Boppa and Grammy visit!

My dad, Steve (aka "Boppa"), and his wife, Cynthia (aka "Grammy") came to visit last weekend -- March 13-16 -- from Albuquerque. It was great to have them here! The weather was not terribly cooperative, unfortunately, but we got MUCH-needed rain. Being from the southwest now, they understood and didn't mind at all. And the weather didn't stop us.

We did the stereotypical San Antonio things first -- the Alamo and the Riverwalk, which is nice and deserted in cold mist. This was Katie's first time at the Riverwalk without the stroller, and she did really well even without a nap. It was also the kickoff for St. Patrick's Day weekend, which meant releasing "environmentally friendly" green dye into the San Antonio River. (As my friend Kim says, "isn't the river always green?" Just not as GREEN.) Katie waved at the giant walking Guinness glass as it went by on the dye-releasing barge.


On Friday night Cynthia and I went back downtown for the Alamo City Ghost Tour (our birthday present to her). We got to use cool equipment, which didn't really tell anything, and did a lot of walking through the downtown. We didn't see any ghosts, but heard fun stories, and enjoyed seeing everything at night. San Fernando Cathedral is really pretty at night. I was glad to be with a fellow skeptic! (We declined to use a dowsing rod to answer Ouija-board-type questions, if that gives you any idea of some of our fellow ghost-hunters.)

Dave joined us for the marathon tour of the missions on Saturday. It was nice, actually, to see all four (it's hard to count the Alamo anymore) in one fell swoop, both to compare them but also to get a sense of where they are in relation to each other. Dad and I both took lots more pictures. We capped the day with a concert by the UU singer-songwriter Jim Scott at the UU church here. The grownups really enjoyed it; I think Katie did, too, except for the late hour and no nap again!

The weather improved vastly on Sunday, so after jazz Sunday at church, we checked out the Spanish Governors Palace (see Katie with the hands-on kid instruments?), the interior of the Cathedral, and the Riverwalk. Everyone who hadn't been there Friday and Saturday came out on Sunday -- so much so that Ben & Jerry's ran out of ice cream! Thank goodness for the Haagen Dazs around the corner...

We miss Boppa and Grammy, but we're so glad they could see us in San Antonio!