Morgan's First Wheel-less Ride

Sunday was a very momentous occasion for granddaughter Morgan.  She rode her bicycle without the training wheels for the first time.  Since she is six, it might not seem like such a big deal.  But it definitely was to her.  She couldn't keep up with Cameron in the past so bike riding was really no fun for her. And it was kind of an ordeal for everyone else too.  She just couldn't make the bike go where she wanted it to go.  Her Dad finally decided that maybe she just needed to give it a try without the trainers.  He showed her how to always start with her foot on the pedal at the top and then he ran beside her the first trip around the court but once she got it down, she was ready to roll and they were off around the neighborhood.  You have to be ready to try something new and this time Morgan was ready.

And she's off!

Retama Park, San Antonio, TX

 Saturday night, we decided to experience something new.  None of us had ever been to watch the horses run at Retama Park.  As an added incentive, parking was $5 but admission was free, and hot dogs and sodas were $.50 plus they had face painting for the kids and a clown.  How can you pass on some inexpensive entertainment?  We didn't plan on doing any betting so it was just for fun.

First we watched the horses come out and warm up.  The first race was for pretty young horses.  They get led out by more experienced horses and walked up and down the track.

Cameron and Morgan got to run around in the open area right next to the track so they could see the horses up close.

And then they were off.  After we watched the first race, we went up in the grandstand so we could see the other side of the track as well.

And they are off!  We watched three races and that was about enough.  There is some down time between each race and it was getting cooler.  We also wanted to check out the face painting.

There were about 30 designs the kids could choose from.  The line wasn't too long and the kids were excited.  You would never know that in this picture.  They knew they needed to sit still and they took that seriously.

Even Morgan sat very still.

This woman was really good.  You can see the dragon beginning to take shape.

Morgan wanted a unicorn.

This is definitely a fire-breathing dragon.

The unicorn turned out pretty well too.

Cute huh?

The kids were pretty excited about their "tattoos".  Too bad they had to get washed off in the shower a couple of hours later.

Santa Bowling

Steve and Helen picked up the kids from school at noon on Friday so they were back in San Antonio for dinner.  Saturday morning we were off to a Christmas party that the Randolph bowling alley put together for kids.  They got their pictures taken with Santa and his elf.

And then we got a family picture with Steve and Helen.  I'm not sure what caught Helen and Morgan's eye but the guys were focused.

Bowling equipment sure has changed over the years.  It's all electronic so Steve got it set up for them to bowl.

This is the screen you see overhead.

Morgan was cheering Helen on.  The place was lit up with Christmas lights.

Morgan has her own unique style.  You can see the bumpers that you can pop up in front of the gutters for kids.  Sure makes a difference.

Cameron can put a little more muscle into his throws at least for the first game.

Steve has done this a few times before.

The scores were not stupendous but fun was had by all.  The bowling had cocoa, orange juice, and donuts for the kids as well as coffee for the adults.  They did a great job.

In case you haven't guessed, Grandma took the photos.

Happy Anniversary

Wow, I am really behind on posting to my blog.  My son and daughter-in-law arrived on Sunday the 16th.  We were expecting them about 10 PM but they walked in at 6:00 PM just in time for dinner.  Seems that they didn't give us their real locations when they called in along the road.  They left Panama City way before dawn.  Anyway we were thrilled to see them.  We did a some Christmas shopping during the week and spent a little time looking at houses for sale.  On Thursday, the 20th, we took them to Cooper's BBQ Steak Nite for their anniversary which was actually on the 22d.  They got married here in San Antonio two years ago.

I think they enjoyed it and we enjoyed celebrating it with them.

Visit with Blogger Susan

On Sunday, I drove out to Fentress TX to visit my friend Susan.  She is a fellow blogger and full-time RVer who is currently working at the Leisure RV Resort.  Susan and Angel, her sweet little white dog, have a large 5th to call home.  I headed out across country following the directions from Hillary the GPS.  It was definitely a cross country back roads trip from New Braunfels on.  It was a pretty gray day with rain in the distance but I didn't actually run into any.

Susan fixed us a fantastic salad for lunch and then took me on a tour of the resort.  It's located on the San Marcos river.  During the warmer months, you would see toobers floating along here.

This lower area is for primitive camping. but there were no tents the weekend I was there.

In addition to full hook-ups for RVs, the resort has cabins to offer.  They are on wheels so, on the rare occasion that the river floods, the hookups can be disconnected and the cabins pulled to a higher location.  These cabins have a separate bedroom.

These cabins are all in one room.

You can also spend the night in a "treehouse" if you want to try something different.

The park has a pool but Susan and I have both seen hot tubs bigger than this although the area around it is nice.  I guess the river gets more use.

There is a nice playground for the kids.  And, although I forgot to take a picture, there is also a large enclosed area for dogs.

We sat outside after our walk and had a really nice visit.  Susan went in to get something and Angel is keeping a close eye on her.

Thanks for a really nice visit Susan.  I enjoyed seeing your park and having a great visit with you and Angel.

Post Script:  I forgot my camera up at Susan's on Sunday.  She had to make a trip to New Braunfels this week so we met at the Fork and Spoon for lunch.  The Tortilla soup and the Tomato Bisque soup was great.  Susan brought my camera and also brought me a cute little box of cake pops and cookies that she made.  Thanks again Susan.

Deck the Halls!

 I am so far behind on posting.  It all started last weekend.  DH decided he was going to put up the outside lights which really surprised me as he normally holds off until the last minute and doesn't get into doing this.  We carried all the outside decoration from the storage building.  He put lights up on the front porch and across the front of the garage.  I put up the wreaths and the pointsettias. And he put the inflatable Harley Santa up in the front yard.  That was it for him.  And the inside wasn't even started.

We don't have a huge tree anymore.  Haven't had a huge one since Gretchen was a puppy and we decided that it would be smarter to put the tree up on a table.  But last year, the tree was a mess.  Some of the lights were on all the time, some flashed on and off like a traffic circle, and some didn't light up at all.  So I decided to take them off and see if I could figure out what was wrong.  It took me over three hours to get them off because those little chinese workers attached them with miniature zip ties instead of the little clips.  Once I got them all off, I found out there were three of those little flasher bulbs on one string.  I replaced them all,  Didn't do a thing....still flashing, solid, and dead.  I tried replacing some more bulbs....nothing.  I finally through them all in the trash and went out and bought two replacement strings only this time I got the clear ones instead of the colored ones.  Well, I had to make another trip and get two more strings of lights because the new ones had the same number of lights but were only two inches apart.  It took almost three hours to restring all the lights because the top half of the tree comes off and the bottom branches fold up so you have to be very careful how you string them.  All in all, I was happy with how they came out but it would have been so much easier to just buy a new tree with the lights already on it.

And then I still had to put all the ornaments on it!  That took me quite a while the next day after I hauled everything out of the closet and downstairs.  Most of our ornaments are from the first few years we were married when we painted ceramic ornaments.  I also made some beaded ornaments and some felt ones.  And then there are the ones my mother and mother-in-law made and some the kids made.   And some we picked up in special places here and there.  So it is definitely our tree even though I have given the kids some of the ornaments they specially liked.

This is a little blurry but you can see all the lights on it.  It glows!

Harley climbed up on the back of the couch while I was decorating the fireplace in the family room.  Hmmm, what's with that?

I think he was a little annoyed because I told him he couldn't play with any of the balls on the tree.

Now I still have all the Christmas presents to buy, some to mail, and some cookies to make too.  I think I will wait until Monday as we are going to have a serious cold front come through and take away all this lovely 75 -80 degree weather we have been having.  Darn.

Tuesday's Travels

Yesterday I met my friend Susan up at Camping World.  She has to have some more work done on her RV and, at Camping World, that usually means at least a couple of days stay.  On the upside, they plug her 5th wheel in and she is able to stay in it.  That's key if you are a full-timer.  After a relaxing breakfast at IHOP, we set out to find something to do for a few hours.  We made a quick stop at Naegelin's Bakery to pick up a few things Susan wanted for her freezer.  Naegelin's is the oldest Bakery in Texas - 144 year's old this year.  It specializes in German bakery items but they have almost everything you can think of, at least on a weekday morning.  One of the things you should pay attention to if you visit New Braunfel's is the murals on the walls of buildings in the downtown area.  They are very interesting and give a great history lesson when you check them out.  Each one is different and this one was on the building on one side of Naegelin's parking lot.

We decided we would go to Gruene and walk around since Angel, Susan's little dog, was with us.  But  then we saw a sign for the Schlitterbaun Christmas Shoppe and decided to check it out.  Angel was happy to wait for us in the truck since the weather was nice and cool.

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 Some of the parking right in front of the Shoppe is reserved for reindeer :).

We walked through the main shoppe out to the patio area first.  It's a courtyard surrounded by small shops and boutiques.  Nice things but a bit expensive.

Each building is unique.  We had the place to ourselves out here.

We also looked through the main shoppe.  They have every Christmas decoration you can think of and lots of decorating ideas.  Of course, RVers really don't need much to decorate their smaller castles do they?

Next we were off to Gruene.  Susan had not been there and I just figured it would be a nice place to walk around.  Angel could also walk around with us.  This Bed and Breakfast is right across from the big parking lot set behind the buildings.  It was cool out but not bad at all walking around.  By cool, I mean mid 60s, not exactly northern winter weather but cool for us.

I didn't take a lot of pictures but we stopped and went in to quite a few stores.  Angel was so good while I waited outside with her that she usually got invited inside as long as there was no food being served.   Winter in central Texas means you still have flowers blooming.  Isn't this pretty?

We stopped at the local coffee shop and Susan wanted to see the Pickle Store next door.  A whole store, just pickles.  The main store is in Boerne and this is the only other place you can get these pickles.

On that note, we made a quick stop at PetSmart and then back to Camping World as it was about 4:30PM.  Guess what?  They were still just chasing down parts for the work.  Susan definitely has more patience than I do.