The MacFarland's » Family

Cameron Park Zoo

krmac — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:55:35 +0000

Saturday we met up with our parents in Waco and had lunch together then surprised the kids with a trip to the Cameron Park Zoo. The whole thing was actually a surprise for Brady for his birthday. 2 weeks ago we planned everything out that we would all meet at Luby’s and the grandparents would surprise him. The timing worked out beautifully and all the grandparents were waiting inside when we pulled up. We told the kids we were just stopping for a bit to have lunch then we had 5 more hours in the car. Yes, we are cruel, I know Brady’s face was so funny, he looked like he was thinking he was being set up or something. I think he was genuinely shocked to see them. We hadn’t told the kids anything about the day except that we would be driving somewhere fun. They had all sorts of guesses but never guessed we would be meeting the grandparents for an exciting day in Waco. The zoo was so much fun! None of us had ever been so it was exciting getting to check it all out. The kids had a blast and I think everyone else did too! Click on the link below to see the photos from our fun filled day at the Cameron Park Zoo.

Zoo Photos

Happy 100th Birthday BSA!

krmac — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:12:33 +0000

Saturday was our annual Blue and Gold Banquet and we celebrated by throwing a birthday party in honor of the 100th year of Boy Scouts of America. This year as Bears, we were responsible for putting on the banquet, which was a major undertaking. I have the best den as everyone pitched in and pulled their weight to make this event happen. The night was wonderful, everything went perfectly and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. Saturday morning I met our den up at the church to get everything set up. We had to set up roughly 32 banquet tables and 240 chairs. Then since I was responsible for centerpieces and table decorations, I went to work with a couple of great helpers and got it all looking great. I couldn’t have done it without my awesome den moms and their daughters, who were so eager to help and got things put out correctly without me even having to give them instructions…so proud! That night the girls also headed up the ticket and check-in table and did a mighty fine job of it. Even though the day was very stressful trying to get things in order, it was fun being stressed out with my den parents. I really do have such a great group! After we rushed to get all 240 people served their dinner, we were able to sit down and enjoy the events. Each den was called up on the stage to be recognized with their badges. All ten boys who started out the year, graduated and got their badge…what an accomplishment! I think we might have been the only den that had all of their boys graduate. I am one proud den leader! The biggest moment of the night for us was when Brady won the category of “Most Campy” in the dessert contest. His face was priceless when he heard his name called, he was so happy and I was happy for him. We closed out the night by saying goodbye to our Webelos II scouts with the Arrow of Light Ceremony performed by a local Order of the Arrow troop, which is like the honor society of scouting. We also said goodbye to some great leaders including our current Cubmaster who will be moving onto Boy Scouts with his son. It was an overall wonderful night and was so happy that everything went as planned. I can’t wait to sit back next year and watch the new Bear parents do all the work!

Here are some photos from the evening

Pinewood Derby

krmac — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:30:42 +0000

Today we were up bright and early for our cub scout pack’s pinewood derby car races. Brady and Scott worked really hard on B’s car and it turned out really good! Brady drew up his own plan and Scott let him use the saw (with help of course) to cut out his design. They then worked on sanding the body and polishing the wheels and axles. Then Brady painted it and I helped him apply the decals. The last step and the most important was to put the weights on and put graphite on the wheels to make them zoom. His car was the fastest out of our den and he came in 4th overall for our age group. Not bad! We thought he would end up in third place and advance to the finals, but it wasn’t to be. We are all very satisfied though because he had a much faster car this year than last. Brady had a great time and I loved watching the faces of all the boys…the winning, the losing, the happy and the dissapointed. It’s all an important thing to experience for these young boys. They were all such good sports and even if they didn’t do too good, they were happy for one another and happy and clapping for the winners….that is what it is all about!

Christmas Morning

krmac — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:55:26 +0000

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and Santa was really good to the kids. For once, the kids actually came in and woke us up and we all went downstairs together. I was so happy they did because we got to see their reactions to their gifts. Usually they have already been downstairs playing when we wake up, so we miss out on those first few moments. Some of their Santa gifts for the both of them were iPod Nano’s, digital cameras, and art easels.

Cookie Dough, Sprinkles and Sugar…Oh My!

krmac — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:01:33 +0000

This morning the kids and I decided to bake some cookies for Santa…what messy FUN!!! After they made around twelve cookie cut-outs for the santa cookies, they decided to take the rest of the dough and play with it and make their own huge cookies. I just let them go nuts with it and do what they wanted and be creative. It was so fun watching dough, flour and sprinkles flying everywhere! They loved playing with the rolling pin and making a huge mess for Mom to clean up

Schlitterbahn Hill Country Christmas

krmac — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:10:36 +0000

Tuesday night we loaded up and headed south to New Braunfels for some family fun at Schlitterbahn Waterpark. We didn’t quite know what to expect, this was our first time going and it really exceeded our expectations! The whole place was lit up with over 1 million lights and tons of decorations. I think all of us were in awe at the sight of all those lights. We walked through candy cane lane, and visited Schatze the Dachshund, the mascot, at Schatze’s Central Park, which was decorated up like a Christmas wonderland. Then we headed over to the Christmas Carousel and Kacey and I took a whirl on it…awe to be a kid again. We watched Mr. Scrooge for a bit then the kids ran through a hay maze. We then walked over to the The Luge Sled Run and all four of us grabbed a sled and made the steep climb to the top of the slides. I expected Kacey to chicken out once she realized how high up we were but she threw that sled down and took off when it was her turn. I went at the same time, right next to her and I was trying to go slow and keep up with her but my lane was super fast and I flew down to the bottom and thought at one point I was going to take flight, haha! I looked back up and Kacey had huge smiles coming down the last part and she was really moving fast! We waited for the boys, who went right after us and both had huge smiles and I think Brady was even laughing when he got off. We handed our sleds to the people in line and made our way over to the ice skating rink area. We stopped and bought the kids some souvenirs, watched the ice skaters then walked along the banks of the Comal River, which was lit up beautifully. We stopped to watch the Christmas Reflections light show and it was spectacular! The lights in the trees and over the water danced to the music. After the show we made our way around to where the Abominable Snowman was known to be and walked around till we spotted him. They had fog machines going and during the summer it is a Congo River water ride but they had it transformed into a Congo Christmas. It was really cool and we all loved walking through the mysterious thick fog. The night seemed to go by really fast but so much fun was had and lots of memories made. On our way out the kids stopped in the gift shop and built themselves a stuffed animal (kind of like build a bear) the we hit the road for the hour long drive home. We will definitely be back next year!

Click here for all of the photos from our fun-filled night

It’s Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

krmac — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:43:10 +0000

The tree is up and sparkling, the decorations are up around the living room and I am hoping to get out later today (if its not unbearably cold) and get the lights put up outside. I just love this time of year…I love the fire that is burning in the fireplace right now, the Christmas music that is playing, seeing the tree sparkle and shine and I love watching the kids sit around the tree trying to guess whats in all those presents.

Ready, Set, Race!

krmac — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:41:36 +0000

This past Sunday our Cub Scout Pack held the annual Raingutter Regatta at a local park here in Round Rock. The boys built their boats from a kit provided by the organization. After hours of sanding, painting and putting on the finishing touches, the boats are “raced” down a raingutter filled with water. It is always lots of fun to see the creativity that goes into all the boats. Brady went with a Red, White and Blue theme this year.

Camping at Lockhart State Park

krmac — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:19:27 +0000

Last weekend we met up with Kristin’s parents at the small, but beautiful, Lockhart State Park. Only about an hours drive southeast of Round Rock, it’s a nice park with only twenty or so campsites and a nice hiking trail. We built campfires both nights, roasted marshmallows and popped up some jiffy pop. Saturday night we drove into Lockhart to eat at the famous Black’s BBQ, and it was so tasty! We had a nice, relaxing weekend, the weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.

Click Here for photos from our weekend

Happy Halloween!

krmac — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:32:25 +0000

We had a really fun Halloween and the kids loaded up on candy. At first we didn’t think our little candy corn witch was going to be trick or treating with us. Friday night she came down with a stomach virus and it looked like she wasn’t going to get to celebrate with us. She took a long nap Saturday afternoon and woke up feeling a little better and decided she wanted to dress up and walk around. She did fine and I think forgot about being sick. Brady had fun seeing all his friends come by all dressed up. He was dressed up as a zombie doctor and pulled it off quite good, I just loved his costume! I love Halloween and am so glad Kacey was feeling better. She looked so sweet in her candy corn witch costume. There were so many cute kids in cute costumes and we actually ran out of candy this year!