San Antonio Zoo in July--What Were We Thinking?

My mom and I had this great idea to take the kids to the San Antonio Zoo on Monday, July 6th. We had the awesome privilege of keeping Cameron for the day and it seemed like such a good plan--get up early, go to the zoo, come home, rest. Seems simple right? Ha Ha!

San Antonio was blessed with a good amount of rain the night before which left the whole town hot and muggy from about 11 on. Of course, it took us way too long to get out of the house after working around nap times for both of the babies. We got to the zoo about noon and took the kids on the train first. We picked out our seats and waited for the train to leave the depot. There was NO breeze and everyone started to get hot very quickly. Everyone really enjoyed the train ride and the breeze was very welcome. None of us knew that there was a golf course right there in the midst of the zoo and our favorite museum, The Whitte.















































We rented a stroller for Emerson since we didn't have Cameron's and headed to the restaurant in the middle of the zoo. Everyone was hot, thirsty, and hungry. Emerson was starting to melt down, but I really thought that lunch and juice would perk her right up. WRONG!

She cried the entire time we were there and refused to eat anything and would only drink Diet Coke with lots of ice. She loves any drink with ice and as hot as she was, I gave in. Cameron kept looking at her like she had lost it. Ryan tried everything he could to help and make her smile. Even the manager came and checked on us. It was embarrassing. Emerson is NORMALLY very mild manned and super sweet, but being that hot did not agree with her.

We didn't want the zoo trip to be a total loss, so we took Ryan up to feed the lorry's. He did this a couple of months before this and just loved it. I guess he takes after his mom who is a total bird lover! I know that all of you are thinking back to my personal zoo days before Ryan.




My mom stayed with the babies and let Emerson run around a little while Cameron took in the sights from the stroller. Emerson enjoyed the freedom and started to return to her normal self. Cameron decided it was her turn to eat and had another bottle before we back up and went home.





I am thankful that there wasn't a picture of us leaving the zoo. All 5 of us were covered in sweat and absolutely exhausted. All in all, I would say that this was definitely a trip to remember.

Welcome to Abilene, baby Cameron

We are so excited that Cameron is visiting this week. I got to see her first thing this morning when I went to my mom's house to bring Ryan clothes and a toothbrush for today. She was all smiles and totally enamored by Ryan. I am amazed at how good Ryan is with little ones. Emerson pointed at Cameron and smiled and smiled. It was hard to tear myself away and head to the office. We had a bad storm move in this afternoon and Phil let us all leave early. I grabbed Emerson and drove straight home. Of course, I drove right into the storm. We received a tremendous blessing of rain and thankfully no hail. I am so thankful for the rain we have had this last week. The 60+ mile an hour winds have not been so great, but oh well. I took the Jeep to mom's house since she has a carport and I have a gravel driveway. Emerson and I entertained little Cameron for the next hour. She was getting a little cranky and we were a welcome distraction. Cameron scooted ALL over the big room and Emerson thought it was hilarious. We had another fantastic meal at Grandma's house and my Aunt Jill was able to join us. Grandma grilled out chicken, made cole slaw and her wonderful baked beans. We topped it all off with Blue Bell strawberry ice cream.









Emerson worked hard to be on her best behavior, but it was SO hard to share all of her things with Cameron. It was so cute at dinner when Emerson started crying in her high chair. She kept pointing at Cameron. Sweet, innocent Cameron was just swinging away in the swing. Cameron was gracious enough to relinquish the swing and play in the floor. Emerson promptly crawled up in the swing and sat there. She had such a look of relief on her face that you just couldn't help but smile. She sat in the swing for the longest time. About 8:00 it was time for us to pack up and head to the house to get ready for bed. I almost wish we had more storms to that I could leave the office early. I have really enjoyed the extra time with my family today.