Decorating Pumpkins

All holidays are so much more fun the older Ethan gets. He's really excited about Halloween this year! We went to Michael's the other day for one of their family activities and he got to decorate a craft pumpkin with Chris and I. I'm not sure who had more fun, Ethan or Chris!

Last year he was pretty scared of the Jack-o-Lantern Chris carved--I still remember the nightmares he had, waking up in the middle of the night because of the "pumpkin." This year he's all into the jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins, but terribly afraid of skeletons and ghosts.

Japanese Tea Gardens

Right across from Brackenridge Park is this awesome little Japanese Tea Garden. Ethan loved seeing all the koi fish in the pond, climbing up the stairs, crossing bridges, and getting sprayed by the waterfall. I'll admit... the waterfall sounded really impressive--60 feet tall--but no waterfalls here can compare to the ones we saw in Hawaii! The gardens were pretty though, and we had a lot of fun! The only confusing part is that when you enter the garden, the entry way says it is the "Chinese Tea Garden," but everywhere inside, it calls itself the Japanese Tea Gardens! Hmm...

Brackenridge Park

So, in my quest to find all of the fun places to take kiddos in San Antonio, we stumbled upon Brackenridge Park. It's actually right behind the little miniature train that Ethan got to ride last week. It's HUGE! You can do everything there: hiking, biking, fishing... and of course... picnicking and playing at the playground (a personal favorite of Ethan and mine). They have this huge pavilion that is designed in the same style as the Spanish missions here that is great for having a quick lunch. Then Ethan got to check out the playground!

Train Ride!

I haven't been able to find a good guide book of kiddo things to do here. I was super excited about one book I found, but three of the four activities we tried to do weren't even there any more! (I was super bummed about the diary farm adventure I planned. I was supposed to have fresh ice cream--it was not operating anymore.) so I've decided to just randomly pick out parks and places and check them out myself.

Last week I decided to check out a park that is next to the San Antonio zoo. I figured if the park was a bummer, we'd head into the zoo. The park was great! Ethan's favorite part was the train...He got to take his first train ride!

Ethan, the conductor.

Sea World!!

Seeing as how we're so close to Sea World, we've decided to take full advantage of the fun there! Here are some pictures of our most recent trip!

Ethan and Daddy in the kiddie wave pool. Once Ethan got in, he didn't want to get out at all. In fact, we stayed there until the lifeguards blew the whistle to close the pool at 8pm that night!

Getting ready to watch the Pirate Show in 4D. Ethan loved it for the most part, but when the bees and bats "came out" of the screen at us, he really freaked out! I had to take the glasses off of him for a minute so he could see they weren't real. He started calling them his "magic glasses" after that.

Closer to a Home!!

Just thought I post a few updated pics of our house. We went by last week and were so excited! All the brick was up, the dry wall was not only up, but the texture, paint, and molding was done too! Even the lights were up... although we're going to be replacing those with ceiling fans. We actually drove by yesterday after church, and the tiling was over 1/2 way done...but I didn't have the camera with us. We're getting closer! So exciting! (Hotel style living is not for us!)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Okay, so we didn't actually see any lions, tigers, or bears, but we did visit an African Wildlife Safari (done in true Texas style!) here a few days ago. You get a bag of food as you enter, and you can drive through the preserve and feed the animals from your car. We got to see and feed zebras, bison, ostriches, gazelle, wildebeests, springbok, kudu, bongo, watusi, and all sorts of other animals I'd never even heard of. We also got to see giraffes, a rhinoceros, and camels, but didn't get to feed them. Ethan had an absolute blast! He got to "help" Daddy drive through the preserve (meaning he completely took over), and climb back and forth between my seat and Chris', depending on which side of the car the animals came to.

At this point in the safari drive, Ethan had decided he was a proficient driver and told Daddy "Hands off, I drive by myself." He was pretty insistent too...until we almost drove into a tree

This American Bison decided he was hungry...but not for the food we had for him.

Planes!

There's an area here that has about 20-25 Air Force planes on display outside in a huge field. Ethan and I sometimes go there early in the morning (before it gets too hot) to get some energy out. He absolutely loves looking at the planes--I love that he gets to run, yell, and get rid of a lot of energy!

This is his favorite plane. Ethan calls it the "sharing plane." I'm guessing it's because there are two cockpits, so two pilots, but only one plane? I love how his mind works sometimes!

He has to stop and "fix" the wheels on every plane, every morning!

San Jose Mission

Since we were able to find a house in such a relatively short period of time, we were able to do some sight seeing with Chris before he had to start work. I really wanted to check out the missions here--the Alamo and the other 5 missions. The day we went to see the Alamo didn't work out too well. It was about 103 degrees that day, and after walking around the River Walk, we decided to come back to the Alamo another day.

The other day we did make it to the San Jose mission. It was fun to get out and enjoy our time together. Ethan loved not having to be in a car seat driving around to check out houses!

The San Jose Mission

Ethan decided that he was big enough to push the stroller all by himself.

This little lizard was the highlight of Ethan's day!

This is one of the wells there. By the end of the day, the heat and running around had drained Ethan, so he actually asked to be pushed in his stroller. I think this was a first!

We've finally arrived!

Okay, so it's been over a month since I've last gotten on here! It's been super busy here in for the Baldwin family. We finally made it to Texas and finished our house hunting adventure. It actually went pretty quickly. We found a house in about 4 days, and are super excited about moving into it. The only catch is..it's not quite done yet. They've said it will definitely be done by October 9th, but there's a possibility it will be done by the end of September. We're all praying for September.

The novelty of staying in a hotel has definitely worn off for Ethan. When we're out driving now, he'll first ask if he can go to Ethan's "new house." When I explain that they're still building it, he will then tell me it's time to go to Nana's house (grandma's house where we were for most of the summer). I then explain that we will go there as soon as our house is finished (to pick up Inca). Usually, this then leads to a melt down unless I can find a fire engine, bus, truck, or tractor to distract him. He's definitely having a hard time understanding this move. But, we've already found a new story time program at the library, made it to our new church, and try to find something super fun to do every day.

Our backyard! Thankfully, they are going to put sod down when the construction is finished. The realtor said it's very unusual to have this many trees in a backyard here where we live. I know we're all going to enjoy the shade they will provide!

The front of our house.

Daddy and Ethan walking down the hall....I think.

The family room going into the kitchen.

Ethan looking out of his future bedroom window.

The great thing about picking out a house that isn't built yet is that we got to make some changes in the interior decor. We got to check out wall paint color, faucets, and all that other good stuff. My highlight was being able to pick out the flooring throughout the house. Since we've got Inca, I was pretty excited about this--no carpet! Well, we'll still have carpets in the bedrooms, but not in the living areas, dining area, hallways, and study. I picked out a tile flooring that I really liked for those areas. (Inca is just not going to be in the bedrooms.) We also got to pick out the appliances, which Chris was excited about. He got to get his gas stove, and I got a microwave that mounts above the stove, to save counter space. It's been a lot of fun!