The Alamo

One of the reasons we stopped in San Antonio was that Andrew was dying to go to the Alamo.

It was interesting, but much smaller than we had imagined.

It looked so strange nestled between all the tall buildings in San Antonio.

It was also unbelievably hot!

We were grateful for the little bits of shade.

The kids were facinated by the cactus.  We don't have much of that in MA.

Nathan kept asking if he would really get hurt if he "touched those spikes".  Thankfully he didn't try it to find out.  :)  He's one curious little boy.

Alex liked the branches on this tree.  :)

He said he was too hot to smile.  :)

Roof Top Swimming

Hi!  It's me, Shepy.  We've been so many places in the past two weeks.

One of our favorites was San Antonio.  The kids LOVED the hotel.

It was right on the River Walk (pictures of that in another post) and had a view of the city.

The kids LOVED the swimming pool that was on the ROOF of the hotel.

We went swimming at night and enjoyed looking at all the lights on the buildings downtown.

The kids have been counting up the states we have been through - Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Deleware, Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. (I am behind in writing posts....  pictures of the rest of our travels coming soon)

Farewell Barbara

Sunday we got the very sad news that my step-mother, Barb, died unexpectedly.  We were planning to visit Dad and Barb this week.  Instead, we will be attending Barb's memorial service.  I am grateful, in a way, that we were already out here when this happened and that we drove here.  We will now have more flexibility to stay and help out.

We last saw Dad and Barb in September.

We spent three days together in Pueblo, CO.

We were all together to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday.

Plenty of laughter and fun. 

The kids and Barb especially liked the guy who twisted balloons together at the restaurant.  He made my Dad this motorcycle.

We will miss you Barb!  I will miss our frequent phone conversations, your encouragement.  The kids said that Barb is "kind", "Nice smile", "Loves books".  You will be missed!

We are heading to Los Alamos for the memorial service.

Gulf Of Mexico

After touring the oil rig we decided to go take a look at the Gulf Of Mexico.

Beautiful beaches... though the pictures don't really show it!

The kids were interested in the seaweed

and the birds. 

Alex loves birds!

We walked on the rocks.

And we all thought that this "beach for sale" sign was hilarious.  It appeared to be a public beach, so not sure what was for sale.

Shades

Someone needs to get some new shades!  He kind of likes wearing them this way though.

Offshore Oil Rig

One of the reasons we decided to spend an extra day in Houston was to travel to Galveston.

 I had read on line that there was an off shore oil rig that you could tour, and we decided to give it a try.

 I'm so glad that we did!  It was informative and fun, and we had a great view of a cruise ship as it left the harbor.

 The kids enjoyed trying on costumes.

 They got to sit in the "pilot" seat and pretend to operate the rig. 

 The seat was really comfortable! 

 Elizabeth and I played with picture taking.

 How would you like to get transported from your ship to the rig in this?!

 A view looking up at the tallest part of the rig.

Elizabeth has informed me that I have been spelling Shepy's name incorrectly.  Her name only has one "P" in it!  :)  Shepy has joined in all of our adventures, but we haven't been very good at remembering to photograph her.  :)

 

Johnson Space Center

We spent two nights in Houston.

The kids really enjoyed the Johnson Space Center.

There were all kinds of things to touch and to try on.

There was a mock space shuttle that we got to climb in and on.

Andrew, Alex and Grandma did a flight simulator and much to the boys delight spent much of their time flying upside down.  Mommy chickened out of riding, so Andrew went twice.

We took a tram to the astronaut training center... impressive place!

And we also got an up close look at a Saturn V rocket.  It was much much bigger than I ever would have guessed.  I wish I had gotten a good picture of the end of it. 

Slide

One highlight of the trip so far....

Butt Sliding!

Kids had a blast!

I can't believe how quickly they flew down the hill.

Their pants will never be the same!

But it is a lifetime memory!