The Bruces visit!

My great friend Ingrid Steffensen Bruce and her daughter Emma Bruce flew down during Emma's "spring" break (in February?) for a long weekend -- we had a great time! Of course it was the same weekend Dave had a meeting in Charleston, but that meant he got away from all the girliness in the close quarters of an apartment.

We really tried to fit in as much as we could in the time they were here, and we were pretty much on the go constantly. Poor Katie never got a nap! But she had such a good time with Emma and Aunt Ingrid that she didn't care. And we ate a lot of Tex-Mex, which also didn't hurt. I'll go in chronological order:

On Thursday we covered the must-see highlights: the missions, the Alamo, and the Riverwalk. It was fun to go with an architectural historian, and with a 10-year-old who not only is interested, but has a new camera... This is Emma taking a photo at the San Jose mission. After lunch on the Riverwalk, we took the fun boat ride, where Katie fell asleep. Luckily she stayed asleep (although it was a long walk to the Alamo carrying her!) and I could sit in the courtyard while Ingrid and Emma toured. I'm not sure which they liked better - the Alamo or the warm sunshine!



Friday was by far our longest day. We drove up to Austin. The morning was for the Capitol, where we could see clear signs of spring (yes, in February, so I guess this really was Emma's spring break), and the afternoon for exploring the famous parts of the funky city. We tried on cowboy hats, stopped in at the beautiful Driskill Hotel -- where LBJ and Lady Bird had their first date -- and explored the funky shops of South Congress Street. We didn't get the girls to bed until nearly 10:30!



Since Emma loves horses, we of course had to go to the rodeo. It was not any ol' rodeo competition day, it was XTreme Bulls! Too loud for a tired toddler (we watched on a TV on the concourse), but Ingrid and Emma had a blast. Katie loved the swine sprints again, and both girls wanted to ride every ride at the carnival (I think they each picked two). Emma convinced Katie to wear her cowgirl boots, so she fit right in -- even with her baby Margaret in tow.



We spent Sunday exploring the downtown history -- San Fernando Cathedral
(this is the main altarpiece), the Spanish Governors Palace, El Mercado, and La Villita. Emma found a beautiful painting of the Riverwalk for her souvenir -- not your typical choice for a 10-year-old. But she's no ordinary kid.
Here are Emma and Katie at the La Villita fountain.

It was such fun to have them here; we were sorry to have to send them back to the frozen north!

Crazy weather, part 3

Okay, it is the 25th of February, and it is 89 degrees, according to the US Weather Service. This is not normal, even for south Texas. I can't believe in February that it's too hot to go out and play in the afternoon! Good thing we're heading to the mountains and the river this coming weekend.

Pete and Becky visit SA

My former PSU intern, Becky Rudolph Karabatos and her new husband Pete, were in San Antonio for a few days on their spring vacation swing through the south. I hadn't seen Becky for a few years, so it was great to catch up and spend time with Pete. We saw the missions in the morning, and did some walking around downtown and at El Mercado in the afternoon, with a break in the middle for the relaxing Japanese Tea Gardens. Here are Becky and Pete with Katie (and Mum the purple bear), eating our "afternoon tea" snack!

Valentine's Day at the rodeo

One of the biggest happenings in S. Texas is the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, a 3-week event that takes up as much real estate as the Bloomsburg Fair (for those of you in PA, you know what I mean) with a NBA arena to boot. Of course we had to go! So that's where we spent Valentine's Day. :)

The rodeo itself is a two-hour show every day, twice on the weekends, that is a real, honest-to-goodness competition in seven different events: bareback riding, bronco busting (with saddles), bull riding, calf roping, pairs calf roping, steer wrestling, and barrel racing (the only one for women). We saw some real skill and talent in all the stereotypical cowboy skills -- it was cool. We also saw a teenage "calf scramble" - a group calf roping event, kind of -- and the little kid "mutton bustin", where little kids hold on for dear life to a large running sheep. VERY funny. And between each event were rodeo clowns, precision horse riding, etc. We all enjoyed it immensely, to our surprise. We did not stay for the concert afterward; each rodeo had a big-name country singer or band following it, for the same ticket price. If you like country music, you could have an amazing 2 1/2 weeks for not much money.

Then there's the whole grounds extravaganza, with carnival, food, petting zoo, animal stalls, etc. Katie loved the petting zoo, of course, and I have to say I've never seen one with roaming llamas and wallabies.


The highlight for Katie was the swine sprints, a tongue-in-cheek potbellied pig race that we had been told not to miss. We didn't, and it was worth it for the look on our kid's face every time the pigs ran in front of her.

We've now finally seen the Texas with cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and big hair. It was at the rodeo.

Our flower child

We went to a great exhibit opening on Saturday at the Witte Museum -- it was breakfast! And the new exhibit was "Genome", all about human genes. Very cool if it ever comes to a museum near you. Katie picked out her clothes, a new outfit we got for cheap at TJ Maxx. She was so cute, I had to post her photos. It was also really nice outside, so she was dancing on the flagstones. If you can't hear it, she's singing "I'm dancing, I'm dancing".

BTW, that is Blockton the dinosaur with her -- Katie had to bring her to the dinosaur museum, of course!

Tiny Tots Nature Spot - at the zoo

The little kids' area (kids under 5) at the zoo is called Tiny Tots Nature Spot, and that's where Katie and I spent Wednesday morning. It was the best part of the zoo, by far (probably one of the newest). There were places to crawl and explore, get up close -- even hold a snail, play, climb, etc. Katie didn't want to leave. We will go back when the weather's a little warmer, because there is a pond area with sand. It's like a beach, and the kids (with swim diapers) can go in the water.

The most fun part for me, besides watching Katie have fun, was seeing the flamingos out of their pond. It was clinic day - they were all getting their annual checkups. Those necks are flexible! And apparently their beaks are strong and sharp. We kept our distance.

Yay, Steelers!

What a game that was on Sunday! I was very proud to be a Steelers fan, and even prouder to be turning my daughter into one. There was a tailgate lunch after church on Sunday, so we all went, and Katie and I wore our Steelers shirts. We got a lot of comments (all good), although a few people noted our pretty little boy. Ah, the sexism. Makes me even happier to raise a football girl. She's very cute raising her arms up, yelling "touchdown!", especially when it's a Steelers score. Then she'll sometimes do a little dance, too.