End of School

My grandson completed school and he was able to visit us for a great week of guy stuff. This was a week I planned for since the winter. It was not a disappointment. It was better than being 9 again. I had wheels and a pocket of money.

We started off with a hike to the vista at Hill Country Natural Area. It was rainy but we got the hike in between showers. 3 miles of good trail. We got done in time to catch the Memorial Day Parade.

In Bandera tradition, he brought home a large bag of candy and learned about paying respect to the colors. Next was swimming lessons.

The primary goal for the week was to teach the young guy to swim. We had 5 lessons. They were not always fun but each one was a step closer to passing the test. On the last day he took on the three event challenge.

• Swim across the pool
• Jump in the deep end and swim to the ladder
• Swim under water to find the pink fish.

On the day of the challenge, two older boys were at the pool and they cheered him on as he crossed the pool. It was a big deal for the both of us.

On Sunday, we went to church and he was able to go to the children’s church. He made a big impression on the ladies who lead the children’s ministry. Nothing like a BB gun shoot to follow Sunday School. Just to make it a Bandera weekend, we went to the Rodeo at Mansfield Park.

The next big event was a camping trip to Lost Maples State Natural Area. A beautiful state park at the head waters of the Sabinal River. On the way we stopped at Sonic for ice cream. It was hot and humid but we were not deterred. We quickly pitched the tent and tarp. We hiked to the fishing pond about 1.5 miles from camp. Worms went fast and Bryce caught 16 sunfish. Some were old and big. We ran low on worms and started using half worms. Eventually, Bryce caught a nice bass. When the worms ran out, we switched to pepperoni and started catching catfish. Total for the day was 19 fish. I was so busy, I never got much fishing done.

The following day we slowed down and went to the local museum. The dinosaurs were a hit but he really liked the Art wing and the staff just loved having a smart young man. Since it was raining, we got a rain check to see the dinosaurs outside.

The next few days were spent recovering. We flew a drone that required a ladder to recover out of the tree. We played 5x games of homerun derby. We swam a lot to get ready for the test.

I had a great time. I have to admit that I bragged a bit about our week at work and there were a lot of guys jealous that we had a week together. His sisters and cousins are waiting their turn in the following years.