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.

How does your garden grow?

Today was the last performance of the 2009 Children's Performing Arts Series at the Paramount. I took Ryan to see Dr. Dolittle. This play had an interesting twist and the story was also told using sign language. It was great to see sign language in action as I have been using it with Emerson for about 7 months. Of course, our communication is very limited and not at all like we saw today. Ryan really liked seeing signs that he knew and the performers were great.

My mom was gracious to watch Emerson this afternoon while Ryan and I hung out at the Paramount. Mom told her that she had to wear her hat if she wanted to go outside and lo and behold she had a hat on when I got there. Mom helped me plant 8 pots with various herbs and vegetables. Our ground is so terrible that I can't imagine how much work it would take to have a real garden. My idea is to grow the vegetables in pots so they can have actual soil. Emerson came and helped us too while Ryan looked for sticks to put across the pots to keep the cats out. Oh the joys of country living! I wish that I had my camera with me to show just how dirty Emerson was by the time we came home. We put the pots out in the yard and we will cross our fingers that we will have actual food late next month. For starters we are growing zucchini, squash, egg plant, cucumbers, red bell peppers, banana peppers, flat leaf parsley, & cilantro.

On a side note, Brad brought home a tiny kitten early last night. She is orange with little while feet. She slept with us last night and was quite well behaved. Ryan got up at 6:30 this morning and played with her for two solid hours. Emerson is absolutely in love and wants to carry the kitty everywhere. We keep reminding her only pat pat (not grab by the neck). I will try and get a picture tomorrow (of the kitten) so you can fall in love too.

Soccer Season Begins

Ryan had his first Upward Soccer game today as a part of the Earthquakes. There are only 6 kids on his team now that they are playing 4x4 soccer. It is a different format where there are only four players from each team on the field and no goalie. It is supposed to give the kids a lot more time with the ball and allow them to improve their skills. He had a great time and assisted with the only goal of the game.
Grammy game to watch the game and we all took turns keeping Emerson off the field and feeding her baby cheddar puffs (aka baby Cheetos). Emerson wore her hat today and we were so excited. We have tried working with her to keep it on her head more than 1.5 seconds. She is so fair and we do not want her to get a sunburn. She loved cheering on both teams and spent a good portion of the morning clapping and saying Yeah!