Family Vacation 2009 – San Antonio

After meeting my grandparents for breakfast the next morning, we headed to San Antonio.  We wanted to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk.  When I was ten we lived in San Antonio for a whopping 5 months.  I remember going to the Alamo and the Riverwalk, but it was a lot more fun as an adult.

The grounds were beautiful!  I never realized how desert-like San Antonio and Austin are.  The trees are short and low to the ground.  And of course it couldn’t be a desert without a few cacti! It was a beautiful sunny day!  We cooled off in the shade with a shaved ice.Once we were sufficiently cool we took a stroll along the Riverwalk.  It was so fun!  I did have a few minor panic attacks, however, when we would walk along a narrow pathway…Connor got so tired of me clinging to him.  But anyone who knows Connor knows he doesn’t walk, he bounces, uncontrollably.  I was afraid he was going to bounce right into the river.We took a boat ride down the river.  I took tons of pictures of the buildings, but now, I have no idea what was significant about them.  The ride was fun, but eventually it got a little “long”.  We were hot and tired…  So you can imagine how happy we were to find Ice Cream!  It was the best chocolate peanut butter ice cream I’ve ever had! Before hiking back to our car we stopped inside a hotel so that the girls could take a potty break.  The boys entertained themselves by pretending they were on skateboards. We fell into bed exhausted and sooo excited for the next day!

Family Vacation 2009

My grandparents live in Austin.   The last time we saw them, Colin was a baby.  So, as part of our summer plans we made a trip to Austin to see them.

Notice the white cloth on my grandpa’s arm?  He’s a funny little man.  Connor asked, “Why come you broke your arm?”  Grandpa then explained that he keeps the cloth on his arm so his new puppy won’t scratch him.  I loved visiting with them again.  I have so many memories of visiting them in rural Arkansas when I was growing up.  My fondest memories are of Grandma’s homemade breakfast with farm fresh eggs, that I “picked” myself, and homemade jam and biscuits.  I watched my first duck hatch at their house and traveled home with 23 baby ducklings in a cardboard box.  (That was a noisy ride home) I walked on a frozen pond at their house, and went fishing, shot BB guns, walked in the woods, picked plums, and ALWAYS took a swing on the tire swing!  What amazing memories I have of them. 

My kids enjoyed visiting with them too, but of course they were inclined to spend most of their time snuggling Grandma’s new dog, Kayla.

  

I never realized how much I look like my Grandma until I saw this picture.  She is an amazing woman.  She is so full of grace, strength, and courage!  I love her and I’m so thankful for my family.

June 2009

June began with Connor ending his baseball season.  He really enjoyed baseball, even if it did include lots of

Waiting…

And waiting…

And waiting…

And then finding a way to occupy his time…during all that waiting.

In June Colin received special recognition at school.  His second grade class voted, and he was awarded the Citizenship Award.  We were so proud of him!

The girls celebrated the beginning of summer by having a water fight.

It all started when Rhiannon put a piece of ice down Kess’s shirt.

Yes, she really is looking for ice down there!

The fight escalated from ice to water balloons…

In June Rhiannon and Kess got to attend their first Girls Camp!  They had so much fun!!  They were a little nervous at first, but the older girls were so great to them and helped them feel comfortable.  Rhiannon even bore her testimony on the last night of camp!  The weather was horrible the whole week of camp.  The girls were evacuated twice because of tornado warnings and thunderstorms.  Of course the weather only made their first year at camp more memorable.

The week after girls camp Colin attended his first Cub Scout Day Camp.  It was so much fun!  I attended it with him several afternoons.  It was sooooo hot, but it was a lot of fun!

Colin had two favorite activities.  One was shooting (BBs of course)

His other favorite was archery. 

The week was filled with many activities and opportunities to earn belt loops.

The water relay race was a lot of fun, too.

On the last day a fire truck came and sprayed all of the kids.  They were drenched, dirty, and worn out!

Whew…the next week we left for our family vacation.  What a busy first month of summer!