Camp TECABOCA stands for Texas Catholic Boys Camp. They attended
the last
session. There were only 60 some kids with the majority of them
being from
Monterey Mexico. The others were from Texas. The camp is
run by priests
and brothers from the Order of Mary. The have had this camp for
at least 50
years. The boys went canoeing, paddle boating, fishing and swimming
in the
Guadalupe River. It runs through the camp. There was also
riflery, archery
and of course arts and crafts. Not to mention woodworking.
As you can
imagine they brought home many treasures which they made. They
also went
horse back riding. The boys won many awards. Kevin received
an NRA
certificate in riflery for near perfect marksmanship. Caleb received
Junior
Bowman in Archery. Brendan received most fish caught. He
also received an
award for the cabin and bathrooms best cleaned consecutively, a golden
toilet brush. I think that photo was included.
What camp would be complete without its pranks. I'm sure that
many are held
in reserve since dear old mom might not find them as funny as when
they
happened. I have although been told of the older boys in Kevin's
group
hiding shoes and the like. Brendan even woke up with a red mustache
on half
of his face the last morning of camp. Thank God they didn't do
it with a
sharpie. Caleb as can be imagined came home with an expanded
vocabulary in
Spanish. Not all of those words would I recommend using around
his Abuelita
Chacon. They all were introduced by the Mexican boys of the many
delicacies
which can be found in the candy shops in Mexico. One of them
being
Roccaletas. Imagine if you will a Tootsie pop. Only the
outer layers are
chili and the center is gum. Yummy? After two weeks
they were ready to
come home. They all had such a great time that they have asked
to go back
next year. Kevin has been invited back year after next as a councilor.
So after all that we went on to San Antonio. We stayed at the
Blazing Star
RV resort and had a blast. The kids swam while the laundry was
done. Two
weeks of camping, phew the clothes! Not to mention the stink.
Next day we
went to San Antonio and saw the Alamo and went on the River Walk.
We all
enjoyed the lectures at the Alamo. Monday we had an exhaustive
day at Sea
World. What would a trip to Sea World be without a big cold salty
Shamu
splash. Yuck! Tuesday morning we began our trip home.
We went to
Brackettville to John Wayne's Alamo set. On to Langtry, Texas
home of Judge
Roy Bean. Then to Del Rio where we crossed over into Cuidad Acuna
for an
afternoon of souvenir shopping. And to satisfy Caleb's complaint
that he
has never been to Mexico. After that we headed up to Pecos, Texas.
That is
a real cowboy town. Then up to Carlsbad. Thursday we went through
the
Carlsbad Cavern's. Being gluttons for punishment we did 2 tours
and were in
the cave close to four hours. We walked down to 750 feet beneath
the
surface and the temperature was a nice 57 degrees. Not wanting
to walk we
took the elevator and rose within 30 seconds to the surface and a lovely
100
plus degrees. At least the bats were out. That afternoon
we were in
Roswell. Who could miss a trip to the Alien capital of the world.
So after
a quick museum trip and dinner we were on our way. We made it
all in one
piece back to Loveland.
So after such an enjoyable vacation they are all ready to go back to
school.
HAHAHAHAHA! Kevin has just started tackle football for the Loveland
Midget
league, Pop Warner. He is really excited about it and enjoying
it greatly.
The other two are busy with guinea pigs and Brendan has taken to making
movies on the computer. Me, I just go with the flow. Liam
busy back at
work. He will be going to Toulouse France soon. School
starts back August
26th here. What will I ever do with myself?
Well for now that's about all. I have lots of pictures so this
is the first
in a series of emails.