Spring Break in San Antonio

Our much needed vacation has come and gone already.  Can't believe it!  

My parents picked us up on Tuesday morning.  We loaded the Explorer inside and out, and off we went... headed South!  Our first stop was Round Rock Donuts.  We had to try the Texas-Sized Donut, of course.  

He did try to eat it all himself!

Preston made a pretty good attempt at eating the whole thing himself, but Michael and I helped (oh, and Callen had some too!).  We didn't manage to eat it all even between all of us.  We made it to San Antonio before check-in time at our hotel, but they let us into one of the rooms anyway.  So we unloaded and headed towards The Riverwalk for food.  We ate at Fuddruckers, 'cause we weren't really sure where everything was and that happened to be right in front of us.  After that, we checked out The Alamo.  

We made it to The Alamo!

We went back to the hotel to get settled in our second room.  After resting for a bit, we met up with Dannell in front of The Alamo.  We took the Riverboat tour just as it was getting dark and enjoyed the sights.  Afterwards we were ready for dinner.  We first tried a BBQ place on The Riverwalk, but after sitting outside in the steamy heat with no breeze, looking over the ridiculously expensive menu and the since the waiter  never came back... we got up and left to look for something else.  We found a little Italian place that was inside with A/C and that was able to sit us right away.  It was delicious!  Exactly what we were wanting.  After that we walked Dannell to her car (after getting turned around a bit) and finally back to our hotel.  I dunno how many miles we walked that day, but it was enough to wear us out!

The next day, we took the Trolly Tour so we wouldn't have to walk as much.  Our first stop was Hemisfair Park and the Tower of the Americas.  

It's way up there!

We went up to the top and checked out the view.  We also did a 4-D ride about Texas, which neither of the boys liked very much at all! After that we got back on the trolly and saw a couple of the missions (we didn't get out), and then stopped at Market Square.  Right when we stepped off, there was a Mexican restaurant, Mi Tierra, and it ended up being really great!  We walked around the shops till it was time to be picked up again.  We decided the boys had probably had enough (they were not cooperating as well as they should, meaning... nap time!) and needed a rest, so we stayed on the trolly the rest of the way back to where we started.  We took a break (no naps, unfortunately), then took the car back up to San Fernando Cathedral.  The bones and ashes of the great heroes of the Alamo are kept there, and it was a really beautiful place!  

Beautiful old cathedral

We went to the Rivercenter Mall (ok, mostly just the Disney Store in there) and then ended up back down at the Riverwalk for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  We swam back at the hotel for a bit before turning in.

Day three was designated "Sea World Day!"  Apparently everyone from Mexico designated it that day as well... soo crowded, and ALL of the cars in the parking lot had Mexico plates.  We got there about 10:45am and didn't head out till about 5:45pm - that made for a full day!  We saw three different shows... one with sea lions, one with dolphins and beluga whales and, of course, Shamu!  Callen was a little nervous about the giant KILLER WHALES that came up out of the water pretty dang close to us.

Up close and personal!

Then he was pretty unhappy about getting splashed and soaked.  I tried to keep him covered, but putting him behind me and taking the brunt of the big splash, but it was cold water and I kinda gasped, which scared him and made him freak out a bit.  Haha, oh well.  

Callen isn't scared of Shamu... yet.

Preston got ride a whole bunch of little rides (and a big one, the splash falls one with grandma and Michael).  We saw penguins and alligators, and walked our butts off again.  I got a pretty nice sunburn on the top of my shoulders at this point.  We were hot and tired and tried the Bill Miller BBQ place right outside of Sea World (though they have locations allll over the place in S.A).  It wasn't that great, but it was food.  We came back to the hotel and swam some more.

Friday morning we had breakfast and then went back to The Alamo for just a little bit.  Then we prepared to head out.  We traveled just a little and stopped at Natural Bridge Caverns.  

Preston rides a dinosaur!

We had already walked so much all over downtown San Antonio, not sure we needed the extra up and down walking you have to do in these caves.  But, it was pretty cool.  Callen, however, was not interested.  He was pretty tired and fussed quite a bit no matter who held him or which way (we tried the back/front carrier).  Thankfully he fell asleep after a while, though Michael then carried him in that pack - breaking his back all the way up that incline!  I remember going there when I was younger, but most of it was unfamiliar.  It was pretty neat!  

It's a "natural bridge."

Stalagmites!

After that, we were ready for lunch... so we took a little side trip off of the freeway, and found Frank's Bait & Taco.  Michael and I saw this place featured on the Texas Country Reporter or something, and wanted to give it a try.  It was so cool!  The walls and ceilings are completely covered with... stuff.  

Behind the bar at Frank's Bait & Taco

And Eddie (his name isn't Frank, but he'll answer to it!) told us about his place and where some of the stuff in it came from... the food was really good too!  And from there, with full bellies, we headed home!

We had a great time... despite the steamy heat (thankfully it stayed overcast the entire time and there were strong breezes so it wasn't completely unbearable) and despite a certain 5-yr-old that didn't want to do ANYTHING (EVERY SINGLE TIME we sat down to eat he declared he wasn't hungry and cried that he didn't want anything and just wanted to go back to the hotel, however, he ate EVERYTHING he was given and had a great time doing everything... sigh).  Callen did exceptionally better than I thought he would and he finally started taking more steps while we were at the hotel.  On the way home, he got a little fussy about the ride, but all of the rest of the time, he was just a super happy baby!  And speaking of the hotel, it wasn't bad, but they were doing remodeling, so it was a bit of a mess and noisy sometimes.  We slept great the 2nd and 3rd nite - probably because we were so worn out!  And even though we ended up walking so much, sweating like mad and running into crowds everywhere, oh and nearly running completely out of gas at one point with no gas station ANYWHERE!, I'd say... it was a great vacation!  It wasn't a relaxing vacation by any means, but it was a lot of fun. 

Thanks, Mom & Dad!!!

(I've got some video, but I'll have to wait to post those... this took long enough!)

Thanksgiving Inspiration...

I love Thanksgiving!  And I am having such a great time doing Thanksgiving lessons with Preston right now.  I don't know if he's liking it, but I'm having fun!  Haha.  My Mother-In-Law gave me a neat book a few years ago and we've taken up reading it every year... and this year is cool 'cause I've worked it into our schooling (and I think this is the first year Preston is actually understanding some of it).  

The story of the English puritans who made their way across a giant, stormy sea to reach a "New World" in which to practice their form of Christianity (having a relationship with Jesus!) is so inspiring!  The hardships they faced in getting to that first feast of Thanksgiving (a year after they arrived!), losing about half of their peers in the first month to "the sickness," making peace with the Indians in the area despite the hostility... it's just a neat, exciting part of our American history!  

Anyway, I've been reading through the story with Preston, as well as doing all kinds of Fall/Thanksgiving activities.  We made a paper basket and went outside to collect things that remind us of Fall.  We ended up with acorns and leaves, which we are using to work on counting by 2's, plus some addition and subtraction (and it makes a lovely center piece as well!

We're also making little Pilgrims and Indian guys, discussing the food associated with this holiday, talking and praying about what we're thankful for, going over the Fruits of the Spirit and doing all kinds of fun crafts!  We even created our first lapbook (though a miniature version, and only of some Thanksgiving games... but hey, it's a start!).  Today we watched a really neat live video broadcast from Plimoth Plantation, where they have actors portraying real people from 1620... Preston and I enjoyed that a lot!  Oh, and we're going next week to hear a real Indian story-teller!  I'm only sad this unit couldn't last longer!  Thanksgiving is 7 days away!!!  But... then we get to go into Advent and Christmas!  Woo, love me some holidays!  Haha!  It gives me great inspiration when I'm trying to plan what we'll learn about next!

Oh, and the fact that I found a simple template for planning pages that I like helps a lot too.  I've been writing it all out by hand on notebook paper, trying to keep it in order (according to the workboxes)... it was getting frustrating to try to plan ahead.  I dunno why it didn't dawn on me before to either search for a good weekly planner sheet or just make one up on my own.  Duh, Jade!  But now that I have those printed off and ready to fill in, I feel like I'm once again on a roll.  Yay!

x

[Edit: Added 3:40pm]
We made the little pilgrim and Indian guy this morning, or as Preston called them "Toilet Paper Roll Penguin... I mean Pilgrim" and "Dr Pepper Indian Guy" (That's what they were made of... a toilet paper roll and rolled up cardboard from a Dr Pepper box).

Proud of his creations

He had great fun coloring the template... he wanted them to be brightly colored, because even though the Pilgrims and Indians didn't necessarily wear bright colors, "they wish they could!"  Then later we read that the early settlers DID wear bright colored clothing on their Sabbath days as a sign of praise... so, awesome, Preston knew it before I did!  He had a great time using the guys to act out some funny situations.

Looking very serious about things

I asked Preston to recount the Thanksgiving story, or at least what he remembered of it, but... he didn't exactly cooperate.  Made for a funny little video, though.  He's very intent on them being traitors, even though I tried to explain the difference between being a traitor and a trader (like food for furs and whatnot), but he decided that they were both.

Headed to the World Series!

That's right, guys... World Series bound!

Wow.  Just wow.  I don't think anyone saw this coming a few months ago.  I mean, we root for the Rangers, we love those guys, we hope they can do well... but going to the World Series?  It's just not an option... until now!  It's time... that's for sure!

Drowning Josh Hamilton with Ginger Ale!

The Texas Rangers have been through so much this year... the controversies surrounding Ron Washington's drug and Josh Hamilton's alcohol problems.  Nearly being auctioned off because of bankruptcy.  It's been a mess of a season for them behind the scenes, but not out on the field!  These guys handled all of it with grace, forgiveness and respect.  The best thing about this team is that they act like a team.  No one is the 'star,' no one is more important than anyone else... they play together.  

Happy guys!

And you can tell they really care for each other, they have fun and enjoy what they're doing!  I mean, what other group of grown men would go around making silly antler signals and claw swipes in public like that?

Rawr!

This is what baseball should look like.  I am so excited for the Texas Rangers.  Can't wait to see what next week brings in THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

Yes sir, you guys did it!

10 Years Ago Today?!?! No way...

(Sorry if this post contains major typos, run-on sentences, etc.; I'm typing as fast as I can before Callen wakes up...)
Ten years ago, on this date.... this happened in Downtown Fort Worth:
The monster!
Or as we called it "Twister 2000"!

I remember it pretty vividly.  It had been a strange day, everyone in my part of the office was in a crazy mood - like hyper crazy.  We had just gotten a shipment in of office supplies that was just for us (we were always having to borrow from other places) and since we finally had our own "office" apart from everyone else, we were really excited that things were coming together.  And along with the office supplies we had also got a big tub of peppermints... for some reason we were really happy about that.  At one point someone looked outside and was like "Dude, it's really green out there" and we all took notice, but thought nothing of it.  It wasn't raining or stormy looking or anything.  Then, just a little while later there were shouts and the sound of stamped or something right outside our door (which was closed)... what the heck?  Andy opened the door and looked out and saw everyone in the other office running for the exit (without notifying us, thanks guys), and he looked out the window and saw the tornado coming at the building.  He yelled something about us needing to get out of there.  I grabbed my bag and ran for the stairwell along with everyone else.  Just as we closed the stairwell door behind us, the building began to shake - it hit!  Because everyone in the other office had already started down the stairs, we were stuck behind this one guy who was... uh, rather large and had a bum leg... so, going down the stairs was rather slow.  As we were headed down the stairs, a huge crack ran up the wall, it was crazy to see.  The whole time I think I was in shock, 'cause I wasn't really scared or hysterical (like most of the other girls running down the stairs)... I couldn't believe it was happening.  As we were running down the stairs, my wise-cracking co-worker remarked "Aww, man, we shoulda saved the peppermints!!!" and we all busted out laughing.  We got to the bottom of floor, the basement, and by that time the tornado was passed... a pipe had burst and the floor started filling with water so we had to go back up to the first floor.  I remember when we came out of the stairwell having no idea where I was, even though I took those stairs all the time and knew where they came out.  But I could see outside 'cause the windows were broken out and part of the building was missing.  It wasn't until we were exiting out the MAIN doors that I realized they WERE the main doors and the lobby.  The first thing I saw when I walked outside was a car thrown up against a tree, then I looked over at the church ( Calvary Cathedral) across the street and the walls of their prayer tower were completely missing but their steeple was still standing strong.  I saw the Bank One building deeper in the city looking all jagged and messed up.  We went to look for our cars which were no longer exactly were we parked them, but the rain started coming down and it was this nasty, stinging rain.  I remember someone saying we should walk towards the city, but seeing the buildings all in shambles ahead of us, some of us convinced the rest it was a bad idea 'cause of the falling glass.  We ended up going across the street to the church, 'cause some people were just outside their door and said their hallway was safe.  So, we went over there to get out of the rain and figure out what to do (our cell phones weren't working - and hardly any of our cars were in working order either).  After what seemed like just a few minutes to me, I suddenly heard my mom calling my name down the hallway... she had seen where the tornado hit on the news and knew it was our building (my mom worked at the same place I did, only she had gone home earlier in the day)... her and my dad had got in the truck and drove through the city before the tornado was even done.  My mom was hysterical of course (I am her only daughter), so I had to calm her down - which was funny 'cause I was the one who had just gone through all that.  We loaded up my co-workers in the truck and took everyone home.  One of the guys lived in Arlington, and there had been tornadoes reported in his neighborhood too, we were all crackin' jokes about how it was his fault - mother nature went after his job and his house, luckily his neighborhood was fine.  The next day we went to check the damage of my car and see the building in the daylight, this is what we saw...
 The red circle is the office I worked in.
 
I'm pretty sure that last photo is where I usually parked, but that day all the spaces were full and I had to park in the main lot... so my car fared slightly better than that, but was still totaled just the same.
When we went back the next morning the FBI was out in full force.  They had an office in that building and a lot of their paperwork had gotten blown away... there was tons of papers floating in the river (right behind our building) and stuff had gotten blown into our cars... so they wouldn't allow us take anything till they completed their clean up and whatnot.  There was a large chunk of marble from the building in my car... I kept it as a souvenir... heh.
Funny story:  One of my college History books had been in my car and it was water-logged and had shards of glass in it.  I took it to the buy back with all my other books at the end of the year, and 'cause they were going so fast, they didn't look it over that well - totally bought it back!  Next semester I went to sell some books back and there was a huge sign that said "If your book looks like it's been through a tornado we will not accept it!" (or something like that)... I like to think that was all 'cause of me.  HAHA!