I love selling Usborne books for a million reasons, but one of them is that when a goal comes up (like a trip to Texas), I can work as much as is needed to make it happen all while doing something I love. So a huge thank you goes out to every single hostess, and every single person who purchased a book from me this year. This trip happened because of all y'all. Did you like that? All y'all....I'm slowly catching on.
Thursday, March 5th
We flew from Ontario to Phoenix and from Phoenix to San Antonio. The kids did great on the flights! It was a sweet balm to my soul to see my sweet Meg walk through those airport doors. Meg is the kind of friend where you can jump right back in like you were never apart. She hasn't changed one bit. Well, except for the fact that she's 8 months pregnant. Small detail.
Getting ready to board the plane
Friday, March 6th
We thought we'd start the morning by playing tourists in downtown San Antonio. Wow, did we pick the right day to go or what!?! March 6th just so happens to be the day that the Battle of the Alamo ended. There were lots of period costumes, reenactments, etc. to make our visit extra special. We enjoyed the river walk and had lunch at the most adorable and fantastic spot called the Bird Bakery. To be honest, I'm still dreaming about the sandwich I had that day. It was that good!
After nap time, we found a little park to enjoy. Have you ever seen swings like this? Every playground we visited while in Texas has them. I mean, WHAT?
Danny and Meg have a very "special" dog named Bruiser. They got him as a puppy during med school and were in way over their heads. Bruiser has always been incredibly excitable and prone to get into trouble. (He once ate my birthday cake before it was time to blow out the candles!) What a wonder to see him again! Not only has he calmed down, but he is downright obedient. Color me surprised!
Cade was a HUGE fan of Bruiser
Saturday, March 7th
We got the kids up a bit early on Saturday to to the San Antonio MS Walk. We broke in baby girl's new stroller with a 5K walk. It was wonderful to have the time to catch up with Danny during this time. I just kept thinking the whole time how terribly sad I was that Dave couldn't be there too. I can't wait for a few years down the road when we can ALL get together for vacation.
Danny, bless his heart, was willing to stay at home with the boys so Meg and I could have a girls night out. I wanted to get some Texas Bar-b-que and knew I needed to get that taken care of before visiting my very vegan friend's up north. :) This picture is certainly one of the least attractive ones of both Meg and I, but it just cracks me up. The wild delight in our eyes tells the whole story of this meal.
We finished our eating extravaganza with some delicious gelato!
Sunday, March 8th
Sunday morning, Meg took us back to the airport and got us situated in our rental car just as the rain started to pour. After a two hour drive north to Temple, we made it to Juan and Aimee's apartment. I still can't believe I didn't get a picture of Asa and Jack's reunion. They were both so excited to see each other but just didn't know that the appropriate thing to do would be to give each other a hug. Instead, they just stood there laughing and smiling and staring at each other.
Sunday evening, we got to head across town to see their new house!! I can't begin to explain how beautiful it is. When I picture the house that we will live in when we are done with training, I picture something very similar to this house and Aimee and Juan are still in training. Crazy!
They currently have all the floors ripped up and are waiting for all the materials to come in and be installed before moving in.
Monday, March 9th
We were not deterred by rainy days one bit.
Monday morning, we headed to a local honey farm. They had free samples of all their delicious honey and can you see that glass window behind us full of busy bees making honey? Fun, fun!
Aimee is such a creative and amazing mom! After the kid's rest/nap time, she got out a cardboard box, and guided our boys to recreate the protagonist from a favorite book, The Little Blue Truck. The boys had SO much fun painting in their skivvies.
Finished product
Asa has grown so much and is such a sweet, intelligent, curious boy.
What a treat to see this sweet face!
And don't get me started on this sweet hunk of baby love!
Matias is like looking at a carbon copy of his mama. I mean, look at those eyes! He is completely content to just be in space. Aimee is a joyfully content person but also has a hidden thrill seeking side. Matias is only 6 months old but already, these personality traits are also visible in him. And he's got baby chub rolls for days. What could be better than that!?!
Aimee started reading books to the older boys and Jack said, "Asa, put your arm around me."
As it turns out all 3 year old boys make this same forced face when asked to smile. Jack and Asa have always been neck and neck developmentally which has been convenient for Aimee and I as their moms. When one boy is going through a phase, we can be pretty confident that the other one is also going through the same thing and when we put our two mama brains together, we can often come up with good strategies to deal with the issue.
Also, they are funny and fun
But it's not all about the big boys. Cade was mostly interested in Matias' soft baby head.
He even brought a peace offering albeit an inappropriate one
Tuesday, March 10th
The next day, we woke up to cloudy but not rainy skies. It was time to venture out and explore Temple. Unfortunately, as we were finally loading kids into the cars, Jack walked through, kicked, stood on an ant hill. I got him strapped in his car seat and was working on Cade's seat when he started complaining of having an owie. After several minutes of complaining I finally went to check on him only to find him covered with ants. When all was said and done he had about 15 ant bites all over his torso and legs.
But, being the tough cookie that he is, he rallied and got over it quickly when we arrived at the Whistle Stop park. I wish I would have taken pictures of this park's intricate design. It was brilliant and the kids had a great time.
Isn't Aimee just beautiful!?!
Those eyes!
Wednesday, March 11th
We started the day by getting out of the house on time (high five to us!) to attend Aimee's Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class. We have been studying the Life of Moses together, me in CA and Aimee in TX. If we can't be next door neighbors anymore, at least we can continue to study God's Word together.
In the afternoon, we hit up two more amazing parks in Temple. The first one had this gigantic old school rocket to climb.
Thursday, March 12th
On our last day with the Diocares', we drove an hour and half south to San Marcos which is so special to Aimee and Juan. It's where Juan grew up, where Aimee went to college, and where they met and got married. We had the privilege of getting to spend some time with Juan's parent's and sister at their home. They made us a delicious lunch to send us on our way. Our last stop before saying our goodbyes was to a little Texas gift shop where Aimee was determined to outfit me in some Texas gear. My life is now complete, I own a Texas pride shirt. Thanks Aimee!
The kids and I met up with Meg at the rental car return and got everything transferred to her car. It was SO wonderful to see her again and the kids felt like they were coming home when they saw Danny and Bruiser.
Friday, March 13th
All good things must come to an end. We were out of the house by 5:30 am and headed to the airport. The kids did as well as could be expected on the two flights back to CA. And yet, somehow, I was SO relieved to get off that plane and fill my lungs with the smoggy air of home. :)
My travel buddy
Do you like my shirt?
1 comment:
What a wonderful narrative of a great trip to see old friends in a heartwarming reunion. Cami you are the best and we pray for all of you every day. Love, grandpa Panther. P.S. Jack and Cade are so precious and sweet.
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