A Feast for Your Eyes

Ahhhh.......Our first Spring Break in Texas.

And we were on our own. 

No dad to have fun with. That made us all pretty sad.

But, that couldn't stop us from setting out to explore this new, great place! We were determined to make our spring break a great week! 

This isn't quite as beautiful as the sunsets in Saratoga, but it comes really close, don't you think? This was a sign of a great week ahead!

Here is the list of the activities that were planned for the week:

Can you decipher it?

Our first stop was to our new library and then to the park right next door for an afternoon picnic. We love having a library and a park so close together!

Library in the background, park on the other side!

Notice Mickey's shirt? It's a "Calvin and Hobbes" shirt he decorated himself with his fabric markers. The kids are doing their own remake of some of the "Calvin and Hobbes" comics. It's pretty funny!

The next day we set out to the see the King William District; a huge area downtown, by the San Antonio River that was originally settled in the late 1800's. Prominent German merchants originally settled the area. It reminded me a little of the "Avenues" area in SLC. Some of the homes were absolutely amazing and others were falling apart. I would love to acquire one of those and fix it up to it's original status and beauty-- all while living in the comfort of my modern home.

On the walk there, Kenna found a leaf with a ton of little surprises on the bottom

A beautiful, fragrant bush

Pretty cool, huh? A sign by each home told a little about it and who owned it way back then. 

Flowers are in full bloom everywhere. I really loved this flower.

Down below is the river

Kenna took this of Mick. Pretty cheesy.

The kids got a kick out of this cannon being in someone's front yard

A beautiful home, and the only home I have ever seen in TX with a basement!

A hide-out for the kids

They collected these flower pedals along the way to throw and celebrate at the appropriate moment

This was the moment-- by the ugliest part of the whole neighborhood. Go figure!

 Now, would you look at this. These beautiful blue-bonnet flowers were in the middle of the freeway on the drive home. They are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I love it.

And yes, I was stopped in traffic as I took this picture, so don't worry.

Another thing on the "to-do" list was to play some card games. 

Done!

These kids can play a mean hand of UNO!

Another thing on the list was to visit a huge music store in San Antonio. Connor thought this picture would be the epitome of awesome: he is wearing his Animal Muppet shirt while playing the drums like Animal would. Oh, that kid is funny.

Mick is trying out an electric drum set here

Kenna with an electronic hand drum pad

After the music store, the kids were in for a surprise.

I have always been intrigued by the Spanish part of San Antonio. Ok. I just re-read that and laughed. Most of San Antonio is Spanish, duh! But this place, "El Mercado" looks like a place straight out of Mexico-- with markets and shops and food stands everywhere! The sights, sounds and smells took me back a few years ago when we were visiting in Mexico. Being in this type of crowded, semi-loud place, is not Brett's favorite, so since he's gone, I figured now was a good time to go and get it out of my system!

The bells from this church tower were pealing as we pulled into the city. It was a sign that we were going to have a great time.

Connor snapped this photo as we entered into the city.

Pretty cool, old building

After we parked and walked toward the market, we ran into this fun park and of course, had to stop and play.

The kids had fun goofing off

This is a typical pose for Mick and Ken. She is always dipping him, not the other way around. She does have about 20 pounds and 4 inches on him. Hopefully someday, it will be the other way around.

A cool bench in the park

This is a really cool 9-story mural on the side of the parking garage of the local children's hospital.  It was painted by a wounded Vietnam Vet and called, "Spirit of Healing".

Experiencing El Mercado was quite an......experience!  Lots and lots of people!! Apparently, we happened to be visiting the weekend of the Tejano Music Festival! A "Tejano" is a Mexican-American that lives in Southern Texas. The market was exciting: Lots of painted ceramics, El Luchador masks, pinatas, jewelry, and leather belts. It was a visual feast!

We drove a little closer to home for some dinner.

One more picture of the beautiful flowers out here!

A Texas Road Trip

Before Brett had to leave for officer's training, we wanted to go visit my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bruce who have lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for more than 20 years. 

Joyce is my mom's sister and I have always felt close to her, even though we usually only see each other once or twice a year. She is always so sweet and kind and treats my kids like they are he own grandkids-- always bringing them treats and trinkets. She is such a wonderful woman.

So, we planned a visit.

On the way to Dallas from San Antonio, you pass through the capital of Texas; Austin. And if you like to ride bikes, you know that Lance Armstrong has his own bike shop there. It's a little place called Mellow Johnny's. Of course, I had to go visit. We plugged the numbers into the GPS, and this is where it took us.

This place.

This was it?

I guess I was expecting something a little more, I don't know.......modern? Colorful? Sleek looking? Yellow?

 Upon going inside, the store did not disappoint.

Inside were a bunch of Lance's jersey's from the Tour de France

All of these bikes were representations of the races that Lance has participated in and won some part or all of it.

The store had a really cool feel to it. It was a super busy, happenin' place. On one side of the store, they had a little cafe; a place for bikers to start or end their ride or to just stop on the way. In the bathrooms they even have lockers and showers for bikers to use. It was a very fun place. Of course, they had tons of technical gear and neat stuff to look at. Heck, I could have spent all afternoon in that store just, but we had places to go and people to see! I'll have to go back to visit another time.

A few hours later, we finally made it to Dallas! Joyce and Bruce have a beautiful, new home and we got to enjoy the best of it! The big kitchen to learn all about healthy and better eating, the "man cave" to watch movies and then there was the keyboard. My kids could have played with that keyboard all day and Joyce and Bruce would have let them. Brett and I, on the other hand, would have not.....

We ate at a fabulous Tex-Mex restaurant in Ft. Worth-- Los Vaqueros

 Then we decided to go see the Ft. Worth stock yards. This is where real cowboys have been driving and teaming in long-horned cattle since the 1880's. It was a fun and special treat. The kids love it and it was a beautiful day.

The kids said this place reminded them of the Happy Trails store in Lehi that used to have the cow on the top of it. Anyone remember that?

We happened upon this cowboy and he was about the nicest person you've ever met. Seriously. We talked to him for about 30 minutes. His horse was so sweet and calm with my kids. Kenna has a special place in her heart for horses. She's just drawn to them.

The kids had fun petting her for quite a while.
  

Mickey absolutely loved this.

These huge steer were actually what we came to see.

We had a short, quick trip to visit Joyce and Bruce, but felt like it was time very well spent. We can't wait for our next trip! We love you guys so much!

Our Very First.......

This post is dedicated to some of our "firsts" in the great state of Texas.

We had our first visit from a gecko the other day as we pulled down the attic access stairs. The kids thought it was great!

Funny picture with his mouth open wide. Brett said he was trying to give us an insurance quote.

The kids played with him for over an hour!

We also had our very first visitor!!! The lovely Joleen came down from Lubbock to see us! This was a total surprise for the kids. Jo had planned with me, but no one else knew. After school one day, there was a knock at the door. The kids ALL ran to answer the door and no one was there. They searched outside to find the culprit, but to no avail. They closed the door and came back inside to find Jo sitting in our living room! They couldn't believe it!!!

The night Jo arrived, we hit the ground running. Since we'd only been in TX for about 2 weeks, she knew much more about San Antonio than we did, even though she lives about 6 hours away. We went to a really neat food truck park in San Antonio and tasted all sorts of fun and new foods: New Orleans style food, Afghan food, and authentic Spain food.

The next day the kids went to school. This left the day for Jo and I to have a little girl time and do a little shopping. Jo found us a really great mall to shop at. Its about 20 minutes from my house and it is HUGE!!! I got my first pair of Skinny Jeans (gulp) and TOMS. I'm still getting used to the jeans, but I totally LOVE the TOMS. Who knew they were that comfortable? Thanks for keeping me up to date in the fashion world, Jo.

That evening, Jo had a fun night planned out for the kids. She had found a coupon to the Mirror Maze and Lazer Quest right across the street from the Alamo. These two attractions are part of the Ripley's Believe it-or-not Museum and are ridiculously over-priced. It's a good thing Jo found a coupon, because it's the only way my kids would ever get to go!

This is before entering the Mirror Maze. The kids had a blast and we went through about 20 times!

At the end of the maze, they have tons and tons of candy bins. Being the fun aunt that she is, Jo bought all the kids their own treat bag. 

Everyone has alien eyes in this picture, but its a great shot of a cool building in the city

The next day we went exploring before Jo had to leave. We went to a really neat place called the Japanese Tea Gardens. This is an old limestone rock quarry and cement factory from the 1840's that was left and abandoned for a new and improved quarry. The state of TX commissioned a Japanese Artist to create a beautiful space out of what was called an eye-sore.

Mick couldn't get enough of all the Koi. 

It was a beautiful day with beautiful scenery

This park is right across the way from the Tea Gardens. It's also right next to the zoo. We have been getting so much water, that this little river had overflowed and completely covered the bridge. The kids thought it was pretty cool!

Look at this duck's hair-do! He's got a Mr. T mohawk!

These ducks were so tame, they ate right out of Mickey's hand!

Beautiful spring flowers in Texas this time of year! 

After our visit to the Tea Gardens, it was time to say goodbye to Jo. The kids were very sad to see her go. She spoiled the kids! Heck, she spoiled us all rotten! She cooked us all a wonderful breakfast one morning while Brett and I slept in! We love Jo so much and are so glad to only be 6 hours away from her! She is a wonderful, lovely person to be around and gives so much of herself! Come back anytime!