san antonio-day seven

goodbye nice weather, hello hell-ish humidity. that about sums up our day at the zoo. we did have fun despite that, so the zoo was a great way to spend our last real day in town. besides the weather, the only other down side to our day were the offensive zoo odors which just about did me in. the combo of smelling the raw fish and/or other raw animal meat that they feed the big cats, and the smell of animal excrement was simply heinous. but i managed to keep it together and power walked my way back to pleasant air. it was kindergarten day at the zoo which wasn't that bad, but still more people than we had originally anticipated for a regular tuesday morning.

thanks grandma and grandpa for a fun day at the zoo!
they had a way cool butterfly exhibit we paid a dollar each to go into. it was 850 degrees inside, no exaggeration. they have the doors pressurized so that no butterflies can leave and while you are inside, the butterflies are everywhere, flying, feeding off fruit or near the waterfall. it was neat.
my own little butterfly. notice how her brown ensemble matches perfectly. :)
my unwilling catepillar
mr. cool with his shades on
marissa's favorite animal to see at the zoo was the elephant, he was getting hosed off while we were there. too bad they don't offer that service for the guests.
this is what mason wanted to do, drink and be pushed in his stroller. he refused to smile and pose for photos basically the rest of the day. he repeatedly yelled, "i don't want to say cheese. i don't want to say pepperoni! NO!" the heat was getting to him i think.
marissa, "look at the 2 big hippo butts!" its the small things that amuse us in life. :)

san antonio-day six

here we are at the alamo. i enjoy going to historic places and having that particular part of our American history become more alive. i learned a lot of things about the battle of the alamo, most importantly how courageous those individuals really were because they knew the challenge ahead of them and decided that the fight for independence was worth their sacrifice.

stolen from the alamo's official website- "People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against impossible odds — a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason, the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty."
no photos were allowed inside the building itself. this plaque was outside on one of the double doors.
william b.travis, only 26 at the time of the battle of the alamo in march of 1836, was left in charge of the alamo because his superior didn't foresee a threat. he wrote a letter, in which he passionately appealed to all texans and all americas while he was besieged by santa ana's army,

" I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. Victory or death."
the grounds were lush and green, very well kept. and its neat to look at old trees and see what amazing shapes they take after all these years.
the 6 flags over texas. texas is only one of 2 states where the state flag is allowed to fly at equal height with the united states flag. the other state is hawaii. all other state flags must be flown lower.
after our trip to the alamo, (followed by lunch in the mall food court) we went on a scenic boat tour down the san antonio river. our boat looked like the one in the picture, expect that there were people on it. :)
our tour guide was something else. while we were docked waiting for more people to come onboard, she insisted everyone remain seated. the river is only 3-5 feet deep mind you. and we were in the middle of the boat. at least 6 times she singled out my kids for standing. THE BOAT WAS NOT MOVING!! and my kids weren't moving around, all they did was stand up in front of their seat and she was all over them like white on rice. give me a break lady. she drove me bonkers. needless to say her cutesy solicitation of a tip at the end went unanswered from our family.
this tree is 9 stories tall and is one of the trees that santa ana's army used to position snipers aimed at the alamo.
the week we were in town is the annual "fiesta" week. what they celebrating besides having a good time, beats me. anyway, thats why a bazillion folding chairs were appearing all along the river walk while we were taking our river tour, all in preparation for that night's boat parade as part of fiesta week. anyway, this stage was all done up for a concert being held there. a tidbit, this is the stage where one of the pagent scenes was filmed for the sandra bullock film, "miss congeniality." our tour guide also pointed out the bridge where jennifer lopez sits during a scene of the movie, "selena" but since i haven't seen it, i didn't take a picture.
after we got home from our day downtown, travis and i freshened up and headed right back downtown for a night on the town. :) my parents were the terrific grandparents who insisted we go out and have a good time, just the two of us. the four of them had mac and cheese, hot dogs and watched 101 dalmations.

travis and i had something a little better, mortons steak house. now, if you've never eaten at mortons before, you should. its like ruth's chris if you are familiar with that restaurant. travis scored a killer deal off the internet, some e-news daily or something and it had an online coupon for a promotion that mortons is running now through june. dinner for 2, including a salad, filet mignon (with the choice of shrimp, scallops, or crab cake accompaniment) choice of 2 sides from the following: mashed, baked, or steak fried potatoes, steamed or grilled asparagus, broccoli, green beans, or sautéed wild mushrooms, and finally each of you, for dessert, either a hot chocolate cake with raspberries or the keylime pie. whew! i'm salivating just thinking about it all again. that food was seriously so good. sensational, if you will. the service was impeccable and it was SO NICE to go somewhere nice without kids or worrying about anything else. ahhhh. it was a nice night out. :)

san antonio-day five

today was sunday and we headed to church with my parents. my dad is currently serving in the brand presidency of a newly formed singles branch and my mom is a relief society teacher there. its not a "student" ward but there are of the 20-30 years who do take classes, most of them work though. they are small in numbers but mighty in spirit and it was nice to meet a lot of them and identify faces with names i've heard my parents mention.
i have to reflect on what a different experience it would be to live somewhere far away from utah and the inter-mountain west and be an active mormon. yes, i did it when i was growing up, but that was ages 3-14 for me so now that i have some adult perspective i think it would be different. anyway, it was a wonderful sacrament meeting we attended and it felt very real and genuine. these kids come because they want to and they have a testimony to share. there is no facade or ulterior motive, they come to worship and share the spirit with others.

after church, we turned into pagan-sabbath day breakers and went to the north star mall in down town san antonio. we ate at the cheesecake factory for lunch, a first for my mom and dad. this is only mine and travis' 2nd time eating there. it was very good, very fresh. the menu is what boggles me, it just goes on and on and on. so many choice and such a variety of cuisines. and just for fun i'll add what cheesecake we each had; mom the godiva, dad the keylime, travis the banana cream and i had the caramel turtle pecan. :) 20 lbs later . . .

the mall trip was okay, a little too crowded for my taste. where did all the people come from? is that how a normal sunday afternoon is? and i was a little bummed at the gap maternity section. anywho, we rounded out our sunday by coming home and just hanging out. always fun and a welcome treat. mason and marissa never got tired of grandma's toys or watering flowers with grandpa. marissa called it "flowering the plants." funny girl. :)

san antonio-day four

on saturday, we had a rest day. it was very nice to bum around my mom's house and not have to go anywhere or do anything. very nice indeed. not all of us were house bums though, some of us snipered some suns/spurs (that's basketball for the un-informed) play-off tickets on ebay and went to the game. guess who. i am very happy that travis got to do something for him on his vacation. he is such a great dad and works hard to support our family and he needed this. he and my dad went to the game and had a blast!

the game itself was such a fast-paced, action filled game. it went into double overtime. talk about getting your money's worth! my dad is a spurs fan now. (hopefully the lakers are still #1 in his heart of hearts) and travis likes the spurs but went as more of sports fan than a fan of either team. shaq plays for the suns now so that was fun, travis always enjoys watching shaq play, regardless of what team he plays for.

the men came home practically hoarse and with their ears ringing, claiming it was the loudest, most adrenaline filled event they had ever attended. the women had a lovely roast beef, mashed potatoes/gravy, and steamed veggie dinner awaiting them. nothing beats mom's pot roast. the gravy is celestial. (the same goes for my mother-in-law, something about moms i guess) anyway, we also made a new dessert. i found an ad in my real simple magazine for it, its called strawberry whipped sensation. can i say mouth-watering, strawberry-rific, yum-o? its a keeper. cool whip, oreos and sweetened condensed milk, the good stuff.

the kids played in the back-yard, played with grandma's numerous stacking dolls, a peg board i had as a child, and had a big, fat nap. over the course of the week, my mom suggested i read the "the no.#1 ladies detective agency" by alexandar ian mccall. i read the first 4 books in the series. loved them. they might be a future book club pick, who knows? so i had a nice, leisure day reading and talking with my mom. the kids had fun. travis and my dad had a great time. another great day of vacation.

san antonio-day three

today we hit the serious shopping malls in san marcos, roughly an hour outside of san antonio itself. they are the mega outlets because there are actually 2 outlet malls right next to each other. one is the tanger outlet and the other is the prime outlet. it is the #3 tourist attraction in texas, behind #2 the riverwalk and #1 the alamo. we saw all 3. :)

anyway, back to the serious shopping. it was great!!! i am now all set with my maternity clothes (expect church clothes, why is it hard to find modest clothes that fit me?) thanks to the motherhood outlet. and thanks to the gap outlet, and carters for the rest. good thing grandma and grandpa don't have any other grandkids because they love to spoil these ones! at the carters store, the clerk told us of a special clearance store set-up by carters and oshkosh at the other end of the mall. we hit that up and found the whole store was 2.99! sweet. we got some really cute clothes for marissa, mason and baby boy jackman. its getting exciting. they also had a williams and sonoma outlet, and in the pottery barn kids section, i bought the baby one of those super soft, light blue fuzzy blankets. sigh. august is a long way away.

after we helped single handedly jump start the local economy, we left san marcos and met some friends at a park in san antonio. growing up in germany, we had some good friends, the ransomes. i am an only child and chris is an only child and our moms were/are as thick as thieves. i remember going on vacation with them and spending holidays, etc. the parents are now divorced, but dixie (the wife) still keeps in close touch with my mom. she came to our wedding. anyway, chris, the son, and his wife and their 4 cute girls now live there and he works for micro-soft. and dixie, who lives in spokane, washington, was in texas visiting the same time we were, so it was nice timing. we ate our little picnic dinner, caught up with each other, and the kids LOVED playing at the playground. they were such troopers all day shopping, its was a welcome break for them. and of course, instant friends to play with is always nice too. another fun filled day of our vacation.

san antonio-day two

seaworld here we come!

it was the perfect day to go, not too hot or humid at all. and there weren't many people there which is always nice. we went to the canary caper, which is a cute little show featuring sea lions and a walrus. we saw the penguins, which incidentally was eerily like a scene from the movie "happy feet". then we hit the big show, "believe" starring, you guessed it, SHAMU! marissa has been talking about shamu for at least a month now. and he didn't disappoint. its amazing to see these huge mammals, the largest predators in the ocean, splashing and jumping right in front of your eyes. mason ate it up too, he was doing the shamu chant in perfect time. :) we opted to sit above the splash zone and felt really good about our choice as we watched people all the way up to row 16 get absolutely soaking wet.

we brought the kids' strollers and they seemed to like that. its a lot of walking and to be honest, i wish someone would have pushed me around towards the end of the day. :) the highlight of mason's day, (and his whole week, i'm pretty sure) was seeing/feeding the dolphins. they were about 7 bottle nose dolphins in a pool and you could try to pet them but they really just wanted the food. they have a little stand which sells sardines at certain times throughout the day and you can buy a tray for 5 bucks (highway robbery but i guess it is a good cause, preserving marine life blah blah blah ;0) grandpa indulged both of them and each got a tray to feed the dolphins. mason was in little boy heaven! they have an employee with a microphone walking around the pool, explaining the rules, spouting dolphin facts, etc. personally, what i would have found more interesting is how many times a month someone falls in, or gets bitten by a dolphin or drops their camera in the water and someone has to dive in and get it out. but no, they don't post that sort of info. :)

then we headed to predator exhibit with the eels, manta rays, and the big daddy himself, the great white shark. they actually have like 8 great whites, several nurse sharks and a few barracudas in a tank together. they should pipe the JAWS soundtrack in there, would enhance the mood. :) and i know i am one to have an active imagination, but i have to admit, its a rather strange thing to think that i saw a great white shark today and it saw me! anyway, that rounded out our seaworld experience. there was more we could have done and seen, but we were too pooped to do any more. it was a fantastic day and has given me high hopes that our potential disneyland trip this fall will be successful as well. the kids loved seaworld and each got to pick out their souvenir, marissa was a stuffed orca she quickly dubbed baby shamu and mason picked a stuffed dolphin. they have been sleeping with these each night since then, so sweet.
we ended our day at the fine mexican eating establishment called pericos. very, very tasty. it is a little different from "regular" mexican food in that it is more tex/mex. i could use less tex and more mex, but that is just me maybe. i had the shrimp quesadillas, muy terrifico! and we all shared 2 huge fried ice creams! the service was super and there was even a mariachi band that night. great meal at the end of a great day. thanks mom and dad!!!

san antonio-day one

our day started bright and early at 4:45am. everything went super well with waking the wee ones up at such an unholy hour, driving to las vegas, going through security, checking in, and boarding the plane all while we lugged the kids' awkard car seats. they each had a new toy for the plane flight itself and that went miraculously well. prayers were heard and answered. :) i sat with marissa and travis and mason sat behind us. we were well supplied with fruit snacks, chips and candy.

thank goodness for little einsteins because they LOVED the idea of blasting off and flying through the clouds like rocket! mason got a teeny bit upset at landing and take-off, but there were no other tears shed or problems encountered. mom and dad were at the airport and the kids were excited to see them. we then got in our brightly painted rust colored mini-van that would be our carriage for the week and drove home. mom and dad have a nice home in a new little subdivision on the outskirts of town. its strange in a way to see all their things, most of which are familiar to me from my childhood, in a house i've never been in before. anyway, the kids played in the backyard with bubbles, bouncy balls and loved it. we had a fantastic steak dinner which was a perfect meal to end the day.

the kids were overjoyed to find that grandma and grandpa bought them each a new hooded towel, new kiddie dishes set, and new bedding for their stay here. (princess and lightening mcqueen respectivley) i guess that is what grandparents live for, visits from the kids. :)

just because

here are some photos i snapped on sunday. and while i agree, marissa's hair is a little beauty queen pagent-y, i loved doing it and she felt like a princess all day. isn't that why you have little girls? and her dress was costco, $17 bucks. how sweet is that? anyway, these pics are more for grandma and grandpa than anyone else, so enjoy!!

ultrasounds

i finally got off my lazy bum and scanned them in. some are better than others, this is more my journaling than anything else. the paper they use doesn't archive at all so i'm grateful for blogger. :)

8 weeks, look at the little arm and leg buds. that's what the technician called them, "buds" :)
11 weeks profile
12 weeks profile
20 weeks skeletor face
i could write something lewd and crass about this particular ultrasound but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. ;)
20 weeks profile
20 weeks little arm

odds and ends

-so i've received my first "spam" comment, thus the word verification now before posting a comment. fun times

-enjoyed general conference, considering i got to watch like 1/15 of it in october, i was very grateful to be able to watch all of sunday morning and most of sunday afternoon. we also watched the first 20 minutes or so of the saturday morning session to participate in the solemn assembly. way cool. i echo president holland's remarks, that it was remarkable to watch the mantle of prophet settle on president monson's shoulders during the sunday morning session. very amazing. there was a piece of the new apostle d. todd christofferson's talk that i stuck in my brain. he said that becoming born again was a process, not an event. i think that is a wonderfully profound statement, especially in light of many of the church's critics who claim that we, as a religion, are not christian because we do not call ourselves "saved" or "born-again christians." on the contrary, we are born again, born of the spirit when we truly convert to the Savior's gospel. we tell the world of our "saved" status or declare our new birth in Christ when we are baptised and then we should live our life according to the commitment we made when we entered the waters of baptism. it is the constant striving towards goodness, the submission to the refiner's fire and a humility to do the Father's will that make us Christian, or followers of Jesus Christ.

-we are getting very excited to go on vacation next week. on wednesday the 13th, we head out to san antonio for a week. why are we going to san antonio? marissa will tell you, "to visit grandma and grandpa and SHAMU!" we have gotten onto the seaworld website a few times and are getting stoked to see the big whale in person. i'm already going into check-list mode, planning outfits for the kids to wear on the plane that are comfy and easy on/off; bought a new portable dvd player (thank you sale at target) to replace our worn down, archaic old one; bought travis a new nintendo ds game, the star wars saga; stocked up on travel size items; etc. anyway, its fun to go on vacation and this is our last hurrah for a while.

-the other night, i couldn't sleep well because my right hip was bothering me. i swear i am an old man. my hip aches in every position i sleep in. its less painful if i sleep on my back but that is not really an option these days. so i was awake, tossing and turning, fighting my pillows at 4am and this kid growing inside of me thinks he's trying out for the world cup. i have never felt him move so much before! probably for a solid hour or so, he was having a heyday, flipping, kicking, etc. i loved lying there in the dark feeling him move. that is my absolute favorite part about being pregnant, as i am sure it is for a lot of women, feeling the baby move inside you. best feeling ever in the world.

-this year seems to be the year of the birthday party. my kids have been invited to at least one a month so far in 2008. and while it is fun, it has prompted marissa to discuss in detail her grand schemes for her birthday party. according to her, we are going swimming, having a pizza party at the park, a special cake and inviting friends over who will bring her princess presents. hhhmmm, if she was a few years older, i'm sure she would follow in maddie weston's power point presentation footsteps! of course, time is a difficult concept for any little child, so the fact that her birthday is at least 6 weeks means nothing to her. and while i'm sure mason wouldn't really care, he'd be happy with a few ballons, i'm not throwing a princess party for my daughter AND son. sorry. so i was thinking that maybe at the end of this month, or maybe next, having a princess party for marissa. invite some little girls over in their finest princess tea party attire, dance, take pictures, decorate tierra's or something and call it good. a non-birthday party, no presents involved. moms reading this, let me know what you think.

-mason's speech seems to be improving all the time. granted, he is still 40% of where he should be communication wise for his age (at least that was the percentage in january when i had a formal meeting with his teacher) but he is doing better all the time. he is much more expressive of his specific wants and that is so much better than yelling or crying. but just because he tells me he doesn't want meatballs (last night's yummy dinner, thanks jen!) doesn't mean he gets green chips instead, which is what he was clamoring for. i think that is probably hard to understand for him. he can finally communicate clearly but that doesn't guarantee him the results he wants. oh well, at least we can reason with him more than we ever could before. like last night, he had to have a bite of meatball before any chips. and by golly, that kid ate his whole meatball once he realized the cause and effect relationship. good for you little buddy.

boy oh boy oh boy!

its official, its a BOY!!!! we're very excited. and (insert cheshire cat smile) i knew it was a boy all along. i remember distinctly when i was about 8 weeks along, thinking, "everything will go well, this baby will be born in august and it will be a boy. " travis was mr. naysayer and said it was a girl, not that he wanted a girl. its just that odds are in favor of girls in his family. out of 12 grandkids, 3 are boys. this will be grandbaby 13 and the 4th boy in 4 years. and we will be the only of his brothers to have a majority of boys. anyway, he was pretty shocked and happy when we found out at the ultrasound that it was FOR SURE a boy. to quote robyn, he is very excited for his man-cub. ;)

i'm really lazy and haven't scanned in the ultrasound pics yet, hopefully soon. taking my friends' advice, i left the kiddos and it was just me and travis, which was very nice. small, dark room doesn't equal fun times with kids. everything is fine with the baby, growing and developing on schedule. i can't believe i am half way there! that is such a happy thought.

i love my marissa, she is a true true blessing in my life. she is fun to dress up, enjoys her pink room and all things girly, including mommy's make-up and jewelry. BUT . . . i am so happy this is a boy. no hair to curl on sunday, no tights to put on, bracelets trying to match, etc. i have visions of a blue nursery and am loving browsing the internet's baby boutique sights for ideas. (ideas only because besides j.lo, who in their right mind can pay the astronomical sums for nursery bedding that is going to be pooped and spit upon?) once i pick bedding, then comes paint colors, wall decor, and all the other fun things that we women like to get worked up about. :) at one point travis asked me why i needed new bedding, couldn't we just use mason's? i don't think i even replied. he is on board and supportive now. once we decide what new goodies we want, what we can borrow and what we can live without, i have given him full liberty to ebay or craigslist the rest. the type of task that is right up his alley. :)

i'm so excited to have another little boy to love and snuggle.


What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"