Fun in San Antonio, part 2

The last full day we were in San Antonio, we drove out to New Braunfels and went to the McKenna Children's Museum. On another trip to San Antonio, we took the kids here to the children's museum, but it was before Addison and Emmerson, and Alex was a little too small to really enjoy it. This time around, he really had a fun time. I love this children's museum. It's so clean and fun! And there is so much to do.

Addison playing in the water outside the museum. This is the only part of the water exhibit that she could reach :)

Alex working on the plumbing for the house.

Shopping in the grocery store.

Tyson and Jill...big smiles! Aren't they cute?

Addison playing in the pretend house. She was dancing to the old timey radio.

Alex fishing with his bat wings on. He's really into Batman lately, so he LOVED the bat wings.

Alex in the bat cave.

Alex playing with the trains. He still loves trains and train tracks. Such a fun morning at the museum. We really had a great time in San Antonio, as always. We're looking forward to our next trip down there...maybe Sea World? Maybe when it's not 100 degrees anymore!

Fun in San Antonio

While Roger was gone to Guyana, I bravely took myself, my two kids, my brand new Honda Pilot, and everything we couldn't live without for five days, on a road trip down to San Antonio. Can I just say how much I love San Antonio! For so many reasons! We visited my friend, Jill, and her family. It was so fun! Well, I had fun. My kids were off schedule, sleep deprived and generally cranky. But hey, we made the best of it! Jill is such a great host -- she always takes such great care of us, feeds us, plans fun activities. Here are some pics from our time down there.

Our first day there we went shopping at La Cantera -- a fabulous outdoor shopping mall. This is Jill's son, Tyson, and Alex at the playground. Some genius had the genius idea of putting a playground in the middle of this outdoor shopping mall. Seriously. This person was a genius. You can shop, then let the kids burn some energy at the playground. Then shop some more. Pure Genius! Love La Cantera!

The next day, we drove out to the Exotic Resort Zoo in Johnson City. It was so fun! We drove around in a covered trailer on about 150 acres of land and fed all kinds of animals...camels, llamas, deer, buffalo, ostriches, zebras, ... and those were just the animals that I knew!

Feeding the buffalo...look at that tongue!

The camels were so funny! One was an older camel and we had to hide our buckets of food from him, or he'd help himself and grab the entire bucket of feed. Another younger one, Goober, was really sweet. He just ate right out of our hands!

Addison had NO FEAR of the animals. She was fussing, and I couldn't figure out why. Then it dawned on me that she wanted to feed the animals. She would reach in the buckets, grab some food, and then just let the animals eat right out of her hands. I was more apprehensive than she ever dreamed of being! We finished out the day there by having a picnic lunch. After everyone ate, we continued playing with the animals in the petting zoo. It was such a fun day! More to come in my next post!

Cadence is 8!

My sister was in town from St. Kitts. While she was here we celebrated the combined birthdays of Cadence, my nephew; my mom, and my Aunt Mary. It was a fun day! We all met at the bowling alley. We played games, and then bowled. We played boys against girls in bowling, and well, the girls need more practice! But it was fun! Then we headed back to my parents for lunch, presents and birthday cake (in that order!) It was a fun day for everyone, but I think especially for Cadence. I can't believe my sweet nephew is 8! I just love him to pieces. I hate that I only see him a couple of times a year. But enough of my boo-hooing. I'm looking forward to seeing him again at Christmas.

Addison and Caitlin Again

My sister was here again, and we were at it again. Yes, we played dress up again with Caitlin, my beautiful niece, and Addison. They are pretty cute together right now because Caitlin has caught up to Addison, so they are about the same size. They are so cute! But they were a little harder to photograph. This was the best I could do. And Caitlin has started clapping, which is so sweet!

If I could somehow combine these two pictures, we'd have a good one of the two of them! Oh well. Maybe at Christmas!

Click. Pause

This morning as I was showering, I was thinking. This is often where I do the most of my thinking. You know that point on a roller coaster when you are at the top of the big hill...you've climbed and climbed and the coaster finally stops and you hear that "click"...and a pause...and you're holding your breath for a split second because you know you're about to go speeding back down? It's been so exciting climbing up and you're about to burst with excitement at the anticipation of flying back down? I feel like that is where my life is at. We are at that point in the year. We've made it through yet another blistering hot Texas summer. Next week school starts. "Click." Pause. Everything else after that happens so fast...Labor Day weekend, the state fair, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and then bam! 2009 is over. I'm excited for the next couple of months, but know it will go so fast. Here's to holding my breath for the next week, my last week of summer fun with my family, before all the craziness of the end of the year begins!

The Power of Two

I did it! I survived two weeks without Roger. Thankfully, he is on his way back from Guyana! I'm happy to report that my kids are still happy, loved and well-adjusted (though they drove me crazy at times).



As I reflected back over these last fourteen days it truly reaffirmed my belief in the power of two -- as in two parents. And not just two parents, but a mother and a father. Never have I realized more how much Roger and I balance out the roles of being parents. He meets certain needs of my children that I can't and vice versa. Where I fall short, he makes up the difference. For example, I'm "ok" at playing trucks and throwing the ball, but Roger is so much better! And times when I get tired of the constant chatter from my four year old and the constant questions, Roger is patient and conversational. And after applying what seems like a hundred band-aids and my sympathies wearing thin, Roger is concerned and warm. I've missed that balance around here. I'm happy that it will be restored in a matter of hours. I've had a fun two weeks, but I'm looking forward to his return tomorrow!

Flying Solo

I'm not sure what this was all about...I think it had something to do with weather proofing the BDUs. It's like many things with the military. I just don't get it all. Roger tries to explain a lot of it to me, but I'm starting to think that unless you've been in the military, you just won't understand. Which is the case with me. My point is, Roger left Sunday for his annual two week tour with the Air Force Reserves. His unit went to Guyana, which is in South America. It turned into a humanitarian mission of sorts. He is helping under privileged people in Guyana get glasses. And so I've been on my own now for 3 days. Luckily, I've had my sweet friend (and next-door neighbor) Lindsey keeping me company. I also have my sister coming in town on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to seeing her, and my niece and nephew. Then next week the kids and I are going to crash San Antonio, visiting my bestie, Jill, and her family. I just love San Antonio -- so many fun things to do down there. And it's been over a year since I've seen Jill, so I'm looking forward to seeing her again. And her kiddos! So the two weeks should go by pretty fast. I feel so lucky to have such great friends and family to help me through the times when I'm flying solo. And I think this is really just the beginning...Roger will probably have more demands of him from the military in the future. He's even preparing me for a possible deployment. But we'll cross that bridge when it comes. In the meantime, I'm trying to make the best of the next couple of weeks.

Soccer Mom...Sorta

For three days last week, I was an official soccer mom. I signed Alex up for soccer camp last week at our gym. It was Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10-12 p.m. From what I could gather from Alex, he had a good time. I was so excited to have him do something this summer, even if it was just a sports camp. Alex is so naturally athletic, I love trying to cultivate that talent in him. On Friday when I picked him up, I jokingly asked his teacher, Miss Lauren, if I had a future soccer star on my hands. She said Alex is really fast! And she said in a year or two, he will be really ready for a team sport like soccer. Which she followed up with, "is totally normal for this age." I thought what a great, non offensive answer to my question, haha! And in truth, Alex still doesn't quite understand the concept of a team and being a team player. So while I thought I might enroll him in soccer this fall, maybe we should look into something like t-ball, where he can be his own individual star for a year or so more. He is fast, but he can also really throw a ball! I'll keep you posted on that! Also on Friday when I picked up Alex, he came running over to me saying "Look Mom!" Miss Lauren had given all the kids a blue water bottle with pictures of sports balls on it (soccer balls, baseballs, footballs, basketballs.) And Alex said, "Just like Daddys!" Roger always packs a couple of water bottles to take with him when he goes to work. So sweet!