Watching the hippo poop - and other adventures in San Antonio

Collin returned to school today, and his class was asked to share one thing they did over spring break.  His was:  we went to the San Antonio zoo and saw the hippo and it pooped.  The other kindergartners found this equally thrilling and silly.  Bless his teacher!

The first weekend of spring break, we met my parents and brother in San Antonio for a wonderful long weekend.  We had great weather, great walks, some great meals, and lots of fun together.  When we pulled up and Collin saw Uncle Alex, he climbed out of the window of our car into his arms.  

The kids were slightly excited to spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast on the River Walk with the family!

Posing by blue bonnets - 

We walked towards the more commercial part of the River Walk, away from our sweet little bed and breakfast, for dinner on Friday night.  We took some pictures along the way as we killed some time before our reservation.

Because I was in charge of the meals, we ended up in a too-fancy restaurant in the Westin for dinner.  We were fine with my less-than-perfectly mannered children in our outdoor table on the River Walk, but when it started to rain and we had to move inside, the other diners were likely counting the minutes until we paid our check!

On the way home, Collin and Maya were both happy to be carried part of the way - 

The next morning after breakfast was consumed and temporary tattoos/stickers applied, we were ready for the zoo.  

 One-two-three-swing with the grandpa-uncle-dad chain -

Sweet Maya with Uncle Alex and cuddling with me -

 Posing on top of the hippo statue -

Since we don't have hippos at our zoo, we stayed there the longest, amazed at the up-close underwater view of the hippos.  As we were rounding the group up to leave, the highlight of Collin's spring break - the hippo had a bowel movement on display for all the zoo patrons to witness - 

Sunglass hipsters -

 Listening to the elephant zookeeper talk on Brownie's shoulders -

 And in Daddy's arms -

Couldn't pass by a bar without showing off their pull-up skills -

After seeing lion cubs, gibbons, bears, and many other fun animals, we bought $1.50 tiny cups of nectar and went into the Lory Landing.  Where they landed on us -

 This sums up our experience - Collin getting up close and personal, Maya wanting nothing to do with them!

 Her face lets you know she's not so sure about these birds -

 One landed on my head and went to town tasting my hair and sunglasses -

The zookeeper finally had to come remove it, because even without the cup of nectar, this bird was sticking with me -

 Collin fed lots of lories -

 And before we left, had one land on him -

 Maya was ready to escape -

 Matching curls (it's funny how often I'm asked where she gets her curls) -

 After the zoo, Maya (and Cas) took a stellar nap -

Collin and Uncle Alex walked a few miles on the River Walk, then he took a break and my nuclear family walked through the historic neighborhoods of San Antonio and along the river -

Brother-sister imitating brother-sister:

Saturday evening we hit a very busy Mexican restaurant and outdoor market, and between the full day and the margaritas, we all crashed early.  Sunday it was back to Brackenridge Park, this time to spend the late morning at the park area rather than the zoo.  We started with a train ride for these two cuties- 

 Silly poses with Uncle Alex -

 After a few minutes of waiting, we climbed aboard with a slightly nervous Maya -

 After the train ride, we enjoyed frisbee and tag in the open fields -

Putting my shoes on and flipping them off her feet entertained Maya for several minutes while the boys threw the frisbee -

 On our way to the playground, we posed for pictures on a bridge -

 Some playground time, few more pictures, then off to a great brunch before heading home -

 We had a delightful weekend in San Antonio and can't wait for another family vacation this summer -

Winter iphone dump

Collin received Lincoln Logs, a favorite toy in my house, for Hanukkah.  We've built many log cabins in the few months of their existence, though we've yet to have the intricate toy soldier battles of my childhood (where each side builds a Lincoln Log fort, stands up the 50-or-so soldiers, and then uses coins to knock over the opponent's soldiers).  More fun to follow with these wooden blocks!

Over Christmas break, Collin and I went to see Lyle, Lyle Crocodile, a play for children downtown.  As much as I wanted him to love it, Collin's not a huge fan of musical plays yet.  He was fidgety and distracted despite our front row seats.  But he stood in line at the end for autographs -

And acted like it was his favorite thing for a photo -

We bought my parents a wireless speaker for Christmas.  Cas had to try it out beforehand which led to us buying one for ourselves.  And when trying out a wireless speaker, of course the kids needed to dance!

Cas' company had a white elephant gift exchange.  Cas received a beta fish (named Bibbit, miraculously still alive) and a selfie stick, which we used for a Christmas Eve family selfie!

Christmas Day hugs for Grandma Libia and cousin Jonathan from Wonder Woman and Collin -

I took the kids to a neighborhood park one cold day over the break.  It was probably only 40-degrees but cloudy and windy.  The kids could have stayed much longer, but I called it after less than an hour.

For New Year's Eve, we took the kids to the Rockets Game.  Collin cheered his heart out for James Harden and the Rockets, giving high fives to fans sitting near by.  Maya was enjoying herself, mostly because she had a one-foot box of popcorn until she saw Clutch, the Rockets mascot.  And like she is towards all adults in costumes, she was terrified.  She spent the remainder of the game scanning nervously for the "teddy bear."

Fake smiles from my girl -

Lollipops for the win - they can get us through just about any situation where we need Maya to hang tight longer than she'd prefer!

Oh this girl.  We put her to bed in the center of an empty bed.  And almost every night we check on her and remove the 10-30 books she's brought over from her bookshelf.  Love that this night, we caught her asleep with two different Bible stories open.

Collin explaining why his parents argue - quite astute observations!

My mom and I met my friend Rebekah and her two younger kids at the Children's Museum.  We had a great morning, though all three kids left soaking wet in the winter from playing in the boat area!

Date night selfie (with the stick!)

Library time and the park on a warmer day, with Maya getting better and braver climbing the wooden structure -

We surprised our birthday boy on the Friday before his birthday at school with four generations.

Fun winter with family, friends and a new fish!