SAN ANTONIO: HIGH LOW WRAP UP

I feel like this afternoon is the first really spare moment I've had in a week or so.  I actually have some choices in how I spend my time.  Sort of.  I still have four precious and demanding little people that have a lot of needs.  Which is as it should be in this season.  Here's the rest of our San Antonio trip.  (Click here to see the first San Antonio post.)

High:  We ate out at some pretty great restaurants.  Saturday night took us to the Sea Island Shrimp House, which was tasty and quite kid friendly - though we were a spectacle, as usual.  The kids enjoyed a rousing pre-dinner game of Simon Says.  And everyone asked if we had two sets of twins.




Sunday night we headed to the Riverwalk and ate at Acenar.  Super yum.  We sat on the patio and enjoyed not disturbing all the people eating in the air conditioning inside, in peace.  John made sure Violet did not end up with salsa on her head.



High:  We managed to get pretty cute family pictures on the Riverwalk before our dinner arrived.

High:  Walking the Riverwalk.  It is beautiful, and I love the architecture, people and atmosphere.  Though we have been several times, it just doesn't get old.

Ducks in a Row.

Low:  Walking the Riverwalk with all the kids.  To be fair and positive - they did really well.  However, it kills a teeny, teeny, teeny bit of the fun when you are navigating two double strollers as well as wrangling two four year olds.  Again - they all did pretty well.  As we headed toward the car, the four year olds rebelled and wanted into a stroller which forced the two year olds onto the dads' shoulders.  Thankfully, this did not have to suffice for long.

Low:  John left the sunglasses pictured above on the top of our van as we drove back to the house.  We heard them slide off.

High:  We stayed in a great deal of a house with four bedrooms and plenty of space.  Everyone had a great time there.

High:  Catching up with Brian and Steph is such a blessing.  God gifted us with their great friendship back in college, and it has been fun to see the ways that he continues to work in all of our lives.  (We went to the lake with them last summer and spent time at their place two years ago.)  Steph looks good with twins.

Low:  Bella has a thing with locking doors.  I asked her to please not lock anymore doors - please, just that morning.  Low and behold, she managed to lock the babies into the master bedroom.  They had been napping in there, but we were tipped off when we heard crying and tried to go get them.  Thankfully, Brian was able to quickly whittle a wooden skewer to pick the lock.  It was funny, as well as really frustrating.  Also, I don't think the twins thought it was funny.

High:  When we stopped for lunch on our way home from San Antonio, John pulled this fortune out of his cookie.  We laughed, since our life normal life does not exactly feel like sunshine and relaxation.



Then we walked out to the car and realized that the sunglasses were still on the roof, wedged under the luggage rack.  So that was a sweet gift.  I guess we really were headed towards sunshine.

As always, coming back from any kind of trip involves re-entry.  Ours hasn't been too bad other than the fact that we are exhausted from our terrible sleeping that is unfortunately continuing.  I guess I am finally gaining empathy for parents who go through a lot of sleepless nights.  It is flat out no fun, but I am hoping and praying that God will continue to sustain us and bring us through this.  He certainly knows what is best for us, and apparently, I need a tall dose of empathy.

SAN ANTONIO: HIGHS & LOWS: SEA WORLD

Last night we pulled our little train into our little station of the world, which definitely feels good.  We spent a long weekend in San Antonio with some of our long time besties, which is always refreshing and fun.  I'm breaking this trip into two posts, both with highs and lows - this one will focus on Sea World and getting there.

High:  We love getting out of town, and it came at a good time.  The travel went pretty well, and when we arrived, we were welcomed by some of our very favorite people.  Seeing them and catching up on life and making new memories is always worth the trip.  (Brian is doing an excellent unintentional photobomb here.)

Low:  San Antonio is far away from Little Rock.

High:  Sea World is amazing.  Seriously.  There are a few things in life that always make me cry in life.  Here's a quick list:  Fireworks at DisneyWorld.  Baptisms at church.  The Olympics.  And Shamu.  Gets me every time.



It was so fun to see how much the kids were transfixed by all the shows we saw.

Our girls really are at the perfect age for this to be the perfect park for us.  It really is geared more towards smaller children, which was so nice.  They loved the rides, which was a shock coming from Bella, and there was a fantastic play area/splash pad that they heartily enjoyed.  So heartily that I couldn't take many pictures for fear of losing the other child.  (I was so nervous that Bella was going to scream on the Shamu coaster, but- she didn't, though she does look nervous.)

Other Highs at Sea World:  Getting to see the dolphins up close - though the girls were confused all weekend on whether an animal was a dolphin, a whale, or Shamu.




This walrus that was a part of the Sea Lion Show did sit ups at one point.  It is AMAZING what all they can train animals to do.  Truly.



We fed sea lions.

Low:  The hairless cat in the Pets Ahoy Show.  The show was amazing.  The hairless cat was a little creepy.

High:  I love family fun times, when being together is what makes it great.  Especially when we can share it with friends.  It is not always easy - but it is always worth it!

Low:  We got pretty awful sleep this weekend.  Our nighttime adventures included, but were not limited to-

  -  Crying babies

  -  Coughing

  -  Getting under the fitted sheet

  -  Finding out that someone we loved had died (more on that in another post)

  -  More coughing

  -  More crying babies

  -  Night sweats

High:  We went both Saturday and Sunday to Sea World, and Sunday was not very busy, which was such a blessing.  It allowed us to get this amazing picture with all of the Sesame Street characters.  Please notice that Bella is unhappy, and good luck finding Violet.  She's there - I promise.  This is probably one of my new favorite pictures ever.

Low:  As we were leaving the park on the second day, we decided to stop for a quick treat.  John said to find the least messy thing possible.  I managed to still pick the messiest thing possible.  Sorry, babe.

That wraps up this edition of San Antonio Highs and Lows.  Tune in tomorrow for more trip deets!

TWINS 3 MONTH PICS BY MAIN STREET STUDIOS

Way back when the babies were three months old, my amazing photographer brother in law took pictures of them.  I recently got the pictures and am thrilled to share them here.  Luke does a "Baby's First Year" program where you take pictures at Newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and a year.  I've done it with both Lily and Bella.  It's funny, because when we were thinking about adopting from Ethiopia, I was really sad that I wouldn't have all same pictures, since I frame the Baby's First Year in our entry way.  It's been a sweet gift to have this time of their lives with them, and I am so thankful.

Luke did mention that the 3 month age is just about the hardest to photograph.  They can only sort of hold their heads up, and their smiles can be harder to come by.  In spite of all that, he got some great shots.

Here's Violet.  She goes first, because she's the older twin.

That last one with her almost smile is my favorite.  She is turning out to be such a social, sweet girl!  We did get a couple with the babies together, but they were less than cooperative.  Violet kept trying to fall asleep when they were laying on their backs.  Still cute, though!




And here's Mr. William, our handsome little man.







His little vest outfit was cousin True's, and I just love it on him!  Thanks, again, Main Street Studios!  We are in love with your work, as always.  Thanks for capturing this time.

(For other pictures of our family by Main Street Studios, click here!)

TIPS & TRICKS FOR GETTING OUT THE DOOR WITH KIDS

We are about 3 weeks deep into the fall routine, with this week being the first one where Bible study was added to the mix.  So, it is safe to say that I generally know what we will be dealing with in the mornings on our way out the door.  Here's my list of tips and tricks for getting out the door with kids.

1.  Good preparation starts the night before.

Find the bags.  Where could they have possibly gone in the short hours since the last time you used them?  These are not mysteries that you want to be unraveling in the morning.  I speak from massive amounts of experience.

Make the drinks.  Why does it take us almost two drinks a piece to be able to leave the house?  Who knows, but it does, and making them the night before is easier.

Lay out the clothes- with or without help from your children.  That way there is the slight chance that there will be no fighting over what clothes to wear.  Or which shoes.  Or which bow.  Or which socks. Sorry - your Hello Kitty socks do not look good with your flip flops and floral dress.

If you forget to do all of this the night before, do not panic.  It will not help.  Just head to tip number two.

2.  Get up on time.  Or ahead of on time if you did not do all of your night prep-work.  Since I can barely ever do this, I really can't talk about it.  Usually I wake up to babies crying in my room.  Or a smelly two year old saying she needs her pull-up changed or granola bar unwrapped.  But, I imagine that if you are able to get up on time, it would be really helpful.

3.  Rope any other possible adult in your house into helping.  Have your sister-in-law move in.  She is very helpful in the morning.  Ask your husband to help buckle babies.  And/or feed them.  And/or change their diapers.  And/or get them dressed.

4.  If no other adults are available, as - let's face it - is often the case, start praying.  You will need all of the strength and patience that God can give you to face it alone.  Everyone is depending on you!

5.  Since you need help, try motivating your children to help you.  Have your four year old give a bottle, if she's willing - though it may be a little hit or miss if your house is like mine.  Tell your kids how much fun they will have where ever you are headed.  Sometimes, when the clouds part and angels sing, the kids may actually decide to be helpful and dress themselves without complaint.

6.  Give up being on time.  Once you have less regard for this point, it makes everything else less stressful.  In all truthfulness, I really have had to slow down in the morning a bit and realize that I don't want my children to remember always rushing to get places.  There is rarely an emergency, and I've got to quit acting like there is one.  The world will be okay if I am there 10 minutes later than I wanted to be.  It won't always be like this.

So, those are my (snarky) tips for getting out of the house.  My next tip is for when you are out and about.  Should you ever find your children reluctant to leave someplace fun - have your friend's kid pull the fire alarm.  Ya'll.  This happened at lunch yesterday, and let me just say that it was one of the most epically crazy moments ever.  Here's what I learned - 1) My kids are not yet great under pressure.  Neither are most of my friends' kids.  They all seem to cave a bit or a massive amount.  2)  Schools take fire alarms very seriously, and apparently, they are not easy to turn off, because even after 10 minutes of trying to get out the door, the alarm was still going off, with all of the students standing outside of the building, even though we had alerted them all to the fact that one of our number had pulled the alarm.  3)  The fire alarm will make you all quickly go crazy.  By the time we actually got out the door, we were all crying.  It was just too much.

Hope this helps all you other parents out there in the thick of it.  I think I will probably curl up and die when I have to actually get my children to school on time.  Lord, come quickly.  Maybe before Kindergarten next year.