From Art Lessons to Roller Skating
We did a lot of NEW things this week! I enjoyed an art lesson, went on several nature outings, explored downtown San Antonio, tried some German food, got my hair colored, ate fancy chocolates, attended the San Antonio Temple, learned some new things about my family history, and even went roller skating!!
While searching for some books for my little nephew, Logan, who ended up in the hospital with RSV, a fever of 104 and multiple seizures up in Northern Idaho, Gwen found this book that completely filled her with JOY. So naturally I had to buy it for her. :) Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo.
(Logan - who is Gwen's age - is home tonight from the hospital, but still has a long ways to go in his recovery. Bless his sweet little heart)
Monday evening, Amber gave me an oil painting demonstration. I found it to be very enlightening.
She described to me the importance of covering the canvas with a "wash", to activate the surface, and suggestions on what tone to use depending on what your final product will be.
She "arranged" the outlines of the landscape scene so that the objects would be easier to fill in later with the appropriate colors.
This was how far we got that night - all within about 45 minutes. She is a great instructor, as well as a talented artist. It was hard for me to visualize how the structures and trees would take shape early on in the process, but it all came together so perfectly!
Tuesday, I went in for a basic haircut and ended up getting my hair colored as well! First time getting it colored in a hair salon. Scott has been my hair colorist for years, and I've been very satisfied with his efforts. Mojan, the owner of the salon here in San Antonio, is from Armenia and was very kind and quiet, as well as eloquent in her expertise. She had a great price for a cut/color, so I said okay. It looks great! It's a basic brown, but with a hint of golden tones. I enjoyed getting to know a little about Mojan and her assistant, both of whom lived in Iran for a while, but have been in San Antonio for several years now.
And the view of the beautiful sky in the short walk to and from the salon was lovely, too.
Later that afternoon, we took the girls on a walking trail - part of a lengthy trail of 8+ miles - called the Leon Creek Greenway. During the first 5 minutes of our walk, we counted 22 deer! They are everywhere!
Abby - helping to count them all.
Wednesday was a long and rainy day. We stayed at home all day, but picked up some sushi for dinner. Gwen loves trying to eat with chopsticks, and she loves the pickled ginger! Her favorite thing is the seaweed salad. She is so cool.
Thursday morning, we took photos of Amber and the girls to begin the process of getting them passports. They are coming to visit me in Italy in April, so it was time to get things rolling. This was not an official photo, but a cute one nonetheless!
Then we headed downtown to visit the Tower of the Americas - 750 feet off the ground!
We went up the elevator and then walked around the 360-degree viewing station at the top. It was very windy! Amber felt overcome and mushy as she looked out over the city that she has grown to love so much. They will only be here for a few more months.
I really love San Antonio. Down here there is a sense of inclusion and belonging, plenty of open space to exist, and a generous helping of patriotism and loyalty. Sometimes I find myself getting choked up as well when I see all the flags displayed in all the neighborhoods. And I remember back to when Scott came home from a deployment to Iraq several years ago, landing at Love Field in Dallas to a most generous welcome. The fire trucks at Love Field make a large welcome arch using water cannons as the plane lands and taxis over to their gate. Gets me all mushy just thinking about it.
After we came down from the Tower of the Americas, we played on the nearby playground, called Yanaguana Gardens. They had the most creative structures for the girls to play on!
After we played to our hearts' content, we walked a few blocks over toward The Alamo and ate at a German restaurant for lunch. It's the oldest restaurant in San Antonio! I ordered Vienerschnitzel for the first time. It was amazing! Amber had their classic Reuben sandwich on sourdough.
Then, on our walk back to the car, we noticed a charming chocolate shop called Chocolazzo. So of course we had to stop in and get a few things!
Every chocolate is HAND-painted.
Friday I went to the San Antonio Temple. It was a beautiful temple with stained glass windows all throughout, even in the Celestial Room. It's a smaller temple, so you need to call and make a reservation before you go. I would love to go one more time before I leave San Antonio.
I've been doing a LOT of research for my ancestors in GA, SC, NC, and VA prior to leaving here. I need to know what areas to spend some time so that I can get lodging set up and make a game plan. Here is some of my process:
First, I look on my Ancestry.com tree and look at each branch of the family to see who was born, married, or died in a particular state, such as South Carolina. I make a list showing where they lived.
Then I plot it out on a map, so I can see if there are any "clusters" or concentrated areas that I can perhaps visit.
Once I see an area where either 1) the family lived for a good length of time, or 2) multiple family lines lived nearby to each other, then I start looking into lodging for that area. I've already figured out where I'm going and where I'm staying for the week I'll be in Georgia (Feb 5-13), so right now I'm figuring out South Carolina.
It's a LOT of work and I try to squeeze it in during Gwen's naptime when it's quiet, or at night after the girls have gone to bed. I'm making headway, but sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. But in a good way. I mean, all of this is wonderful. To travel, to research, to learn about my ancestors, to see new places and have new experiences = Wonderful. So I'm not complaining. :)
Saturday we took the girls roller skating for the first time.
Skating was one of my all-time favorite pastimes from about 4th grade through 6th grade, and I've occasionally gone skating here and there through my older years. The place we went to happened to be the closest skating rink to Amber's house, but it left us a little wanting. They charged a flat fee of $12/person no matter their age. I didn't like that. How is a 2 year old going to get as much out of the experience as a 25 or a 48 year old? And then they charged another $5 to rent the little "walker" on wheels to assist those who need it. That was unnecessary.
But all that aside, we prepped the girls pretty good with some videos on YouTube before we went, so they'd know what to expect and and how fun it would be. Abby was so excited to get out there and skate right away! I loved her enthusiasm! She did one full lap around the rink and then she was done. Literally. On the flip side, Gwen was upset at first and didn't want to try. But after she saw me going around and around the rink having fun, she decided it looked fun enough for her as well. She did great! She would have done more I think, but Abby got upset about something and had a big meltdown. Amber ended up taking the girls home while I stayed for another hour or so to get my money's worth ha ha. It wasn't quite as fun by myself, but I got some good exercise in that time and enjoyed getting used to skating again.
Here are some fun videos of the girls and also of me (backwards skating!!):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pDibG4idvP66EMjDA
As for Scott, he's been very busy at work. He was working 6 days a week, but now he's "on call" on Sundays too. There has been a lot of activity for him to assist with and/or monitor with the Saudis, so he's been quite the working man lately. I get to talk to him after his long shift is over around 1:00 a.m. while he's decompressing and before he gets too sleepy to talk. Sometimes he's munching on a PBJ sandwich while we chat, and other times he's full of yawns. Bless his handsome little heart.
While searching for some books for my little nephew, Logan, who ended up in the hospital with RSV, a fever of 104 and multiple seizures up in Northern Idaho, Gwen found this book that completely filled her with JOY. So naturally I had to buy it for her. :) Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo.
(Logan - who is Gwen's age - is home tonight from the hospital, but still has a long ways to go in his recovery. Bless his sweet little heart)
Monday evening, Amber gave me an oil painting demonstration. I found it to be very enlightening.
She "arranged" the outlines of the landscape scene so that the objects would be easier to fill in later with the appropriate colors.
This was how far we got that night - all within about 45 minutes. She is a great instructor, as well as a talented artist. It was hard for me to visualize how the structures and trees would take shape early on in the process, but it all came together so perfectly!
Tuesday, I went in for a basic haircut and ended up getting my hair colored as well! First time getting it colored in a hair salon. Scott has been my hair colorist for years, and I've been very satisfied with his efforts. Mojan, the owner of the salon here in San Antonio, is from Armenia and was very kind and quiet, as well as eloquent in her expertise. She had a great price for a cut/color, so I said okay. It looks great! It's a basic brown, but with a hint of golden tones. I enjoyed getting to know a little about Mojan and her assistant, both of whom lived in Iran for a while, but have been in San Antonio for several years now.
And the view of the beautiful sky in the short walk to and from the salon was lovely, too.
Later that afternoon, we took the girls on a walking trail - part of a lengthy trail of 8+ miles - called the Leon Creek Greenway. During the first 5 minutes of our walk, we counted 22 deer! They are everywhere!
Abby - helping to count them all.
Wednesday was a long and rainy day. We stayed at home all day, but picked up some sushi for dinner. Gwen loves trying to eat with chopsticks, and she loves the pickled ginger! Her favorite thing is the seaweed salad. She is so cool.
Thursday morning, we took photos of Amber and the girls to begin the process of getting them passports. They are coming to visit me in Italy in April, so it was time to get things rolling. This was not an official photo, but a cute one nonetheless!
Then we headed downtown to visit the Tower of the Americas - 750 feet off the ground!
We went up the elevator and then walked around the 360-degree viewing station at the top. It was very windy! Amber felt overcome and mushy as she looked out over the city that she has grown to love so much. They will only be here for a few more months.
I really love San Antonio. Down here there is a sense of inclusion and belonging, plenty of open space to exist, and a generous helping of patriotism and loyalty. Sometimes I find myself getting choked up as well when I see all the flags displayed in all the neighborhoods. And I remember back to when Scott came home from a deployment to Iraq several years ago, landing at Love Field in Dallas to a most generous welcome. The fire trucks at Love Field make a large welcome arch using water cannons as the plane lands and taxis over to their gate. Gets me all mushy just thinking about it.
After we came down from the Tower of the Americas, we played on the nearby playground, called Yanaguana Gardens. They had the most creative structures for the girls to play on!
After we played to our hearts' content, we walked a few blocks over toward The Alamo and ate at a German restaurant for lunch. It's the oldest restaurant in San Antonio! I ordered Vienerschnitzel for the first time. It was amazing! Amber had their classic Reuben sandwich on sourdough.
Then, on our walk back to the car, we noticed a charming chocolate shop called Chocolazzo. So of course we had to stop in and get a few things!
Every chocolate is HAND-painted.
Friday I went to the San Antonio Temple. It was a beautiful temple with stained glass windows all throughout, even in the Celestial Room. It's a smaller temple, so you need to call and make a reservation before you go. I would love to go one more time before I leave San Antonio.
I've been doing a LOT of research for my ancestors in GA, SC, NC, and VA prior to leaving here. I need to know what areas to spend some time so that I can get lodging set up and make a game plan. Here is some of my process:
First, I look on my Ancestry.com tree and look at each branch of the family to see who was born, married, or died in a particular state, such as South Carolina. I make a list showing where they lived.
Then I plot it out on a map, so I can see if there are any "clusters" or concentrated areas that I can perhaps visit.
Once I see an area where either 1) the family lived for a good length of time, or 2) multiple family lines lived nearby to each other, then I start looking into lodging for that area. I've already figured out where I'm going and where I'm staying for the week I'll be in Georgia (Feb 5-13), so right now I'm figuring out South Carolina.
It's a LOT of work and I try to squeeze it in during Gwen's naptime when it's quiet, or at night after the girls have gone to bed. I'm making headway, but sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. But in a good way. I mean, all of this is wonderful. To travel, to research, to learn about my ancestors, to see new places and have new experiences = Wonderful. So I'm not complaining. :)
Saturday we took the girls roller skating for the first time.
Skating was one of my all-time favorite pastimes from about 4th grade through 6th grade, and I've occasionally gone skating here and there through my older years. The place we went to happened to be the closest skating rink to Amber's house, but it left us a little wanting. They charged a flat fee of $12/person no matter their age. I didn't like that. How is a 2 year old going to get as much out of the experience as a 25 or a 48 year old? And then they charged another $5 to rent the little "walker" on wheels to assist those who need it. That was unnecessary.
But all that aside, we prepped the girls pretty good with some videos on YouTube before we went, so they'd know what to expect and and how fun it would be. Abby was so excited to get out there and skate right away! I loved her enthusiasm! She did one full lap around the rink and then she was done. Literally. On the flip side, Gwen was upset at first and didn't want to try. But after she saw me going around and around the rink having fun, she decided it looked fun enough for her as well. She did great! She would have done more I think, but Abby got upset about something and had a big meltdown. Amber ended up taking the girls home while I stayed for another hour or so to get my money's worth ha ha. It wasn't quite as fun by myself, but I got some good exercise in that time and enjoyed getting used to skating again.
Here are some fun videos of the girls and also of me (backwards skating!!):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pDibG4idvP66EMjDA
As for Scott, he's been very busy at work. He was working 6 days a week, but now he's "on call" on Sundays too. There has been a lot of activity for him to assist with and/or monitor with the Saudis, so he's been quite the working man lately. I get to talk to him after his long shift is over around 1:00 a.m. while he's decompressing and before he gets too sleepy to talk. Sometimes he's munching on a PBJ sandwich while we chat, and other times he's full of yawns. Bless his handsome little heart.
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