The Rest of the Trip

First of all - we're home! Yay! I love home!

Second - thanks to all of y'all actually reading along about our vacation adventures. I almost have the feel of one of those stereo-typical people who break out the vacation slide show and bore their guests. But then I had the thought.... just because I put it here doesn't mean anyone HAS to read it, lol!

And to answer a couple of things from blog comments this week:
- I actually did remember on our trip to hand the camera over from time to time. Apparently I wasn't very photogenic this week, because there are some funky things going on in the pics of me. And I am not usually one to be picky about how I look in a photo.

- YES - it was HOT in San Antonio! We went to the Alamo first thing one morning, so it wasn't too bad yet, but by the time we were done there it was warming up pretty quick. The worst was the morning I wandered too far with the boys on the Riverwalk and had to take the Loooooooong way back to the hotel. Miserable!

And finally, here's how we filled the rest of the day we went to the Alamo:

After an afternoon rest at the hotel we actually loaded up and drove somewhere. Usually in SA we stay within walking distance of the hotel / riverwalk / convention center. But this time we went to a science and history museum in a different part of town.

Dale absolutely loved it. There was so much for him to see he wouldn't stick with any one thing for very long at all! A few of the highlights...

A triceratops:

A pipe music thingy at the top of the "science treehouse" (the hands on science stuff was Dale's most favoritist part).
This pipe music thingy is played with flip-flop bottoms.

A "what lives in the river" exhibit:

After the museum we went to see my Uncle. He took us onto one of the local Air Force bases to show the boys an airplane display.

They loved it. At least as much as (and in Alan's case probably more than) the museum!

I took soooo many pictures, but these will give you the idea:

The day after this jam-packed day was coming home day. We stopped a couple of hours into the drive to visit my cousin and her family. My boys and her girls played together like old friends, even though the time they spent together this week is more than the total of time they had previously spent together their whole lives!

After that fabulous visit, we loaded up the boys in their pj's and headed off into the sunset.
And let me say one more time (go ahead, say it with me if you want).... there's no place like home, there's no place like home!!

Big day, part 1

Knowing for a few months now that we would be going to San Antonio, Dale and I prepared ahead and spent a few weeks this summer reading up on Texas history.

I knew it would be much more meaningful to visit the Alamo if he knew what happened there.

Sure enough, after reading the stories of Davy Crockett, Almeron & Susanna Dickenson, William Travis, and the many others, Dale was very much looking forward to visiting the Alamo.

What better way to start the day than with a Texas waffle? We added a pat of butter for San Antonio, and one for Amarillo, where Mimi & Gramps were visiting recently. (Locations are approximate, lol.)

If you have visited the Alamo you know it is virtually impossible to get a good close up picture of your family while including the signature arch / dome shape on the top of the Alamo. You can get one or the other. Not both. I went for the faces. Trust me... it's the Alamo, 'kay?

You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, but Dale looked at every single flag representing the homeplaces of the men who fought at the Alamo, reading each one to see how many were from each place. He also loved the scale model of the Alamo grounds of 1836, and studied them for quite a while.

Another thing Dale thoroughly enjoyed were all the cannons scattered around the grounds.

He tells me he pretended to fire each one.

Hopefully not while Alan was standing in front of them!

We also went through the long barrack museum; the highlights there were the short video presentation done by the History channel and seeing William Travis' ring he gave to 1 year old Angelina Dickenson just before the historic battle.

And finally.....

The most unique part of our visit to the Alamo took a little searching.

You see, we've been reading a book about The Alamo Cat, a little cat named Ruby that lived on the Alamo grounds from 1981-1986. We had read that Ruby was buried on Alamo grounds but weren't sure of the exact spot.

After searching the entire perimeter we still hadn't found a marker, so while Dale and I finished up in the gift shop, Daddy did the only sensible thing: ask!

Sure enough, he was pointed in the right direction, and pretty soon, we could see through the locked gate to the Ranger offices a little marker under a tree:

Ta-da! Mission accomplished! And in the process we learned there is another Alamo cat hanging around the grounds these days, named Cici. We didn't spy Ms. Cici on our visit, but if you visit soon, keep an eye out for the Alamo Cat!

And that was just our morning! More later on how we filled the afternoon and evening.........

Still Traveling

After a night with family in Austin we drove on south to San Antonio.

The boys and I spent the next morning at a playground near the convention center. Dale especially loved all the paths, steps and mazes.

From the playground we braved the heat and explored the Riverwalk. Dale had been talking about it for days, and I'm sure it is difficult to imagine if you have never seen it, especially for a kid. Alan did most of his viewing from the stroller, but when Dale started climbing these steps Alan wanted to join in. I decided I could chance it... at least I'd have more time to catch him if he fell towards the water from up there! :)
The view across the water from the bottom of all those steps:

After supper (which came after a long nap in the dark air-conditioned hotel room) we did the proper touristy thing and took a Riverboat ride. Dale had been asking to allllll day and was extremely excited to get going.

Alan took it all in quietly but has been talking about it a lot today.

Up next:

The Alamo!

On the road!

Can you guess where we've been?

Here's another shot:
We went inside too. What is everyone looking at?

This:

How about we go upstairs and look down?
Have you figured it out?

We toured the Texas state capitol building in Austin!

Check in soon and see where else we go!

at the old ball gaaaame!

This boy is a Nascar fan:

He can tell you all about who drives which car, who their sponsor is, and who their crew chief and teammates are. He can tell you what each colored flag means, what happens on a pit stop, and name a handful of tracks.

This boy is not so knowledgeable about baseball.

But with us watching games here and there throughout the spring and summer, he is catching on fast.

And even with his limited-but-expanding knowledge, he really gets into a game.

For example, during a game recently a player took a mighty swing at a pitch, hitting a homerun, and breaking his bat in the process. Dale saw the broken bat and expressed his worry:

"I hope they have another bat!"

And then there was the time the camera caught sight of the ball boy running to retrieve a foul ball. Dale couldn't believe the powers that be would let a non-player just run out onto the field like that:

"Look at that guy! He shouldn't be out there! They better stop him!"

We took advantage of the moment to explain the job of the ball boy.

But if you believe everything you see on commercials, then maybe Dale wasn't as far off as you might think!

Blah, blah, blahg

Apparently I haven't had the time or motivation or material or something for blogging lately.

Ya think?

We've been back from our trip for several days now, and I never posted the last few pics:

Both boys got to ride in Grandpa's boat. Dale and his cousin Aaron got a fishing trip with Daddy and Grandpa. Alan got a solo trip with 3 adults at his beck and call.

See that Astros hat? One of my last thoughts (I think I even said it out loud) was to not let anything happen to that hat. It's Dale's.

That hat came back to the campsite soaking wet after blowing off Alan's head and going for a little lake swim.

I was just happy it came back!

And yes, Alan loved his boat ride.

And Dale and Aaron caught lots of palm-sized fish. :)

Since coming home we've been enjoying our last week of at-home summer before Daddy goes back to work.

The garden is limping along, keeping us stocked in cherry tomatoes and big ol' zucchini. (We won't talk about the disappointments of the squash and eggplant.)

Last night we got out the slippin' slide:

The whole family suited up and got wet, but before you even ask (and I know some of you are wondering), only three of us performed belly-diving slides down the thing.
I'll let you guess which three that would have been. And who the dainty and proper fourth person was. :)

We've got some big adventures coming up next week, and I hope to blog all about them.
But based on my current track record, I'm not making any promises.

Horsin' Around

Still on vacation!

The folks here at the state park horse stables had a "Meet A Horse" morning one day this week. We brought the boys to have their first up-close experience with horses - especially so many!

Dale liked it. I think he enjoyed learning something new. Here he is feeding a horse a bit of food.

But Alan... Alan loved the horses! So interesting to see them experience the same thing in such different ways!

Here is Alan on one of his several up-close encounters with the white horse, 'Cloud'.

Pretty soon after that, Cloud leaned back over to Alan and bared every humongous horse tooth in a big ol' horsey grin right in Alan's face.

Alan thought it was hilarious. He said, "The horse said 'cheeeese'!"

After petting several more (and laughing at the antics of one scratching its neck against a post) he got to SIT on 'ShowBoy'!

After that he was hooked and asked to be put on the next horse in line, 'Scout'. By this time he had his diva self going strong, and started handing out parade waves:
Note to self: must get Alan around horses again soon!