading to Garner, there was a certain energy in the car, I loved it, we were getting out as a family into nature. Scott let me go into headquarters and check in, a job that in my childhood was reserved for my dad. I felt like a big girl getting to be the one checking in and picking out our campsite! We got all checked in and ventured down to find our site, it was such a pretty drive through the park to our camping area. Turns out we were one of the first Wolf families there so we pretty much decided we weren’t going to settle for the one I had chosen from the map, so we checked out others and decided #28 was pretty awesome. So Scott drove back up to tell headquarters and me and the kids immediately headed towards the river to check things out. The kids almost immediately begged to get in, which I would have considered but I didn’t bring anything for them to get wet in, plus the water being spring-fed was cold! They probably would not have spent much time in it at all. Soon Scott was back and it was time to set up camp. He got the tent set up very fast and I got our beds made up and everything else unloaded. About that time our leader, Terry, and his kids arrived so Brady and Charlie took off to the river and we relaxed a little around our campsite. Within a few hours more families started to show up and pretty soon there was our group of boys running around wild from campsite to campsite and down to the water. It was so neat seeing them far from home, bonding and spending time with one another.

 That evening we cooked Kiolbasa sausage on the grill and soon realized our site was being invaded by skunks!!! They were very tame and didn’t scare away too easily. Brady thought it was cool of course and pretty soon word had spread that we had skunks. So Brady went running off and soon returned with his group of “skunk hunters”. The boys thought they were going to be tough and scare them away, but in the end a very persistent Scott drove them back out away from our site. Scott even had to go face to face with one when we realized that our tent was open! After about 30 minutes, the skunks went peacefully. We were pretty early to bed that night as we were exhausted from our early day. Brady was very comfortable with sleeping in the tent and fell fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Kacey on the other hand took some persuasion to stay in her sleeping bag. She kept asking to crawl into Daddy’s but I soon got her settled and off to sleep she went.

We woke up to a beautiful but cold Saturday morning sunrise and got the day going. I cooked some pancakes but soon realized that the pan I had bought was not holding up. The teflon coating was coming off into the food! Boo! After some frustration, I managed to get a few more made and was able to feed the kids. Right after breakfast Scott and Brady left for the almost 4 mile hike with the 2 wolf dens. Kacey and I grabbed the camera and some water and walked down to my friend Kelli’s campsite to see what was going on. So we decided to take the girls (her daughter is the same age as Kacey) on a short walk around our camp area and explore around. We made our way to the big pavilion, and it turned out the hikers hadn’t left yet so I was able to snap a few photos before they finally went on their way. So we continued on our way too, walking and talking with the girls doing the same, it was so cute! I am so glad Kacey had a friend there, I think they both really enjoyed it.

Later on that day all the scouts met up at the basketball court area for some fun and games. Brady’s favorite was tug-o-war and the boys were super competitve! The parents were getting all into it and pretty soon it ended up being dads against boys! The boys really put up a good fight and of course the dads let the boys win.

Saturday evening was the big campfire and cookout for everyone put on by our packleaders. After enjoying hamburgers and hotdogs it was on to the skits and joke telling. Each den had to perform a skit and all of them were really funny and they all did a really good job. After all of the scout festivites were over, we headed back to camp to relax a bit. The exhaustion was really starting to take over but I think we all just ignored it.

After the sun had been down for a bit, Scott and I took the kids out in the dark with our flashlights and ventured around. The sky was crystal clear and the air crisp as we walked around away from the lights and sounds of the other campers. Kacey got a bit nervous but settled down once we told her Daddy was right there to protect her! We saw a skunk down by the river and scarred an owl out of a big tree. I wanted to get some shots of the stars and I wanted the kids to experience a star filled sky that you could never see being in the city. The mily way was so vivid it was just incredible to look straight up and get lost in the night sky. Brady was in awe and I think really blown away by seeing all those stars! On our way back to camp I had an idea for Scott and the kids to “paint” me a picture by shining their flashlights on a big cypress tree down by the water. I did a long shutter photograph as they “painted” in the scence with their lights. The result was pretty cool and something I will see and always remember as all four of us having made together. After that Brady was saying he really wanted to go to sleep and he wasnt kidding because as soon as we got back to camp, he told us goodnight. Kacey went to sleep just as easily. I had tucked her in and Scott and I sat outside at the table chatting and talking about our big day. Then we hear a sweet little voice saying “goodnight everyone”….by the time I got to the tent, she was out like a light!

Sunday we woke to another bright, cold morning. Everyone slowly started emerging from their tents and soon the sounds of giggling, hyper little boys filled the air. We gathered our things and packed up and hit the road pretty early. We were a little dissapointed as we had packed bacon and eggs to cook but since our pan bit the dust, we had no way to cook our breakfast. It was ok though, that small thing wasn’t going to dampen our spirits. Although I did have to apologize to my hubby who tried to talk me into getting a set of cast iron pans and I said no way because they were heavy. I wanted teflon. Lesson learned! On the way out we stopped at the entrance and I got the kids’ picture in front of the Garner State Park sign. Then it was time to head back east toward home. We grabbed a bite to eat in San Antonio again and managed to get home around 2pm.

We had an amazing, memorable, fun-filled weekend and I can’t wait to get the kids out camping again real soon!

Here’s the link for all of our photos from the weekend (there’s alot of them!)

http://albums.phanfare.com/themacfarlands/2875254#imageID=50325239

Posted in Misc | Comments (0)

Bobcat Brady

October 7th, 2008

This evening during our pack meeting, Brady was awarded his very first badge, the Bobcat. There were several new boys, including Brady, who were honored tonight. The leaders dressed in Indian headdress’ and spoke to the earning of the bobcat badge being a foundation of the scouting experience. One of the leaders then applied blue and yellow facepaint to the boys’ faces to represent the colors of scouting. Here is an exerpt from the speech…

Boy’s you’ve accomplished the first step in Cub Scouting. In all things there is always a first….the first stone layed in a new building, the first step across a bridge. The first is sometimes the hardest, but thats because it lays the foundation or the strength for what follows. The Bobcat badge is your foundation. The trail of Scouting lies ahead of you, but don’t be afraid. You won’t have to do it alone. You’ll have lots of help from your Akela…Akela can be your parents, your den leader, even I your cubmaster will help you along the trail, helping you become successful.

As a symbol of your achievement and of becoming a member of this pack, I ask my assistant to give you the colors of Cub Scouting…blue on the right cheek, yellow on the left.

Your parents stand here with you as an example to show they are proud and that they are there to help you, just like they helped you earn the Bobcat badge. I am presenting your Bobcat badge to your parents who in turn will present you.

We are having so much fun with scouting and can’t wait to go camping in 2 weeks! Here are a few photos from tonight…

(click for larger image)

Posted in Misc | Comments (1)

TPWD Expo

October 5th, 2008

Saturday we treked out to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo in South Austin. It was a fun filled day with lots of walking and lots of stuff to see and do. The kids enjoyed participating in several activities including fishing from a large pool set up under a huge tent. They could choose from trout or catfish, we chose the catfish. Brady caught one but managed to free himself right when Scott pulled it up out of the water. Kacey caught one too and wasn’t too keen on standing around when the expo volunteer pulled the fish up. She took off, it was too funny! I tried to get her to stand next to it for a picture or at least touch it, and she wouldn’t. But the guy kneeled down and asked her if she would like to touch it and she went right over and had no reservations about it! Of course being the nature lover that I am, I had to touch it too! After the fishing we walked over to the saltwater exhibit and the “touch tanks”. We were able to touch a blue crab, hermit crabs, a live sponge and an anenome. Brady was really into it and was quite enthralled with the lady telling him all about what he was touching. I was totally in my element and loving every minute of it! We also caught the Birds Of Prey show “Last Chance Forever”. It was awesome and we learned a lot! A few of the hawks flew inches over our heads, I loved that our kids got to experience that. I have been to similar shows and the State Fair, but never was able to be this close and personal with the birds. All in all it was a hot, but very fun day! Here are the photos from our day… 

Expo Photos

Posted in Misc | Comments (0)

Cub Scouts

September 24th, 2008

Brady is now officially a Cub Scout! We signed him up a few weeks ago and he is in a Den with his friends from school, which makes it so nice for everyone since a lot of us know each other already. He has been really excited about the meetings and activities. We are all signed off on his Bobcat trail, which is the first badge they have to earn no matter what level they join at. He will be presented the badge at the next Pack meeting at the school, which is next month. We are also simultaneosly working on the Wolf trail to earn his Wolf badge. We are especially excited about the Pack camping trip coming up. We will be heading out to Garner State Park in mid October to camp for the weekend. This will be our first time camping as a family and we can hardly wait! We have tried the team sports thing and it just didn’t work out, but the Scouts fit Brady to a tee, it’s right up his alley and ours! We love to be outside and we love to do things as a family, so this gives us some great family togetherness. It is going to be a really fun year seeing the boys grow as a Den and learn so much. Our Leader, Terry, has so much patience and is oh so good with the boys. You can tell he really loves being their leader!

Here are some photos I snapped before last night’s meeting. He was so excited about wearing the uniform that he put it on a full 3 hours before we had to go. I couldn’t convince him to take it off and wait. What a dedicated young man!  (As always, don’t forget to click on the images to make them bigger!)

 Here are some videos I took also last night, it might take a little bit to load depending on your connection.

Posted in Misc | Comments (0)

Makeover

September 10th, 2008

So, as you have probably noticed since you are on this site right now, things have changed around here! I have decided to start focusing on my creative photography and made the decision to turn my old blog into my website for that. To make it easier on you and me, I will now blog here, as well as post photos and/or the links to photo albums. The photos albums will remain over at phanfare.com, so don’t worry those won’t go anywhere. To access those directly, just go to themacfarlands.phanfare.com or just click on “Albums” over on the right hand side of this page. Also, we LOVE comments, so feel free to drop us a line (seriously, don’t make me beg for comments!) I hope you all like the new change!

Posted in Misc | Comments (0)

Kacey’s First Day in Pre-K

September 3rd, 2008

**UPDATE**

She is loving school! She had no trouble on the first day and didn’t seem to miss me at all! I am so glad she is having so much fun and meeting lots of new friends. I love to hear about her day when she gets home, it melts me to hear about something new she accomplished that day. I have been enjoying my new found freedom too!  

 

Well, today is Kacey’s first day of preschool and boy was she ready! We still had about 30 minutes before we had to leave and she was telling me “lets go!”. I walked her into her class, she hung her backpack on her hook and then we found her name on the table she was to sit at. The teacher had some worksheets sat out for the kids to work on and she settled right into it. I squated down to tell her goodbye and she turned in her chair and gave me the biggest hug and told me to enjoy my day! So cute! I was so worried that she might start to cry or be timid, but she wasn’t at the least bit worried about me leaving, in fact she quickly got distracted as I was walking out of the classroom. I know she is going to have fun and meet so many new friends. We love her teacher, Ms. Kristin (yes she’s a Kristin and the assistant is Christin!) I can’t wait to see her at 1 o’clock to hear all about her first day. It felt so weird to come home to a quiet house, but I am sure I will get used to it and I will get tons of stuff done in the 4 hours I will have every other day.

Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning…

Posted in Misc | Comments (1)

Photowalk: Update

August 28th, 2008

I forgot to mention in my post about the Photowalk I participated in on Saturday, that each city that hosted a walk had to choose a winner from their group. Each photowalk leader then submits the winning photo to the man himself, Scott Kelby, to judge and pick a grand prize winner.

Well guess who won for Austin? Yours truly!! That’s right….I got notified yesterday (my bday!) that one of my photos was chosen to represent the Austin Photowalk. I am up against some darn good photogs so we will see what happens. For right now though I feel so honored to have been chosen, it was completely unexpected!

I will be receiving Scott Kelby’s latest book, Lightroom 2 for digital photographers.

Here is the photo chosen by our leader…

Posted in Events | Comments (2)