happy father's day!

Okay, so this really has nothing to do with Father's Day. It just happened to fall on the same day...


Some dear friends were passing through town, and the only time we were able to connect was Sunday lunch. We still decided to go for the manly meal - steak and potatoes - and brave the restaurant crowds with our own little crowd of 10. We made it through the meal with only one broken dish, lots of peanut shells, and full tummies!

Cryste and I used to rock our babies together in the nursery at church during worship. Our 'babies' are now 7. Since then, between our 2 families, we've added 3 more! They were forced to move on a few years back... we still touch base every now and then (but not often enough).

Memories!

rockin' rabbit

I am an equal opportunity mother... I try to make sure that each child has the same opportunities as those siblings before them. Katie and Anna each took dance classes and had the chance to perform in a recital. I was happy with their experiences at Dance Plus, so it was only natural for Bethany to attend there as well.


Katie loved class, but didn't care for the stage.

Anna did not enjoy class, but was a shining star at the recital.

I was curious how Bethany's experience would play out. She was the youngest in her class, and was easily distracted, but picked up on the moves quickly.








Would you like to see how the recital went?
(this is actually a video clip of the dress rehearsal)

Here are a few of my favorite shots...


...cute little bunny tails,
a little shuffle step,
and a little extra from our littlest entertainer...



















This was the finale. All the big girls had a choregraphed routine, and the little ones were invited to join them on stage. Bethany was the only bunny up there. She observed for a moment, then joined right in! It was hilarious and totally unrehearsed.



btw, Bethany was asked to join the preschool competition team. an honor, yes. worth the time and money at this point in her (our) life? her parents regrettedly declined. we will look for more opportunities in the future. never say never!

cousin fun!

After months of planning, we finally arranged for my niece to come visit. She spent a whirlwind week with us. It was 100% pure girl fun!!!

She arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We went straight from the airport to the Witte museum (it's free on Tuesday afternoons).














From there, we headed home, unloaded, changed clothes, then back out to a pool party. Everyone slept very well that night, needless to say!

Wednesday morning, we took Bethany to her last dance class (recital pics coming soon), then went downtown for some more tourism...

lunch on the Riverwalk, a tour of the Alamo, then $4 raspas (snocones). Poor Josie was not accustomed to our South Texas heat!
















Thursday was Six Flags! Josie had never been to an amusement park before, so it was a real thrill. We rode some rides and then headed to the water park. Fun for all!
















Friday we decided to take things easy. We did escape for a while in the afternoon - I took Anna & Josie to library for a mini-production of "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie", put on by our favorite children's theatre. (I love the picture of the girls whispering to each other.)












One of Josie's wishes for the week was to go to the mall. We spent Saturday morning at NorthStar (home of the big boots). We took her to Build-A-Bear and the Disney store. Look at the smiles!















You might think I'm crazy, but I took the girls straight from the mall to Chuck E. Cheese... filled their tummies and burned off some energy. I got to sit and watch. :)
















Sunday morning - all dressed up for church. Nana was here a few weeks earlier and bought the matching outfits. Too cute!

Last hurrah - Monday morning we caught the free showing of Madagascar at the Palladium Theater. That place is huge!

Straight to the airport from there. It was a great week. Next summer, we're hoping for two!

a favorite person

We starting attending our current church when we moved to SA in the Summer of 2001. Katie was not yet 3 years old. On Sunday mornings, her teacher was Ms. Sharon. It didn't take long for us to realize what a special lady she was. She has since taught Anna and Bethany as well. It takes a certain kind of person to teach a group of wiggly 2 year olds week after week, year after year! Bethany moved up to the preschool class at the beginning of this summer. It was one of those moments where you stop to catch your breath and realize your family is growing up. We're very glad that Ms. Sharon has been a part of that process.

daisies at the garden

We took Anna's Girl Scout Daisy Troop to the San Antonio Botanical Garden to wrap up our first year. They had a series of stations set up for the girls to learn about different aspects of gardening... composting, bugs, planting, plus crafts and stories, of course!

It was VERY H-O-T!

We did a quick stroll through to see all the displays, then headed down the street for some YUMMY cupcakes at the Cupcake Cabin, courtesy of Kate's Frosting.

Did I say yummy? Yummy!