Celebrating Christmas, San Antonio style (part 1)

We're trying to take advantage of all the things that make the holidays different here -- events and traditions that we either have never heard of before, or that we don't have at home.

Last week we went to the Witte Museum's big winter holiday bash for kids. We did hear some Celtic music (familiar, of course) and a family mariachi band (now familiar enough that Katie recognizes the style of music); ate tamales, nachos, and sugar cookies; and made a wax candle and a Christmas ornament. Katie is a whiz with colored glitter glue!

And on Saturday Katie and I went to a harp concert. Our friend Laurie is a member of the San Antonio Harp Ensemble, and they have a big Christmas concert each year. It's always on a Sunday afternoon during naptime, so we went to their "warmup" concert in a local hospital lobby. Katie was fascinated with the harps and the music.

While we were there, sitting quietly, Dave was pedaling hard for charity. He rode in the "Mission to Mission" charity bike ride, held the first Saturday of December each year. Yes, it is warm enough to do that every year. I think he rode past three of the four missions on the Mission Trail as part of his 34-mile ride. Kudos to him! I haven't been on my bike since we've been here, unfortunately, but Dave's been getting in some good time on his road bike. That's one big advantage of warm weather and no rain. :)