Texas 2017

The boys and I spent about 3 weeks in Texas this summer.  My mom came up to St. Louis and hung out for a few days and then she helped me drive down with all the boys.  Scott stayed in St. Louis for work.  He joined us a little later so some family fun.  Here are the highlights of our trip.

My parents bought the boys some toys, baseball bat and ball and sleeping bags.

No trip to San Antonio is complete with out at least one trip to Alamo Cafe.  Clearly the boys share my love of the tortillas.

Lots of time just hanging out at Grammie and Papa John's house

And lots of trips to playgrounds.

The Holtzinger's watched the boys on a Saturday morning.  There were tears when they left.  I had to keep telling them that we would be back 2 more times.

 The one rainy day I let them play outside.

 More fun at the Holtzinger house.

 The boys learned all about cactus and that they can hurt.

 It was very hot while we were down there.

 We spent a little time with Zio Andrew.

 More swimming at the Holtzinger House.

 And BBQ!!

Great American Eclipse 2017

We witnessed the Eclipse of 2017.  It was amazing.  I was not up on the hype, however I was converted.  We were lucky enough to be in the path of totality, which means it was complete dark for a little over 1 minute by our house.

Scott and I decided that we wanted to share this with the boys.  They were in school and had made special glasses to watch it with their classes.  We went up to the school after lunch and would take turns with the teachers to go outside and watch.

A few minutes before totality the bugs started creeping like it was dusk.  The street lights and building lights came on.  The temperature started to drop.  Then we had our one minute to show the kids and watch ourselves.  It was an amazing thing to see and I'm very happy we were able to share this with the boys.

Birthaversary 2017

This year's birthaversary was a little different.  We were in San Antonio for half of it.  Our anniversary was spent playing with the boys and relaxing with a bottle of wine after they went to bed.  Then a few hours later Scott took me to urgent care for a major hives breakout.  We are still unsure as to what caused them, but it was a very early morning getting medicine and recovering.

My birthday was spent at the San Antonio Aquarium.  This was our first trip there and it will not be our last.  From dinosaurs to sting rays to lizards, this place had it all.  All of us had a ton of fun there.

Then my mom met us for lunch and Scott and Gabriel played their first game of pool together.  I taught Bennett the art of "playing" a video game when you have no money.

After lunch the boys took naps and I got a much needed mani/pedi.  I was even treated to Alamo Cafe for a childless dinner and a rainbow to boot.  It was a great birthday.

For Scott's birthday we celebrated at home with presents and relaxation.