Playing Tourists

There is an old fort down on post at Ft. Sam called the quadrangle. Inside they let deer and birds roam free. We hadn't been to post since we stayed in temp lodging for 3 days when we first moved here so we decided to head downtown after school one evening. We met David at work and headed in with a bag full of goldfish crackers to feed the birds. Oh boy did they swarm us! I started to panic when we had 30 birds surrounding us and some of them were huge! Mallie was so brave and started chasing them around which was hilarious.

The peacocks must have been underfed because they came right up to all of us.

Lucy was in a panic most of the time.

Here's Mallie again scaring off the birds after we ran out of crackers.

 Then I realized Ashton and Mallie were totally matching the peacocks.

While we were downtown we decided to grab dinner on the Riverwalk. Sometimes I worry that because we have so many young kids we don't do enough normal things. I had this brilliant idea that we would be brave and take the kids to the Riverwalk on a Thursday night. I'm sure with only 2-3 kids I probably would still consider taking them to the Riverwalk crazy but by golly I wanted to just pretend like having a lot of kids was no big deal.

So we headed downtown and quickly realized a large group of children (even if half of them are great swimmers) next to a large open river was not a great idea. They thought the river was awesome but it was stressing me out because it was busier than I thought!

We stopped and ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant where the Mariachi guys came and played for us and the kids fed an entire bowl of tortilla chips to the birds.

So I documented that we made made it down to the Riverwalk with the kids. It probably wont happen again while we're here! Next time David and I are heading down solo!

Updating

It's therapuetic to get pictures off my phone and backed up on the desktop. Here are some of the happenings of the last 6 weeks.

Hannah had a wiggly tooth and begged David to take it out for tooth fairy money.

Mallie got up on two wheels after spending a week on a balance bike. I never had to run behind her and hold the seat. I call that a win!

We had a few awesome warm rain storms and the kids bounced and got soaked!

Lots of time is spent on our front porch swinging while we wait! Waiting for the bus, waiting for the kids to get home, waiting for Daddy to get home. We love that swing!

We love love love our friends here in San Antonio. Here are the girls on an early release day at a park in New Braunfels.

This is Jessica's little guy drew. Jess has been a life saver since living here. I moved in across the street just two weeks after she moved here. We have kids the same ages and they all LOVE each other. The kids will walk in and out of each other's houses like the own the palce.

I took Hannah on a fancy date. She picked out our clothes and kept saying "This is SO fancy!"

It's February and this is the best time for outdoor living in San Antonio. Since we decided against a playscape I bought two chair hammocks for $30 and the kids swing their little hearts out on the back porch. I also have gotten serious reading done out there!

Scotty turns 1!

This guy is as cute as he looks. He is pretty happy and loves his parents. The big kids pick him up and take him all around the house. The novelty of a little brother hasn't really worn off. He is super cautious but masters what's important. He can climb onto the couch, he mastered the stairs at 11 months, and he'll grab food right out of your hand but he will not even stand up on his own. If he is up during movie night he'll knock over everyone's bowl of popcorn so he can eat it off the floor. He's quick! His bedroom is still my closet (thank goodness we have two master closets) and he loves his bottle.

 It always amazes me at 1 they figure out that a birthday is all about them.

He hammed it up while everyone sang to him. This isn't his first rodeo with cake. He's been enjoying birthday cakes for the last 6 months. Perks of being #5.

He finished two entire cupcakes and hardly left a crumb!

He hangs with Lucy and I all day and is pretty great!

He's 52% for weight and 96% for height. He already wears a size 6 shoe and has the most bizarre teething patterns ever. He grew all 4 bottom teeth at one time. They all came in within a 4 day period. Just this past week he cut all 4 top teeth at the same time. He's an all or nothing kind of kid! He loves pizza. I mean LOVES pizza. He can finish an entire slice on his own. He also doesn't love veggies. Probably my fault but whatever...

We lovingly call him "Boy!" always with the exclamation mark and Lucy is convinced his name is Scottyboy. Happy Birthday little man!