Friday, May 23, 2008

The Human Body Exhibit


I've been wanting to go to see the human body exhibit since I got to San Antonio in February. For one reason or another I had not been able to go. I'm glad now because my aunts were also very interested in going so we all went on Tuesday night. I have been debating whether I should take the kids or not. At the last minute, I decided that there would be no harm for them to see what we are made of. So we all went!

We got there at approximately 6:15 p.m. They told us that we were not going to be able to go in until 8:15 p.m. At first we were a little bummed, but it all worked out afterall. We spent those two hours exploring the rest of the museum. Time flew, as a matter of fact. The kids weren't ready to stop playing and exploring.

The first things we looked at in the Human Body exhibit were the bones. Luke's first comment was, "Mama, bone. dog. woof, woof!" Natalia kept saying, "We are gross inside. This is gross." --At the end of the exhibit, we asked Carson what his favorite part was and he answered, "I liked to see what I looked like in Mama's tummy, when I was a little baby." I'm so glad I took them. It also gave me an opportunity to show Natalia healty bones versus sick bones. She asked, "Mama, why is this bone not healthy?" I jumped at the opportunity and said, "well...because they wouldn't drink their milk." Natalia quickly answered, "Mama, I'll drink all my milk, okay?" Got lots of thumbs up from people standing behind her :0). I should have said, "they didn't drink their milk nor did they eat their vegetables!"

Visiting Austin, Texas

Taking advantage of the fact that my aunts were still here from Guatemala and that they had never been to Austin, Texas before, we decided to take a little trip for the day. It was such a fun trip. We started our trip on Sunday, May 18th at approximately 1:45 p.m. (right after David went back to Beaumont). David's parents were kind enough to let us keep their Expedition so that we had enough room for everyone to be comfortable. The kids were little angels. Carson and Natalia sat all the way in the back. Natalia listen to her ipod the entiere way there and back and I let Carson listen to mine.

First, we decided to stop at the Texas Capitol. I was surprised that even the kids enjoyed the little tour of the Texas Capitol. The building is beautiful and is very neat to walk trhough some of the sigificant spaces. We also got to see a few of the wonderful monuments around. I think the part that the kids enjoyed the most though, was to climb up and down those stairs!


After all that walking, we began to get hungry so we went to eat at Freebirds. Now, that was yummy!








By then, it was time to head on to Lady Bird Lake to get on the boat for a little tour and the main attraction of the day,"Bat Watching". But, we still had a few minutes to kill, so we walked around the lake. There were tons of people riding their bikes, running, walking their dogs... It was so much fun. Later we went back to the boat and got ready for the tour. The bat watching kept the kids attention!





We ended the day with a Starbucks drink, of course!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Can you say SPOILED?



Natalia has been asking for an ipod for a long time. Well, I mean, for a while. She asked Santa for an ipod for Christmas and was very disappointed when she didn't get it. I explained to her that Santa brings gifts that are age appropriate and an ipod is not appropriate for a 5 year old. I think she was okay with that answer until we went to San Antonio in January and saw her little cousin (4 years old) with an ipod. Natalia asked her who had given the ipod to her and Ashlyn answered: "Santa." (Great!) Natalia quickly came to me and demanded a good explanation. I had to tell Natalia that before Santa brings them gifts, he always asks us if the gifts he is thinking about bringing are good with us...anyway, I really don't know how I got out of that one, but I think I did!

Well, now that she is much older (6 years old now, not 5- six months later than when she asked Santa for the ipod) :0), we decided to buy her one for her birthday and get the credit for it. Believe me, I've justified the purchase. I have several reasons why she "NEEDS" an ipod. ~None good enough for Dave, but he went along with it (I guess, to keep the peace). On Sunday, before Dave had to go back to Bmt., we gave her the ipod. Well...DAVE gave her the ipod while I took pictures. Natalia couldn't believe that DADDY had gotten her the ipod. All eyes were for Daddy only (Mama - well, I don't think she even realized I was in the room.) She was so excited when she saw her own pink ipod. For the rest of the day, all she wanted to do was to listen to her music and sing from the top of her lungs. Natalia stopped singing for a second and turned to Daddy and said: "Daddy, I sound just like the girl singing that song!" (LOL)

Happy 6th Birthday Natalia!



Natalia turned 6th on Monday, May 19th. To celebrate, we had an "art party". It was a blast. The kids made a flower picture frame, they worked on some scratch art and also were able to create a drawing or card with markers and stamps. They were so entertained that we barely knew they were there. The adults were able to participate too! They were given a container of Play Doh and were asked to make anything. I was surprise to see how creative everybody was. We all had fun! After eating pizza, fruit and vegetables, we sang Happy Birthday and all the kids got to decorate their own cupcake. Even some adults added a little bit of a decoration to their own cake. Now, that was a hit. Later, Natalia opened her gifts. ~Wow, what a great birthday party she had. I can't believe she is six!!!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

100 Miles

As some of you might remember, I started running again on March 18th. Well...on Sunday, I reached my 100 milestone! Nike+ sent me a certificate to celebrate my accomplishment :0).

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Now what!?


This morning I received a phone call from my mom to let me know that while Luke was running, he fell down and bumped his face on the step....


Sunday, May 11, 2008

I did it!


I showed up and ran the scenic 4 mile run! I almost missed it. We got to the start line approximately 3 minutes before the run began. Just enough time for me to put my race number bib on my shirt and the chip on my shoe. It was a great run though. Lots of hills and I mean, big hills. I had not even thought about it until I was talking to a co-worker on Friday and she said : "Erika, you know scenic means big hills, right?" Didn't do great, but I crossed the finish line running. What a wonderful experience. I definitely will be doing this again. The kids had fun watching me participate, although they were wondering why I had taken so long to come back. When all was set and done, out of the blue, Carson whispered in my ear "Mama, I think you are a good runner." Natalia also said to me: "Yea, I think you won." I really don't know how she figured that out since there were about 150 people who crossed the finish line before I did :0)~ 
  Here we are at the finish line!

A few pictures of the scenery (of course, not taken by me :0)


After the run, since my aunts from Guatemala had never been to Wimberley, we took advantage of our trip.  So we went to a few of the many cute shops around town. The kids behaved nicely which is always a plus. We ended the day by eating lunch at Rudy's.  

  
  

When we got home, Tia Naty gave me a pedicure and Tia Lety a manicure. ~Wow, what a treat!