San Antonio Riverwalk

We are only going to be living in San Antonio for 5 months. Well, now more like 4. We've been told there is "sooooo much to do" around San Antonio, so we've started making a list! One of the things we heard about was the Riverwalk. It was a nice morning (aka, not too hot!) so we decided to check it out today!  The Riverwalk was really neat. Lots of shady sidewalks and paths that wind along the river. There were River Taxi's giving tours. People running. It was gorgeous. (I should also mention that the second we walked down the steps to the Riverwalk, I whipped out my camera and turned it on to see it tell me "Battery Exhausted." Great!! Thank goodness for my phone!! Not the best pictures, but better than nothing!)  So we walked all around, in through tunnels, over bridges! We all found it pretty cool!! We tried to find a restaurant, but we apparently weren't in the right area because we found nothing! So after walking and walking (also should mention we forgot the stroller and Grant got a blister, so the walking after a while was not fun!) we decided to head back to the car and drive to a restaurant. But I did manage to snap a few pictures of my little family enjoying the scenery! Next time we go, we will be more prepared: camera with FULL battery, shoes AND socks, stroller, and a restaurant in mind!  

Old Becomes New

On our trip back to Kansas, we brought back more than we came with. Too bad it wasn't closer to Christmas, because if it were, we wouldn't have had to do any shopping for Grant!! At Levi's parents house, we brought back Levi's old train set and his old race car set. From my parents house, we brought back my ENTIRE collection of Beanie Babies. (A big thanks to our parents for holding on to our junk  treasures for so long!) All the toys were an instant hit (and I'm not talking about just the two smaller boys...)  Levi, Grant, and Wyatt have sat at the race track and train track for quite some time! Levi had to glue down the train tracks to actually hold them together! And he's changed up the race track numerous times trying to find "the best route."   And I can't tell you how many Beanie Babies Grant has taken to his bed each night! He also really enjoys having "Beanie Baby fights" which always produces lots of giggles!  I love that Grant loves listening to stories about Levi and I playing with our toys when we were kids! I can only imagine the stories he will tell his kids one day!

Whirlwind

The movers came August 3rd. We got our moving truck August 8th. We drove to Pensacola, Florida August 10th. We drove to Katy, Texas August 11th. We arrived in Universal City, Texas August 12th. We unloaded, unpacked, organized, decorated. Then we packed suitcases and reloaded the cars. We drove to Enid, Oklahoma August 16th. We drove to Grinnell, Kansas August 17th. (Are you tired yet, because I sure was!) We enjoyed 9 full days of fun with the Broeckelman/Harris families!  We drove to Kansas City August 26th. We had a jam packed 8 days there with the Isenburg/Van Allen families! I drove Levi to Enid, OK September 3rd. He worked for a week, we played in KC for another week. We met Levi in Norman, OK September 9th. We drove back to Universal City, TX on September 10th. We unloaded, unpacked, grocery shopped, set up utilities, and maybe slept a tiny bit.

And that brings me to today- Tuesday, September 13th. What a crazy crazy crazy these past 31 days have been! I expected THE WORST so I was prepared for everything!! Honestly, the boys traveled much better than I did I think (Party because they watched their DVD player and I had to listen to it- that would make any adult go crazy after 20 hours in the car, but better than the screaming, right?).  Wyatt had a few nights of waking up at some point wondering where the heck he was- afterall, he did sleep in quite a few different beds, heck- even I did that a few times! But he was a trooper! Grant was awesome! We had to make a quick trip to Urgent Care the night before we came back to Texas for a major sinus infection that moved into his eyes- poor buddy woke up saying, "I can't open my eyes!"  But even through all that, he was amazing!!! 

The best part of this crazy whirlwind was that we were a family. Together. Day in, day out. For 31 days (minus the 6 days Levi was in Enid alone). I remember thinking on the day the movers showed up at our house that this was going to be the longest, craziest month and I would just be thankful if I even survived it. I think, if I had to to do it all over again, I would because how often does a family get to spend 31 days together without having to actually be somewhere!?!?! I guess it's a good thing I enjoyed it- because we get to do it all over again in 5 months!!

YIKES!

The Farm

Today, we all headed out to The Farm. My grandparent's farm that is. Levi's parents live on an actual farm and his dad is an actual farmer. But I will always consider this my grandparents farm a "farm." No crops are actually grown here, but there are cows so that probably counts for something. Boy, do my sister, my cousins, and myself have some great great memories of going to The Farm. We have countless forts scattered all over the 80 acres. There is even a Radio Flyer wagon still lurking in one of the forts! Our boys are getting older now that they can start exploring the farm, and boy, did they loved it as much as we did!! Gigi has lots of fun treasures at her house that the boys just adore! And Old Papa has cows!! So the boys love being there!! Some of the cows are about to have babies, so we went to check them all out. Wyatt was probably the most excited- he stood at the fence and waved and "moooo-ed" the entire time. The bigger boys were more fascinated with skidding their shoes on the rock road. I know as they boys get older, they will start venturing off into the woods making their own forts, finding cool "treasures" (I remember finding an old jar of Dippity-Doo hair gel and thought it was the coolest thing!), seeing if there really are rattlesnakes in the barn or if Old Papa just wants to keep the kids out, and maybe- just maybe- they will actually find the long lost Radio Flyer. Oh, the exciting memories to come!!!

Cousins = Friends

Grant adores his cousins, Mason and Luke. Wyatt does too!! Grant very frequently says, "I miss Mason and Luke" when we are at home in Florida (or I guess I should say Texas now!). He soooo looks forward to our Kansas visits so they can play! And we have definitely done our fair share of that since we've been in town. They've had sleepovers, played in the treehouse, rode bikes, went to the Farmer's Market with Mimi and PawPaw, played LOTS of guns (which is something Grant only does with Mason and Luke. Probably because I'm not buying at toy guns for as long as I can help it!), gone to the park, dug in Mimi and PawPaw's front yard, and with all that- gotten very very VERY dirty!! Those boys sure love each other and I'm looking forward to the day we live closer so they can play ball together, have many more sleepovers, and be great friends!! I have great memories like that with my cousins and I can only hope my boys do too!!

Fountains and Frames

My parents were supposed to be getting new siding on their house this week during our visit. So we had lots of things planned to stay away from the house! One of our activities was to head out to Zona Rosa. I'd taken the boys there earlier this spring and Grant LOVED playing in the fountains there! Wyatt wasn't so sure of them. But this time during our visit, both boys got in on the action. Wyatt loved the element of surprise since you never knew which fountain was going to flow and when it would stop!! I about died laughing just watching him! Grant had a great time swatting at the fountains. He said he was playing baseball!

My favorite part of Zona Rosa was checking out this place called Vintage Market. We got an old window that pretty much looks like this and I am so excited to get it home and put some family pictures in it!! Hello new picture frame!

Oh Pinterest, how I love you and your clever ideas!

Popsicles and Pancakes

Two things that are always available at Mimi and PawPaw's house- Popsicles and Pancakes!!! Mimi always makes fresh pancakes in the morning, upon Grant's requests. And popsicles are always ready for the bathtub (less clean up that way!).  What more do little boys need??