Last weeks of San Antonio... early September 2011

Sorry for the photo dump, but this is probably what our blog will consist of for the next few posts.  I was on the phone with AT&T resolving our slow internet connection all afternoon (yaaaawwwwn), and now that my photos are uploading faster, hopefully I'll keep up the motivation I have to get caught up.  Hopefully.

Seeing the early weeks of September make me sentimental.  It's crazy to think that just a few short weeks ago we were living an entirely different life in a different city.  Weird how time works like that.

Anyway, if you're curious, feel free to join me as we take a stroll down memory lane for the next while.

::: SeaWorld San Antonio.  We love this place.  We always have and always will pledge allegiance to this great place that was LITERALLY 5 minutes from our home.  As we were making our list of "Things to do before we leave San Antonio" you know that SeaWorld was high up there.

It was great.  Really, a perfect day.  My advice to anyone planning to go on the weekend, GO EARLY!  Like, right when they open.  And, head straight to the water park.  No huge lines, you have your pick of tubes in the Lazy River (or whatever it is they call it), and the crowds are minimal.  Then, you can get dried off and do the shows and other delights.  Feel free to thank me later.  :)

A splurge.  Come on, it was a special occasion.  And, she was IN heaven.

We've logged many many hours in this indoor aquarium.  It was the highlight of SeaWorld for us b/c it was the one of the only places that was air conditioned!  That's a big deal when you live in South Texas.  Especially in the summer.  We've taken so many pictures of Matilda here, I couldn't help but grab another picture of her two years ago when she was 18 months.  See below.

Oh, so fun.

And while we're at it, let's do another picture of Tillie when she was about 4 months old at Sea World.  Okay, too cute.

Okay, back to real-life-present-day:

And, how can we forget about this little fisherman.  Sheesh.  So fun.  He loves it here as much as Tillie does.

They were both so tired on the way home.  Tillie zonked as soon as we buckled her in.  Calvin was close behind.

Thanks, SeaWorld.  You know we'll be coming back as soon as possible.  

 

 ::: As I was cleaning out drawers, I came across the last page of one of my most favorite notepads.  My family bought this for me when they went on a trip to Nauvoo a few years ago.  They said when the saw it they thought of me.  What that really means, I don't know.  You be the judge.  Regardless, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a photo to ALWAYS remember it.

::: We had some books that talked about a "bubble bath" and I was feeling bad that Tillie had no idea what a real bubble bath was, so I decided that I should introduce her to this phenomenon on one of the last nights that we were in San Antonio.

Calvin is always so sweet after his bath.  I'm sure he'll love the fact that his bath towel has pink trim.

This was the first time I'd ever tried a french braid on Tillie's hair.  She was a fan.  As was I.  Double french braids are now the favorite around these parts.  

We made this chart for Tillie back in the day when she was potty training.  It worked great for about two weeks.  We'd forget about it, then come back a few weeks later to chart progress on other topics---like helping mom, being especially kind to her brother, etc.  Eventually, she'd start sneaking up to the chart and coloring in spaces---thinking I wouldn't notice.
She's tricky like that sometimes.

I love how she colored in the faces.  Good work, Til.

::: Tillie's favorite past time is painting.  I should let her do it more often.  Here they are with a painting book I got several weeks ago.  The little pallet of paint is at the bottom of the page, and you're supposed to use that to paint the rest of the image.  Basically, they'd just add more and more water to the little pallet until the paper ripped.  Doing acrylic paint is much more fun, this I know, but it's much messier.  Regardless, Tillie loves it and concentrates so hard.

Both children doing fake "cheeser smiles"---Tillie especially.

::: We loved our cute little neighbor, Emily.  She'd come and hang out all the time.  She loved to knock on the door and say, "Melissa, do you need any help?"  She was darling.  We'll definitely miss her.  She loved playing our piano.  One of these last nights, she wanted Aaron to play for her.  Eventually, they started the duet "Heart and Soul"---classic.  Cute cute girl.

::: We were able to squeeze in a date night with some of our favorite friends, Jen & Rex.  They recommended a cool pizza place called Dough.  It was amazing.  San Antonio friends, you should definitely go try it out.  It was such a fun evening.  We love Jen & Rex and could chat with them for hours and hours.  In fact, that is what we did that night.  

Also, a little tid bit, Jen took Calvin's birth pictures and also just recently took our family pictures.  She is so stinkin' talented.  And, I love that she is such a great friend.  I can't wait to show you the latest round she did.  We're SO happy with how they turned out.  Until I do that, let's look at some delicious pizza that we ate.  Ready, break.

Ahhh, San Antonio.  Good times.  Great city.  Thanks for the fun.
More catch up coming...