Believe

We took the kids to the mall (what a ZOO!) to mail their letters to Santa in the mailbox at Macy's.  I love that they set that up!  Hannah said the lower box was packed full of letters, so they had to use the upper slot.  She also wanted to see if the "Believe-meter" would move when they put their letters in.

Don't you just love Christmas?  I can hardly wait until Santa comes!

McKinney Falls State Park

Just south of Austin, near the airport, is a great state park.  John had camped there with the Scouts last year, and wanted to take our kids to ride bikes.  We packed up the bikes and lunch, and headed out.  Two waterfalls make for great scenery, but since the water is low, they are really just trickles and we could walk all the way across without getting wet.  During the summer, people jump off the falls into the pools below.

Standing on top of the falls

More wildlife--the turtles like to sun themselves on the rock.

On the ledge overlooking the pool

The waterfall is pitted with holes from the water constantly running over.  Some are large, some are small, some still had water in them like a tidepool.

Riding off on the bike path.

We rode two different bike paths.  One was easy and paved, one was more difficult single-track.  I was proud of the kids--Ellie and Seth don't even have gears, but they managed just fine over tree roots and up and down hills.  Sometimes we had to walk the bikes, but we had a great adventure. 

John stopped the kids partway through and said, "Was that hard?  See, you can do hard things."  Always a teaching moment!  I wish John could just retire and be on vacation every day forever!  I guess we'll just have to make the best of the rest of the year while he's off.

It's Always Fun for Everyone When Grandpa (and Grandma) Come!

A couple of weeks ago, John's parents came for a short visit.  We did our best to keep them busy!  We went on one of those "Duck Adventure" tours of downtown Austin, where the bus also goes in the water.  It was interesting because we saw parts of downtown that we haven't seen yet.  I want to go back to Sandra Bullock's restaurant!  And everyone got a "quacker" to take home.  Yay for the quackers!  (They are really annoying.)

Seth and John trying to figure out how a bus with wheels can go in the water.

We went on a short bike ride around our neighborhood, and even Grandma rode a bike!  I was very proud of her--she was super adventurous.

Grandma brought a HUGE gingerbread house to decorate with the kids.  Candy Galore!

It was a nice visit, and the kids always love spending time with their grandparents.

Hanging Up the Lights

After much drama about the lights, we finally got them up.  Our roof is much steeper here than in Vancouver, so John was a little nervous up there, but it all worked out.

Yes, Indeedy, We're Boating in November!

 Since the fall weather in Texas has been so lovely, and John has a whole week of vacation, we decided to explore another lake near our home today.  Inks Lake is small, but when you are the only boat on it, it's plenty roomy!

See the beautiful changing leaves?  The scenery was fabulous, the sun was shining, it was 80 degrees, and the kids went swimming.  So, how was your Monday???

People have private boat docks along the lake on their property.  No boats were in them.  You'd think it was winter or something.

I tried out a new feature we found on our camera--monochromatic mode.

 Our charming boat captain and tour guide.

We saw some wildlife too.  Luckily, none of the snake variety, but this, I believe, is a blue heron. 

Stately, huh?

And some seriously moth-eaten deer.  This guy was like, "Oh, yawn, another photo op."  You'd think gun-toting Texans would be down with killing more of these guys, but they are EVERYWHERE!!!

I love Texas in the fall.  If anyone is considering a visit, October and November are the

BEST time of year to come.

Hint, hint.

The Weekend Recap

I don't have very many pictures because I always forget to take the camera....

Halloween turned out to be pretty great, even if we couldn't trick-or-treat on Sunday.  Friday night we went to a "Farewell" party for some friends who are moving to Utah.  After that, we took the kids to IHOP for a free Scary Face pancake that they got to decorate.  This was the beginning of our Halloween festivities.  For such a lame holiday, it sure got a lot of attention this year.  Here's the costumes:

Saturday night our friends, the Hydricks, who are moving to Utah, came to stay the weekend.  They had packed up their apartment and loaded it on the moving truck, so we offered to let them come stay here so they'd have a bed.  They were so much fun, and we really enjoyed having them visit.  Their little boy is almost three and followed Seth around all weekend.  We had great food and great conversation, and they were so easy to host.  It's rare to find couples that both the husband and wife enjoy spending time with, but they are that type of couple.  Now we have another set of friends to visit next time we get to Utah!  The list is growing.  Maybe that's where we should live.

The kids did the ward "Trunk-or-Treat" and carnival and came home with bags of candy.  The carnival was well-done, and there was great turnout for the chili cook-off.

Embarrassing story--hope no one in my ward reads this (they don't know my blog address yet)--our chili tipped over in the car on the way over, so it looked all messy and unattractive on the outside of the pot.  I did NOT scrape up the spilled part, that would be gross.  John advised me just to leave it in the car, but NO!  I was worried they wouldn't have enough, so I took it, but I wished the whole time I had listened to the counsel of my husband.  I should just know that chili is not my thing and stop trying so hard.  It never works out well for me.

Last night, we made cheese fondue with the Hydricks and sat in the kitchen eating and talking while the kids opened the door for trick-or-treaters.  I don't even know how many kids we had, because I suspect my kids were handing out big handfuls of candy.  They also opened the door before the doorbell rang, so I hope we had a good turnout!

Happy Halloween, everyone, and let's get on with Thanksgiving!

A Fabulous Day!

Look at these happy faces!   The kids loved every minute of Sea World.  We went to all the shows, rode a couple of little rollercoasters, and just had a great day together.

The sea lion show was really campy and cute.

 At the end, the walrus came out and showed us how to do crunches.

Up

and Down.

 The Orca show was my favorite--we saw them perform twice.  One of the things I enjoyed the most was the trainers and how they interact with the whales.

 Sea World San Antonio had a new baby whale born in January.  Here she is with her mama.

 The last show was saw was the whales, and John and the kids wanted to sit way down front in the "Splash Zone."  I elected to stay at the top where it's dry.  After the whales splashed the audience, I could see Seth stand up in indignation and complain to his dad.  He was so mad!  Now he knows what "Splash Zone" means--not damp, not wet, but SOAKED!

The kids rode their first rollercoaster called Journey to Atlantis.  As far as rollercoasters go, it was pretty tame, but the whole way up to the top, I kept thinking, "What am I doing???"  We all got wet, which of course, made Seth mad.  But not as mad as the ride--he didn't like that feeling you get in your stomach, and told me he felt like he was going to "puke."  John and the girls rode it again, but Seth and I stayed on the ground and watched!

We left the park about 9:30, and everyone was asleep in the car by the time we got back to the hotel.  It was a really great day.  And we are close enough, we bought passes to go back again all year!

Great San Antonio Weekend

 We took the kids down to San Antonio for the weekend with the intention of going to Sea World.  We did that too, but Friday night, we walked around downtown where our hotel was located.  We stayed in a hundred-year-old hotel called the St. Anthony, which takes up half a city block.  We saw pictures all over the lobby of famous people who have stayed there, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver.

It was beautiful and fun to stay in.  This is the staircase in the lobby.  People have weddings here frequently and take pictures on this staircase.

 This was our room.  Just a standard size, but with old-fashioned furniture. 

We had two, yes, TWO bathrooms!  Neither was huge, but the kids had their own tub.  Have you ever stayed in a single hotel room with two bathrooms?  Me either.

 Seth playing in front of the second bathroom.  There were also two walk-in closets.  They had the old lightbulb fixtures with a pull string.  Funny.

On every floor, near the elevators, there was a mail chute

that went down to the lobby to a mailbox for pick-up.  I don't know if it's still used, but I thought it was cool.

Outdoor pool on the roof.  And yes, the kids went swimming!

While walking around downtown we saw this Texas Ranger museum, complete with cow animal heads for decoration

Close-up of the Texas Longhorn

City pidgeons

Being chased by Seth.  I don't know why, but my kids always chase birds.

Outside the Alamo--a memorial to the brave men who died there.

A huge old oak tree inside the Alamo

A huge old cactus bush inside the Alamo

San Antonio's Riverwalk and the boats that travel up and down.



Next up:  Sea World!