San Antonio

I haven't downloaded the photos yet, but we had a great time in San Antonio. We had a pretty full day on Friday, despite being up really late Thursday night trying to deal with disgusting insects in our camper. We visited the Missions Visitor Center and Mission San Jose- one of several (re-built) Spanish missions in San Antonio. The chapel there is still used as a Catholic church today. We plan on making more trips to San Antonio to visit the other missions and have the kids complete their Junior Ranger booklets. After that we went to the Botanical Gardens where they had a new exhibit based on Bug's favorite: Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego. The butterfly bushes indeed had butterflies all around them and I am wondering if I'll ever find the time and a place in our garden for a couple. We went back to the camper where I at least took a siesta. We bought dinner at the KOA campground we were staying at so we could hurry into the rec room we had reserved to finally watch part 2 of the two-part Doctor Who that we saw part 1 of just before we moved back to the States. To end the day, we went and splashed around in the campground swimming pool for a little while before heading off to bed.

Saturday we spent the whole day at Fiesta Texas Six Flags- an amusement park. Tartan and Kyrie rode a couple of the rollercoasters and the rest of us opted for the more mild rides. I did go on the Wile E. Coyote\Roadrunner coaster with Kyrie, but that's about as exciting as I can take. That and the log ride. The river raft ride was interesting. Aidan and I got fairly wet, but Kyrie and Abigail got utterly soaked. Alex was barely touched- much to his satisfaction. They went with Tartan: he and Aidan got pretty wet, the girls were soaked, and Alex escaped again. I don't know how he managed. Even Kayleigh was able to enjoy a couple of rides. On the Scooby Doo Haunted House ride you get a laser gun to shoot at targets during the ride. I think she really enjoyed pressing the trigger to hear the funny sound it made. We enjoyed a couple of the musical performances that they have several times during the day. The girls went up to say a few words in the mike at the country music show, but you couldn't really hear them. I suspect they've had some kids scream into the mike so they turn it way down. The one-hit wonders show and the other "oldies" medley show were fun and all three girls went to dance with the performers and Abi got microphone-time again which really pleased her. Kayleigh was really tired by then and just stood there, but she gave the gal a big hug at the end so that was cute. I had forgotten to charge the camera battery so I think it had died before then. We do have pictures with some of the characters at the park, like Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, and Wonder Woman. Hopefully I'll eventually post a few. We bought a few souvenirs just as the park closed at 8pm and then started the drive back home. Our church had their first Sunday at Kaufman elementary school and we wanted to be there for it. It went very well and without a hitch. We look forward to seeing God make use of all that room we have now.

This weekend we're going on the boy scout family campout with Alex's new troop. The weather's supposed to be good. We didn't feel any of the effects of the sudden hurricane (Humberto) that developed in the gulf. It was a compact storm, so it didn't reach as far inland as we are, but people in Beaumont and Port Arthur are without power.

Time to get the kids up for our school day followed by hurried shopping and packing for the weekend!

Trusting in the Lord,
Naomi for the Colliers