Farther South on Padre Island

Padre Island is the longest barrier island in the world, the second largest island by land mass in the United States (after Long Island), and it stretches from Corpus Christi almost to the Rio Grande. We've spent a significant amount of time in Port Aransas, Mustang Island, North Padre Island, and the Padre Island National Seashore (which are all basically the same island), but we'd never ventured down to South Padre Island, which is generally regarded as the nicest beach in Texas. So it was about time we did. We went to Brownsville first and checked out the zoo, then hit the beach in the evening. Honestly, it wasn't all that different than North Padre Island and all those other names they call it, but it was definitely more developed. There were a lot more condos, restaurants, hotels, and of course, people. We ate at a pirate themed restaurant and had to hit the beach for a while.

The zoo was surprisingly pretty big... but it hadn't been updated in a while. In a lot of ways it felt like taking a step back in time to the early 90's... but they did have a lot of cool animals.

A couple of strange looking fellows...

And a couple more strange looking fellows...

Cooling off in the October heat...

Avast, ye land lovers...

Beach life

Please don't throw sand... Nolan... NOLAN!!

Life's not so bad on South Padre... hope it's still sunny and warm wherever you are!

This kid right here...

It's easy to lose track of how quickly time is going by, and then you turn around and your youngest boy - the baby no less - is six years old. He's in kindergarten. He's growing like a weed and getting sharper by the minute. He's looked a lot like his oldest brother at times, but he's definitely unique in every way, and he never fails to bring a smile to our faces. This kid couldn't be any easier going and couldn't be any more entertaining. It's hard to see him growing out of his baby stages, but we know there's so much more to come. We're so happy to have him and infinitely blessed. Happy Birthday to Nolan!

Cleveland Rocks!

I may have moved out of Ohio at 5 years old, but it's always been somewhere deep inside. My parents were born and raised there, both of my dad's parents were, and probably on and on back for a while at least on the Sellers side. While I don't have many ties to the state personally, one thing that's always been a part of me was growing up a Cleveland fan. In Montana there weren't any major sports teams, so most people followed Seattle or Denver teams. But Dad was always a Browns fan, my brother always hung Indians posters in our room, and we always wanted to play as the Browns or the Indians in Super Tecmo Bowl or Ken Griffey's Major League Baseball or just when throwing the ball around in the yard. We had shirts and hoodies, blankets and jackets, hats and footballs - everything Cleveland. The teams haven't always been great, in fact, more often than not, they've been terrible. But it doesn't matter. It's a part of who we are. I've seen the Indians play quite a bit - in Baltimore, in Houston, and at Spring Training in Florida and Arizona. I'd seen the the Browns play once in Jacksonville. But in our 35 plus years, my brother and I had never seen either play at home, and Dad hadn't been since 1978. So it was time to do it - and the results couldn't have been better.

Getting ready for Thursday Night Football in the Dawg Pound!

The view from our seats... gonna be a sea of orange.

After two miserable seasons, and having not won since 2016... all it took was for us to show up! Finally put one in the win column! That stadium was rocking... greatest sporting event I've ever been to.

Had to check out the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while in town... 

Progressive Field... some of the shirts said it'll always be The Jake... but either way, we made it to the home of the Tribe!

No win for the Indians tonight, but still an amazing experience - and they're still playoff bound this year! As Cleveland fans say, it's always "wait until next year" but maybe this is THE year they win it all! Either way, definitely an awesome trip for the older generation of the Sellers boys...

Still Summer...

Even though it's September and school started weeks ago, it still feels like summer around here, and probably will for a while. We're experiencing hurricane season at the moment, with some pretty heavy rains, but the past few weeks were sunny and warm. We got out and did a little fishing, took the kids up to Six Flags for the first time, and started back with Scouts.

Got a little rained on at Six Flags...

The gargoyle...

Not at all worried about this ride...

Finally convinced him to ride some of the big ones...

They're all in now...

It finally happened. The last one is in school. It's said so often, but it really is hard to believe how quickly time seems to go by. We've been in Texas now for more than 5 years. Nolan was born right before we got here, so if you add that up you get to kindergarten age. It doesn't really hit us until we start looking back at the photos posted on this blog and remember how little they all were when we got here. But that's the way it goes. Thankfully, we've still got a long way left to go. The journey is a long one from here for all of them still. Nolan kicks it all off this year, Adam is in third grade, and Paul has started middle school - which is a whole new journey of its own. We're just trying to keep them young for as long as we can, so wish us luck!

Back to school haircuts...

Paul's feelings exactly...