Christmas in June

Ollie had Thursday off and it was stormy outside so we needed a fun rainy day activity to do with Genevieve. I was cleaning out the pantry and found a gingerbread house kit that Ollie had bought in December, but because life got pretty crazy we never got around to making it. So now we had a rainy day activity. Oh, and don't worry, it hadn't expired; the box said it was good until 2010. Genevieve was very excited as she saw all the goodies we got out to make the house - M&Ms, marshmallows, chocolate chips, candies and icing. When we opened the box we found some of the pieces of the gingerbread house had broken so we weren't sure exactly how this was going to work out, but Ollie & Genevieve worked hard to put the house together anyway. Unfortunately, like the weather that day, the house didn't weather the storm. It collapsed. That didn't bother Genevieve in the least bit, she was having so much fun decorating and eating the gingerbread. We decided to make a letter "G" with all of our goodies instead and all ended well.

A Dip in the Pool

After our long days out on the town, we desperately needed to cool off. We enjoyed coming back to the hotel and taking a dip in the pool. This was Anson's first time and he really seemed to like it. He just relaxed in our arms as we held him. Genevieve feeling so comfortable in her ability to swim just had a ball. She swam fearlessly all over the place. She even started jumping at us from the side of the pool. It was exactly the cool down that we all needed and a nice way to the end the day.

The Riverwalk

Saturday we headed down to the Riverwalk. It's a really neat area where the San Antonio River winds one story below downtown with lots of shops and restaurants. It was a really hot day, but being next to the river we had a breeze at times, which made it tolerable. We ate lunch at a yummy mexican restaurant down there and enjoyed listening to a fun mariachi band play. For a treat we all shared a bowl of fried ice cream for dessert. Genevieve thought this was delicious! We then took a boat ride on the river learning a little history of the area as we went.

Sea World

Last Thursday we headed down to San Antonio for a long weekend. Ollie fortunately had several days off, so we took advantage of it and went on our first family vacation (mini). Genevieve was so excited our first night there she couldn't go to sleep. She kept popping up in her bed to see what was going on. I think she was worried we were going to leave her in the hotel room or something. We kept having to tell her to go night night! She finally fell asleep at 11:30 that night and woke up the next morning around 7:00. We were worried she would be a mess and fall apart that day with so little sleep, but she was a trooper. She had a ball at Sea World, despite the heat! She loved going to all the shows and as they were coming to an end, she would lean over to me and tell me she didn't want it to be over yet. Reassuring her that we'd go to another show helped. We saw a total of four shows. Viva!, which was acrobats from land, sea and air perform with beluga whales and pacific white-sided dolphins was her favorite. Believe is where we saw Shamu. It was entertaining, but I think Shamu was off his game this day. He didn't seem to do as many tricks as I remember as a kid, but we still enjoyed it. The Cannery Row Caper was a cute mystery story put on by sea lions, a walrus and a otter. Our last show, Cool Vibrations, was a production of daredevil skiers and talented singers. In addition to all the shows, we had so much fun going to the Dolphin Cove, the Penguin Encounter, the Sharks, the Coral Reef and Alligator Alley. Oh, and when Anson wasn't passed out from all the excitement, he seemed to have a good time too:) Overall Sea World was a success!










P.S. More posts to come from our adventures in San Antonio!

Swimming Lessons

Last summer Genevieve took private swimming lessons for about 5 weeks. By the end she was a little fish, swimming all over the place. But we've been out of the water for a long time. So she is taking a refresher course that started this week. It's Monday through Thursday for about two weeks. The first day was a little rough. She was a little hesitant and swallowed a lot of water because she forgot to keep her mouth closed when going under, which she didn't like. The second day was a lot better. She only whined for a minute at the beginning. And the third day she was great! She just walked right in to the swim instructor and started swimming. Everything is coming back to her and I'm sure it won't be long before she is our little fish again!

Week at Grammie & Pappaw's

From an earlier post you know that Genevieve, Anson & I spent last week at Grammie & Pappaw's. We had a really fun time. Wednesday morning we went over to a high school friend's house of mine. Another high school friend joined us and we had a nice time catching up. The five out of six kiddos had a ball playing together (Anson is too little to play). Thursday morning Grammie, the kids and I went to the Children's Museum. Genevieve enjoyed exploring the different areas; the firetruck, the bug area, the farm, the house, the music area. The water area was her favorite though. We then had a pleasant picnic lunch outside the museum. Friday we stayed home and played. Grammie & Pappaw have a big doll house that Grammie got at an estate sale that Genevieve loves to play with. That afternoon she enjoyed swinging in the backyard with Pappaw and then swimming in the whale pool. Saturday was Anson's Sip N' See. While we were enjoying the tea Genevieve & Pappaw enjoyed a yummy breakfast at IHOP. Genevieve got pancakes with a smiley face on it made out of whip cream, chocolate chips and cherries. She was in heaven! Then they played at the neighborhood park. That afternoon we all enjoyed a nap! Sunday Genevieve was very happy that Uncle Robert stopped by after his swim meet to spend some time with her and Anson. They had fun playing hide and seek. We got back home on Sunday evening and have been slowly trying to get back into our routine, as well as, spending some time with Daddy. We sure missed him!