"You Bring My Daddy Back?"

Bernie and I try to spend at least one long weekend alone together every year. For a variety of reasons, this didn't happen in 2014. I had been to San Antonio three previous times. It is a city I've enjoyed and wanted to share. I already had mediations scheduled there for the first week in January. Nick was still home from school and was willing to help with Jack and Vivian. Bernie decided to come with me. We extended the trip by one day and turned it into a mini-vacation with work in the middle. We had a great time. It was like having date night for three nights in a row.

Before we left, we prepared the kids as best we could. Since I travel for work, Vivi was fine with me going, but was nervous about Bernie leaving her. She asked me more than once, "you bring my Daddy back?" She seemed fine when we left and was genuinely excited about spending some time with Nick and Grandma.

Our trip to Texas was uneventful and we got in late on Monday night. We were able to rent a Camaro which Bernie dubbed "the Batmobile." It was a far cry from the minivan we parked at the airport in Hartford. We could barely fit our suitcases in the trunk.

The first stop on our agenda on Tuesday was a boat tour of the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk runs 2.5 miles through downtown; connecting hotels, restaurants, entertainment and businesses. We stayed right on the Riverwalk and there was plenty to do within walking distance. In addition to the tours, you can have dinner on a boat, and there is a 24-hour water taxi. The river is 4' at most locations but gets as deep as 18' near some of the locks. It is beautifully done and we were told it was inspired by Venice. They often drain the river for a thorough cleaning right after New Year's Day. We were lucky that cleaning wasn't necessary this year or we would have been looking at a concrete ditch all week.

 

 

Our next stop was the Alamo. Bernie was really looking forward to being there. We took the Battlefield Tour and discovered that what actually happened is not at all like what is portrayed in the movies. I also think it's interesting how differently U.S. History is taught throughout the country. When I took it, the majority of the class time was focused on the American Revolution. We didn't spend much time at all on the Alamo or or the Battle of San Jacinto. Many Texas schoolchildren actually memorized the "Travis Letter," which pled for more men and more supplies to help hold off Santa Anna and his Mexican Troops. We were unable to take pictures inside the mission and we were also instructed not to touch the walls (which of course only made me want to touch them more). Here are a few pictures we took outside. We went back the next evening to take the nighttime pictures.

 

After the Alamo, we had lunch at the County Line on the Riverwalk. Bernie enjoyed his authentic Texas BBQ brisket. I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to BBQ, but even my vegetable kabob was pretty tasty.

 

Our next stop was El Mercado - Market Square. It is the largest Mexican market in the U.S. There are about 80 speciality shops that sell all kinds of brightly colored merchandise including hand embroidered dresses, sombreros, instruments, and ceramics. There is also a farmers' market that takes place there and many festivals. Given the time of year and weather (it was chilly at 50 degrees by San Antonio standards), we were two of few customers around. I can see how this would be a lively place during the spring and summer. I'm also told that the merchandise here was extremely reasonable until the border was closed; now the prices are more in line with what you would expect from an area that draws a high number of tourists.

I took Bernie to Max's Wine Dive for dinner. I have been to this restaurant a few times in Houston. Their Max N' Cheese is one of the best recipes for macaroni and cheese that I've ever tasted. Bernie enjoyed it too but argues that his recipe (really an adaptation of my grandmother's recipe) is better.

 

We ended the day by attending the Spurs game. The stadium is only a few miles from the Riverwalk. San Antonio is so well constructed that it feels like a little city. I was surprised when I heard it is the 8th largest city in the country. It happened to be Star Wars night at the Spurs. For a few moments there, I was wishing that Jack was with us. He would have enjoyed the music and all the costumes.

 

 

I had to work on Wednesday. Bernie spent the day relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. When I got back, we spent sometime exploring the River Walk. We went to the River Center Mall in search of souvenirs for the kids. We stopped at Boudro's so I could enjoy a Prickly Pear Margarita or two (yum). 



We also visited my favorite Irish Pub, Durty Nelly's. They give you peanuts and it is customary to toss the shells on the floor. By the end of the night the floor is covered and you end up crunching the shells with your shoes. They have a comedian/piano player that heckles the audience and encourages you to sing along. Even though there weren't many patrons when we were there, it was still entertaining.

 

We ended the evening with a Tex-Mex dinner at Acenar. Bernie didn't much care for the waiter who only seemed to cater to the females in the room. Nevertheless the food was excellent and it had a nice contemporary atmosphere.

 

We traveled home on Thursday. I walked in the door before Bernie. Vivi gave me a big hug, but asked almost immediately, "you bring my daddy back?" She leapt into his arms when she saw him. There is no doubt that she is daddy's little girl.

We are very lucky that we have Nick, Bernie's mom and Kellee to help us so that we can get away once in awhile. It was nice to have Bernie all to myself for a few days. I hope we get to do this again soon.

As Vivi says, "Merry Kipmiss"

I have been meaning to post for awhile.  We have had some funny moments over the last few weeks that I simply do not want to forget.  On December 21^st, Nick, Jack, Vivi and I were in the live nativity at my mom’s church.  Nick and Jack were shepherds, Mom and Vivi were angels, and I was Mary.  The kids really enjoyed participating.  While we were waiting for our turn, Vivi found her favorite book in the library, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” by Eric Carle.  For those of you that haven’t read it 1,000 times or at all, the caterpillar turns into a butterfly at the end of the book (shocking, I know).  When we put her costume on her, Vivi was convinced she was a butterfly rather than an angel. There was no telling her otherwise.  She kept saying: “my a butterfly!” It was cold, so we all had winter gear underneath our costumes. Vivi’s costume was too big which made it very difficult for her to walk, especially in her snow suit and boots.  She really didn’t let that stop her and she was excited to pet the live sheep that were part of the scene. 

 

 

Vivi with her wings on correctly:

 

Mom:

When we were half way through our shift in the live nativity, Santa showed up.  He was not a part of the church, he was not invited, he just drove by and decided to stop in.  He knelt down in front of the manger and said a prayer.  He told Jack that Jesus was the reason he existed.  Jack just watched him wide-eyed, in disbelief that Santa appeared out of nowhere.  Vivi was happy to see him, but kept her distance. His presence definitely added to the magic of Christmas.

Jack brought me into the empty sanctuary and insisted I walk down the aisle with him.  He said “you may now kiss the bride” and wanted me to kiss him.  It was very cute.  He then pointed out a heart ornament on the Christmas Tree and told me he loved me.  As difficult as he can be at times, he has a kind heart and a very sweet side to him.

 

On Christmas Eve, we tracked Santa on Norad.  I used to do this with my dad, but we had to do it on the computer back then.  Now there is an app for that.  Jack loved hearing about all of the different countries Santa was visiting. We made cookies for Santa.  Jack made a Baymax cookie from Big Hero 6.  Vivi made a lot of cookies with a little bit of green frosting and a little bit of green sprinkles.  It was very easy to pick her cookies out of the group. She was very efficient and probably decorated three times as many cookies as Jack.

 

 

We attended the 4pm service at the church where I grew up.  During one of the quieter portions of the service, Vivi was being pretty loud.  I put my finger to my lips showing her it was time to be quiet.  At the top of her lungs she screamed, “don’t shush me!” It was very difficult not to laugh at her. 

 

 

My favorite part of the service is the end where we sing “Silent Night” with “Now the Silence” and the first verse is in German. The lights are turned off and we sing by candle light.  Jack held his candle steady.  Vivi, overtired and excited for Christmas, pretty much screamed through the whole song.  It’s never a silent night with this family!   

When we got home from church, we were trying to pick up the house a little bit because our family was coming over on Christmas.  Vivi and Jack were both in Bernie’s personal space as he was trying to pull toys out from under the couch.  In frustration, he said: “why are you guys on top of me?” Vivi very calmly and sweetly replied, “because we love you, daddy!”

 

We read the Christmas story and “The Night Before Christmas,” opened our Christmas Eve gifts of pajamas, left cookies and milk out for Santa, said goodbye to the elves until next year, and tucked Jack and Vivi into bed.  We then proceeded to put all the presents under the tree.  We can’t put any presents out earlier because our dog will open them. 

 

 

The kids slept until almost 8am on Christmas morning.  Vivi was very excited to see that Santa ate almost all the cookies they had left out for him. When Jack saw what was under the tree he danced around the living room singing, "I'm on the nice list! I'm on the nice list!" It was a close call this year for him. Santa left him some chocolate coal in his stocking to remind him to be good.

 

Both of our moms came over for an early Christmas dinner.  Brian, Gina and Alex came over for dessert.  Brian made Death by Chocolate, which was very yummy.  Who knew Brian could cook? 

One of Nick’s gifts was “Cards Against Humanity.” We had fun playing and had to spell a lot of words because of all the little ears in the room. Vivi loves her cousin Alex, but had trouble sharing again and wasn’t very nice to her.  As soon as they left, Vivi asked “where my friends go?” Sharing is something we will need to work on in 2015. 

 

                                                                                                        

Bernie did almost all of the shopping and wrapping.  Bernie’s mom did most of the cooking.  I really appreciate all that they both did.  So much was done in advance that we were really able to relax and enjoy Christmas.

 

On Saturday after Christmas we went to Debbi’s for our annual cookie decorating get together.  Vivi and Christopher were actively participating and Jack was well, being Jack.  He did have fun playing games with Christopher, and it is always good to see everyone!

 

 

On Sunday we went to Roger Williams Zoo.  For the last six weeks or so, Vivi has been asking to see the monkeys.  I’m not really sure where this idea originated.  It was a warm day and it drizzled on and off, so we pretty much had the zoo all to ourselves.  The room that housed the monkeys had a lot of free-roaming birds.  One of them pooped and it landed on Jack’s nose.  You can imagine how happy that made him.  Vivi loved all the animals, especially the monkeys and the turtles, and she was convinced she found Nemo, even though the fish she found were not clown fish. She is already asking to go back to the zoo.

 

 

On the way home from the Zoo, we picked up Colin, Tyler and Kerrigan.  Bernie took them all to the Science Center along with Nick, Jack, and Vivi on Monday. I met them after work to go ice skating in Bushnell Park.  Vivi really wanted to skate, mostly because she has seen Calliou skate.  In fact, she is convinced that Bernie is going to build her a rink in her backyard because Calliou’s dad did. We keep trying to tell her that it won’t work since we do not live in Canada, but she doesn’t really believe us. Neither Bernie or I are skilled enough to be able to skate and keep her steady without assistance.  She was determined, but we just couldn’t make it work.  The rink is free and skate rental is free which is great, but they didn’t have any assistive equipment like some of the rinks have.  I will take her to a rink soon and try again. Everyone else enjoyed the adventure.

 

 

 

 

  

 

This is the third year in a row we have spent New Year’s Eve at Ruth and Todd’s house.  We always have a great time.  Jack and Vivi didn’t want to leave and they have asked when we are going to another party. We take a picture of all the kids every year.  This year, Vivi refused to take part.

 

 

 

We have had a fun couple of weeks, I think Jack has enjoyed his time off from school.  We are truly blessed by an amazing family and group of friends.  We still have one more Christmas left with my Dad and Arleen in a few weeks when we take Nicholas back to school.  It has been awesome having him home. Celebrating with Jack and Vivi this year was just incredible.  They loved every minute of Christmas preparations and Christmas itself.  Their enthusiasm made Christmas magical for me. I took them out for a bit earlier today and Vivi was especially upset to discover that Bernie had taken the Christmas tree down while we were gone.  She made us promise we would get a big tree next year.

 

 

 

I can hardly believe that 2014 is over already. 

Happy New Year!