Irish Eyes are Smiling in San Antonio

So......were you ready for St Paddy's Day? We were ready on Saturday and so was San Antonio! All dressed up and ready to stroll.

So where do you go for St Paddy's celebrations.....why the San Antonio Riverwalk of course. Celebrations start on Saturday and go through Monday which is perfect for us. Green, green, everywhere you look it's green!

We arrived in time to see them dyeing the river green. This is the barge doing the work. You can see the man's arm sticking out with a wand on the side of the barge...he is doing the dyeing. Don't worry, all the dye is natural and environmentally safe so no danger to fish or fowl.

As the water taxi's and sightseeing barges cruise by, they spread the color. The checkered flags on the back mean this is a taxi....there is also a sign on the front.

Lots of color here.

The color also gets pumped up and out through the water falls along the shore.

Hmmm....you can tell these ducks have little fear of humans. They built a nest in a temporarily empty flower bed right across from one of the busiest restaurants.

Now some people plan to celebrate with Irish beer.

This group has already started. You can tell that one of the women noticed Steve's green beard right away.

We went down to the Arneson River Theater to listen to the Irish music. There are grassed platforms across from the theater which had lots of spectators besides our little group.

 The dyeing barge came by shortly after.

The waterfall just past the theater was soon very colorful.

We walked through La Villita where there were lots of booths.

It's always fun to walk the Riverwalk. There are flowers everywhere even though they haven't done the spring planting yet.

Ah, St Paddy's Day in San Antonio. Irish eyes were shining here. Hope you enjoyed the day too.

Wall to Wall Six Flags

Ahhhh, Spring Break is in the air. Six Flags is open. It's going to be a beautiful warm day. Should be perfect to go to Six Flags and get some use out of those annual passes. Right??

Getting there was interesting all by itself since La Canterra Parkway was blocked off. No accidents in sight, no construction, what's up with that?  Traffic was backed up for some distance and it was slow going. A couple of vehicles pulled off I-10 to cross over to the frontage road and were promptly caught by an unmarked police van. Bet that is going to cost. We had to go on past the exit to the next one and drive for a ways before we could cross over the highway and back track.  Never did see any reason for the exit being blocked off. Looked like a money making event for the city coffers. Finally made it to the parking lot.....wow, it is really big and very full. It was a hike just to get to the entrance where we had another wait to get through security and then through the check in line.

Steve and Cameron were headed for the Iron Rattler. Not much sense in Morgan and I just sitting there waiting so we headed out to find the more mundane rides as we are not thrill seekers. First stop, the WhistleStop Train Station. Morgan kept asking if she was going to get wet or if there were hills.  No sweetie, you will like this ride and we will get to see the whole park.

We rode all the way around and didn't have to get off at the other stop. Then we were off on foot. Did I mention there were crowds? Oh, bumper cars. I thought Morgan would like those so we got in line and waited.....and waited.....and waited. Goodness, I don't think that the kid running the ride could have moved any slower if he was walking through molasses. After nearly an hour, we jumped in our bumper car and took off with Morgan driving. We careened around the outside of the ring and did indeed get bumped numerous times. But we were moving pretty good too. She loved it.

Next stop, the Merry Go Round. This is Morgan's favorite ride and Grandma likes it too. Ah, a short line too. She was already asking if we could go again before we actually started moving the first time....of course!

By now, we had been at the park for several hours. My phone rang with Steve checking in. He and Cameron had just gotten off the Iron Rattler. Yes, the line was that long. They met us at the Merry Go Round and everyone had another ride.

We had a quick bite to eat and decided to ride the train one more time before heading home. This time we had a twenty minute wait and once we finally got on, everyone had to get off at the next stop. Darn. We wanted to get out of there before the evening traffic snarl and knew we had a long walk to the truck so we were off. This was a very short visit compared to our last two trips but we were all worn out. That was a really long walk back to the truck. 

Next time, everyone will listen to Grandma and we will be there when it opens.....and I will definitely bring some Aleve along. Did you see the crowds lined up at the beach on South Padre?????

Bluebonnet Relay, Basketball, Soccer.....Brownwood TX

Friday Steve and I headed up to Brownwood Tx. He has the kids for Spring Break week and had to pick them up in Brownwood.  All of a sudden, races, basketball, and soccer games all reared their heads and, great Dad that he is, Steve agreed to spend the night there so the kids could play with their Dad watching..  The kids couldn't have cared less as they just want to spend time with their Dad.....but other forces were at work here. Helen had to work so Grandma was elected to provide support....not that I minded of course. So we headed north before 0800, stopped in Marble Falls (our normal halfway meeting point) for coffee and arrived in Brownwood at 1130 AM.

The GPS sure is handy once we hit town so between the name of the event place, Google, and the GPS, we can rest assured we will end up in the right place.

Morgan was first up for the Bluebonnet Races (1st girl on the left in pink). Now Morgan is not into running or athletic competition.....but her mother is a middle school coach so she gets entered anyway.

She made it all the way around the track and she wasn't last and that was all she cared about. Go Morgan!

Now Cameron is another story. He likes to run and he is very competitive.  His Dad used to run a lot (fast and long) and was quite good but Afghanistan did a number on his knees so he had to cut back the running quite a bit. Anyway, Cameron is a mini-Steve (red #3 shirt).

He was trying to pace himself here as he was going to be playing in a basketball tournament right after the races.

After the races, we checked into a motel to be sure we got a room and then we headed 12 miles out of Brownwood to the town of Zephyr for the basketball game. There were two gyms there so fortunately we were early and someone was nice enough to send us on to the "other" gym that didn't have a name on it.

The boys played hard and they won so that added another basketball game to Saturday morning's agenda.

By the time we got back to Brownwood, it was headed towards 7:00PM and everyone was hungry.  So we headed to Underwoods.

Underwood's BBQ is a well known family cafeteria style restaurant. The meal price is based on the meat and the sides, drink, and cobbler come with it. Let's just say we were all very full when we left.

The next morning we had to be at the soccer field at 0745 AM and it was freezing!  I mean bone chilling cold. Hard to believe they have the kids playing when it is 44 degrees, damp, and the wind blowing. Morgan and I stayed in Steve's truck while Cameron played. Steve came back to the car and pulled a couple of extra jackets out to put around the boys sitting on the bench as they were shivering in their light soccer clothes.

Cameron's mom hustled him off to the basketball game right after his soccer game was over. It was back out in Zephyr. Steve and I stayed with Morgan for another bone chilling hour. It never warmed up one single degree. A couple cups of hot coffee helped a little. Morgan's team has improved from the fall session. They all watch the game and seem to understand things a lot better. I'm glad she has the coach she has and we took the time to let him know what a great job we thought he was doing. He was very encouraging when he was giving the girls direction and he has lots of patience. Interestingly, they played the same team as the last time we saw them play. We could tell because they had the same coach as they had last season and he screamed at them the entire game.

Once Morgan's game was over, we headed out to Zephyr.  Another team was still playing so Cameron's game had not even started by 10:30 although we were told it was supposed to start at 1000 and we would be out of there at 1100.

Luckily for Morgan, I had downloaded a kid's book onto my Kindle and brought it along Saturday morning so Morgan had something to do. Cameron's team played really well but so did the other team and they won the game by a few points.

We gathered things up and waited for the boys to have their final huddles, etc., so we could head on back to San Antonio.   Hmmm....all of a sudden we are told that because Cam's team lost, there would be another game in the afternoon against another team that lost.  What?????? The kids were hungry and tired and we still had a four hour drive home. Steve asked Cameron what he wanted to do....Cameron told his Dad he was tired and hungry and he didn't want to play another game. Coach Mom was not real happy with him or us but didn't make a scene that she couldn't win since the kids were in Steve's custody since noon on Friday.

We headed towards San Antonio and both kids were asleep in minutes.

Spring and the Alamo Drafthouse

Tuesday night, we had a new and unique experience.  I guess this was the third time to celebrate my birthday.....I went on an RV trip, came home and had King Cake with my kids and grand kids last weekend, and then my kids got 4 tickets to the Alamo Drafthouse as a surprise. There are three of these movie cinemas in San Antonio, one in New Braunfels, and five other cities in Texas plus 7 in other states. And they aren't just your average movie cinema.

First of all, seats are arranged in rows angled for good screen viewing like any other theater but that's were the similarity ends. The rows are much further apart and in front of each row is a long narrow table. You should arrive early because you will want to check out the menu....yes, menu. In addition to being a cinema, the Alamo Drafthouse is also a restaurant which also serves beer and wine in addition to a fairly extensive menu of food. You pick out what you want and write it on the paper provided. Then you fold the paper and stand it up in the rail at the front of the table. Your waiter will slip in, head down, and get your order. When it's ready, he brings it out to you.  All this is done very quietly as they have a strong policy of no texting and no chatting. Unaccompanied children are not allowed and babies can only come in to specified screenings so it really is relaxing. The rest of my party ordered all ordered different specialty hamburgers but I ordered a barbecue chicken pizza. I think I got the best deal because it was really good and I got mine first.

We saw "3 Days to Kill" with Kevin Costner and it was a good movie. The seats were comfortable and, they had special earphones for those that are hard of hearing. My DH enjoyed those.  All in all, it was a fun experience made even better because the company was great and Helen was smart enough to snag tickets through groupon.

And now, on to a word about Spring. Spring is here right? I mean it was here several weeks ago and we had weather up in the 80s. Then Winter hit again. Spring came back.  Well, I really hope things are straightened out now because I am sick of Winter.

So, I present Spring!

Redbud tree blossoms

Mountain Laurel

More glorious Redbud blossoms

Leftover winter blossoms

Oranges on the neighbor's tree that should have been picked

You guessed it.....Redbud blossoms, hey, they don't last long so you have to enjoy while you can!

Trees budded out

Oak trees in bloom

What the heck?    Google.....I don't even think this is funny.  Winter is over.....stop....stop...stop.

Seriously, I downloaded my pictures from the camera, uploaded them to Google and found this extra picture added to my album when I pulled the pictures into blogger.  Really.....I did not do this!  You may remember once in the past that I had a picture with twinkling colored lights.  I didn't do that either!  Really.

 It is just too cruel.  Winter is over!

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

Is It Time for Lunch? Or Is It Another Birthday?

Birdie let me know she would be heading up from the RGV and arriving on Thursday afternoon on her way west. With only a couple of days in town plus the need to fit in some RV repair, some work on her car, and a computer fix, it was a squeeze to pull everything together for lunch with RV friends in the area. Thursday morning I gave the group a heads up that it would be Friday or Saturday depending on appointments for work to be done and everyone said "just let me know".  Women who RV are generally pretty flexible....you know, all those "jello" plans.

We settled on Friday at 12:30 at Cheddars in Selma. Diana drove down from Austin, Georgia came from the west side of San Antonio, Margareta came from the east side of San Antonio, and MaryJane, Vicki, Birdie, and I were close by.

Birdie showed up for her appointment at Texas RV Supply first thing in the morning with her list of items to be worked on. They got her all fixed up and on her way about 11:00. Of course, some of the speed was because several items on the list decided to work all on their own when the technician gave them a try. Isn't that always the way?

Cheddars gave us a great table in the back, lunch was wonderful, and conversation was even better.

We talked about Mary Jane's month in Florida...she got held up on her return when the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in southern Louisiana was shut down for several days for ice. Diana just returned from a trip to her other home in Cali. Birdie spent several months in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and I just got back from RGV and Corpus Christi.

Georgia and Margareta are nearly recovered from knee replacement surgery in December. And Vicki is still recovering from surgery on her shoulder.

Then we moved on to what's up next. Birdie is heading west for a sweep through the southwest, west, and northwest that will last for most of the summer. Diana, Mary Jane, and I will be heading to Galveston for a Pink FlaminGoes Get Together the beginning of April. Margareta will be heading to Cali in June and Vicki is having a new RV built this summer.  Georgia has some summer trips planned too. And that is just what we know about right now!

Several hours later we all headed out our separate ways. Saturday Birdie had her car at the repair place at an early hour. She picked me up at 11:00 and we headed to west San Antonio to have a friend of a friend work on her back-up computer. Her battery was wedged in wrong and wouldn't hold a charge. Luckily he was able to get it out and it is back to working fine.

After hugs goodbye and see you soon, I waved Birdie on her way.

The Grandkids arrived to spend the evening with us. It was great to see them again. I missed their last visit because I was down in the RGV. We watched some movies, had spaghetti and meatballs, and caught up with each other. It was really nice.

Sunday was my "second" birthday. The kids like to celebrate everyone's birthdays so sometimes we have to work around visiting schedules. This party was a surprise for me. Morgan made me a fantastic birthday card that she thought of and did all on her own without any help at all. Cameron made me one of the very popular rubber band bracelets. He and his Dad found the pattern for this one on a u-tube video and followed the directions to make it.  Pretty neat.

We had a Mardi Gras cake and, as long as you don't have to add any extra years, you can't have too many birthdays. Thanks kids!