Major catchup

Blogging has been sparse due to a missing camera that was finally found this evening.  How it got on top of the fridge I shall never know, but here is our Christmas vacation catchup.  Lots of pictures so be prepared.

The Riverwalk:  We took the boat tour and saw the Christmas lights along the Riverwalk of downtown San Antonio.  Gorgeous ... not just the Christmas lights but the architecture of these older buildings was gorgeous.

Calvin loved Grandma and Grandpa Gilson.

This was so precious.  Calvin kept hugging Grandma's arm.

Glen's parents love having their Wii.  Mom hasn't been able to go to a bowling alley in ages due to her bad knee.  Now, they can bowl or gold in the comfort of their own living room for FHE.  I don't think Mom liked Mario Kart but she gave it a try.

What's a trip to San Antonio without the zoo.  We love our season passes.

This time we finally visited the Lories exhibit.  $1 for the nectar and these birds use you as a perch to eat the food.  Definitely worth the few dollars we spent (because after the first dollar, we didn't want to be done.=)

This little guy wouldn't leave Glen even though the food was gone and passed on. 

The Condor was doing a mating dance by flapping his wings.  And boy are those wings huge.

We loved our day at the zoo.

We finally made it out to the Alamo.  We'd even prepped ourselves by watching Davy Crockett from Netflix so the kids could understand where we were.  (I hadn't known he was killed at the Alamo.  Glad I have Glen who knows all.=)  Yes, there were a few cool things as you can see in the next few pictures, but the park itself wasn't very exciting.  Maybe it was because we had a very exhausted baby who couldn't even calm down enough to fall asleep.  Or maybe because it's impossible to read all the historical facts with 3 other kids that just want to keep walking. We've been to the Alamo and that's enough for us. 

Really cool log canoe.

These cannons were so much fun.  The kids kept climbing on them pretending to shoot each other ... even though they weren't pointing at each other.  Really cool exhibit.

This well wasn't very deep, but it was still cool to look down.

Another fun activity: The horse races at Retama Park.  They have live horse racing through Feb. I think.  As military we got in for free.  Not sure that we were supposed to, but we didn't complain.  We stayed for 3 races.  In between the races, the kids had fun running around with other kids.  They got to pet some horses.  And when the race was going, even though it's ridiculously short, I was amazed at the adrenaline rush when they crossed the finish line.  You can't help but cheer them on.  Us adults had fun discussing amongst ourselves who we'd bet on if we were gamblers (which we're not.=)

Here they come!!!

The girls LOVED petting the horses.  Izzy has decided she wants to be a farmer cowgirl (so she can ride horses.)  One of these days we'll actually take her on a horse ride, but for now petting is enough.

Calvin even got a kick out of the petting part.

Surprise visitor:  Glen's brother, Clifford, lives in Oklahoma and called up to see if he could come and visit.  We LOVE visitors especially from family we never get to see.  The kids clung to him as if they've known him forever.

Clifford's specialty is picking and grilling steaks.  So Sunday after church, we had a feast for lunch.  My mouth is watering just thinking about the yummy food we ate.  Thank you Clifford for spending time with us and cooking us such a fantastic feast.  We love you!!!

The duck pond:  Across the street and behind some houses there is a fun duck pond in our neighborhood.  Mid-morning walks are always nice.

We loved having Glen's parents here.  We're still crossing our fingers and praying that Heavenly Father wants us in Washington.