Sunday, August 15, 2010

How the West was Won

Eight swarming kids. One tired Gramma. Three terrorized parents. That's how. Just kidding on the terrorized part. Mostly.
We hit up the Alamo on day three... or four depending on how you keep track of days.
Brogan was acting and feeling rather monsterous that morning. Seriously, does he not look like a serial killer in training? I, however, was having a great day ... (love ya, Michael!) Took some pictures, read some plaques, talked to a couple from Jersey ...
Headed over to the Children's Museum three blocks down from the Alamo and let the kids go (under strict parental supervision) wild. For darn near 5 hours. If not 6. Who was keeping count anyway? I seriously cannot look at this picture of Lily without breaking into laughter. She is such a riot.

Thinking and Being

The Second day in San Antonio we thought we'd be all smart and get there RIGHT when the gates opened so that we could get the rest of the rides out of the way, watch the shows and then enjoy the water park at the very end before we left. The thought was there. The intention was good. However, we all failed to read on the map the day before that even though the park opens at 10, NOTHING besides the aquarium opens till ELEVEN. Sure, go ahead, get in a line. Sure, go ahead, get there early. It's not like you can DO anything there. Lame-o.
However, once it actually opened for business, we were kinda in good spots to get in early on the rides we wanted to go on. Or THOUGHT we wanted to get on. The roller coaster LOOKED tame enough. (those are the girls standing under the track...) It didn't LOOK like it was going to try to slam your vertebra down through your tail bone. Six story vertical drop with only lap belts, no back support ... and a lot of jerking about. Yaaay ... let's never do that again. Ever. This is what Jenie looks like right after she thinks she's going to die... and what I look like ... It wasn't pretty my friend. Not pretty at all.
We all headed over to watch the Shamu show after that ... and Michael's face expresses just how incredibly powerful the show is. He's not looking all "Holy Crap!" cause he just got SOAKED (haha, that's Lily's face) - he's looking like that because the show is just ... emotional. I have seen the show three times now and I still get choked up.
The water skiing show was to watch also ... it's pretty fun to see what YEARS of doing something athletic can bring about... a career at Sea World ;) Seriously, though. It'd be cool to say your job is water skiing at Sea World.
The rain and lightening had started coming down by this point so we scurried over to the last show we had hoped to watch. They kept delaying the show because of the lightening and high wires and what not involved, which gave the kids a chance to talk to the whale trainer before the cancelled the show entirely.

the rest of the story ...

I was so tired after I had put together the last two posts I simply couldn't stay awake long enough to WRITE about what we did. I'm well rested and wee bit keyed up right now, though - so here goes!
My mom, kids and I drove down to San Antonio from Austin, checked us in, got us groceries, had supper ... generally wasted time till Michael, Jenie and their kids showed up. THEN the fun REALLY started ... okay, so it started the next day. But it's all relative. I think maybe we went to the pool that night ... but maybe not. It's all kind of blurry ...
The NEXT day - we'll call it the 1st day because I have photographic proof that it happened... We went to Sea World. We touched dolphins, fed sea lions, splashed in the water park, went on some REALLY lame rides, one AWESOME one (those are Michaels, Hannas and my feet dangling on the last set of seats you see) and waited in line for what seemed to be HOURS for an okay one. The kids couldn't have been better. Other than Brogan, who was DONE like ten minutes after we got there, there was no complaining, no whining, no fighting ... just a whole lot of fun been had by all.

Monday, August 9, 2010

San Antonio

I have lived in Texas for ten years and never taken the time to explore San Antonio. Or Austin... or Houston! Even as I admit it, I feel rather ridiculous. I LIVE here for crying out loud! I need to invest more time into the exploration of Texas and the wonders therein.

Checking In.

Don't be looking at me like that! Would you rather me have a life or write about a non-life? With a life comes pictures. Yay, pictures! On with the show (in chronological order) ...

I got my letter from the USCIS telling me they had approved my application for citizenship. Which is not to say that I AM a citizen, just that I have an appointment on the 16th of this month. Yay?My momma came down at about mid-July for a month and I've been enjoying having her here to no end. I love having someone around to yak and laugh and play with.
A friend of a friend ... who I think may be on her way to becoming my friend also, offered to let us come to the Dallas Zoo free with her on "Texas Instruments Appreciation" day. We were quick to jump on that offer. I haven't been to the Dallas Zoo since Rhiannon was just a baby, before Brogan happened along (saying that like I have no idea how babies come about). It was sweltering hot ... but it was way fun.
Brogan also lost his first tooth that day, though WHERE the tooth ended up is still a mystery. Brogan! Where's your tooth?!?!?
I don't know, I just lost it.
Lost it where?
I don't KNOW, MOM. I LOST IT!!

Rhiannon returned triumphant from her month long eastern seaboard road trip with her Crabb grandparents, cousins, Aunt and Uncle. Triumphant simply because she had finally swarmed back into my arms. Man, did I miss her constant ever chattering little voice, sweet ever wrapping little arms, silly never making sense jokes!

Too soon after she returned I headed off for a long weekend PTA conference in Austin. Yeah, the classes were interesting, informative and ... whatever else they were suppose to be. But honestly, what it came down to - was it was a GREAT Girl Getaway. We laughed, we swam, we ate, we laughed, we talked, we giggled, we broke a few rules ...

Then, THEN we met up with my brother and his family in San Antonio - which deserves it's own post!