Our Texas "Vacation"

The kids and their cousins

I call this a "vacation" because this week doesn't feel like much of a vacation. We planned to spend 2 weeks in Texas visiting Abe as he does two audition rotations for residency (in other words, a month long interview). We have been waiting for this trip for a long time and we were so happy that things worked out and everything turned out the way we planned. Some of Abe's family is in Dallas so we were super excited for an excuse to visit them. It had been way too long. So each weekend we spent in Dallas and the week days we spent following Abe around.

Julia taking the easy ride.

Ethan was a little overwhelmed by his cousins at first but he got over it relatively quickly. When we met Zeb and Leah at the airport Ethan was very quick to tell them "I don't like to be touched." He has just started using this phrase and I guess it's my fault. Recently he has been a little rude when people talk to him or want to give him a high five. When I asked him why he said that its because he is shy. We all know that this isn't really true but that is beside the point. So I told him that instead of just turning away that he could say "I'm shy". Instead he decided to go with the phrase "I don't like to be touched." He has definitely gotten into being too cool for kisses and wipes them away when he gets them. He can even be totally distracted by t.v. but he will still unconsciously wipe them away. So it became a game to try and give him kisses that didn't get wiped off. He still doesn't understand girls and their sillyness. Being one of 2 boys amongst 8 girls he was way out numbered. Sometimes he would just watch them from a distance trying to figure out the game and what in the world he was suppose to do. He has some concerns about people laughing at him so he doesn't like playing "silly" games when other people are around. At home one day he was pretending he was Diego, from his favorite tv show, and we were all different characters so he would call us by the characters name. In the car he said, "Mom, we have to stop playing this when we get to the store or people will know that we are playing a silly game." So when the girls were playing mermaids in the pool he couldn't quite decide if he wanted to play the game. At first he was taking the logical approach and when the girls would start screaming about something he would say "Girls, girls, girls, there are NO sharks in this pool" finally he decided to join them. But first he said "Mom, will you please not laugh at me if I play mermaids with the girls?" Of course I agreed but then he had to ask every other adult around to make sure they wouldn't laugh either. He is such a character. We had such a great time hanging out with family, eating great food, and watching the kids have a great time. We sure hope that we end up around here for residency so we can visit more often.

Ethan and Maren had the best time playing together. Maren was the only one willing to rough house with Ethan and allowed him to tie her up with his rope. I guess in return he was willing to play hair dresser.

Thankfully this brush doesn't get tangled in hair easily.

After a weekend in Dallas without Abe we went down to San Antonio to meet him and see where he had been for the last month. San Antonio was a fun place with lots of fun things for us to do. The roads are really confusing and I felt like I may never find my way around but it was definitely nice to be able to have lots of options of things to do. And to make things even better Abe ended up not having to work that week so it was like a real vacation. The heat was pretty overwhelming but we survived and were able to get out and do a lot despite the heat. We also didn't have the best sleeping arrangements since we just stayed in the extended stay where Abe had been staying. It was one room with a fridge and microwave. Unfortunately, that meant that once the kids went to bed we really couldn't do anything to make noise and we pretty much just hung out in the bathroom area so the kids wouldn't see us and want to stay awake. So we were definitely ready to upgrade to a bigger hotel once we got to Killeen.

Day 1 we checked out the riverwalk in downtown San Antonio

The kids loved the boat ride down the river.

The next day we headed to the zoo nice and early to beat the heat. It wasn't a big zoo but it was really pretty and well landscaped and the animals seemed so close. We didn't make it through all the exhibits but it was fun.

Ethan having so much fun. Actually he was but he refuses to smile for pictures. Which is fine with me as long as he isn't running away.

They had a little petting area where the kids got to pet the goats. The kids loved it!
Any time we asked Taylor if she was ready to leave she would say "No, I brushin'" She really loves doing some chores.
This goat starting pooping right as Taylor went to pet it and she was fascinated by the whole process. I wasn't going to put this picture in the post but Taylor saw the other goat pictures and kept asking to see the poop.

Possibly the only picture of Ethan smiling. I had to catch him coming out of his hiding spot to capture it.
Right down the street from our hotel, on base, was another house, like a Ronald McDonald house, that I stumbled on while running. They had an amazing play area with bikes and all sorts of stuff. The kids had such a great time. It was sad we didn't find it until the last day.


Downtown also has a nice Children's Museum. The kids had such a good time and didn't want to leave.

We also walked around the San Antonio Temple, which was just beautiful and went to several parks and found some good restaurants and shopping centers. We definitely felt like we could see ourselves living there. Not to mention the fact that Abe loved his month in the hospital there. So we will keep praying that we end up where we are suppose to be, and hopefully that is San Antonio.

After another weekend in Dallas we came back to Killeen,TX and it was hard adjusting to a totally different type of base. The base in San Antonio was small but the city was large. In Killeen the base is very big but the town is really small. There were no worries about getting lost but we were struggling to find things to do while Abe goes to work. It didn't help that Abe had to work and we only had one car so we always had to be around to get him. I can sum up everything we did with these 2 pictures.

We found a pretty unexciting park outside of town.

And there was an arcade at the mall that was thrilling, can't you tell?

Needless to say the kids and I aren't all that excited about the possibility of moving here next year.

Before we left we got to spend one more night with family. Josh and Carol were sweet enough to watch the kids so Abe and I could sneak out for dinner. It has been way too long since we got to do that. Ethan was so sad when it was time to go. He had such a great time with all his cousins. See Carol's post for pictures of the kids at their house. I'm pretty bad about pulling out my camera too :)

We survived the flights back and honestly I'm very thankful for how good the kids were on the flights. It's not easy to keep them entertained and by the end of the trip I felt like I should have gotten a standing ovation for my hard work. There was a cute old man that had been making faces at Taylor and as we got off the first plane he patted my shoulder and said "you are doing a good job with those kids." It was pretty cute. We are happy to be home and back in one place for a while but we do miss the fun of vacation. And we can't wait for Abe to come and join us at home in 2 weeks.