Sheds

 Once upon A time, not too terribly many years ago, I did not know that antlers that fell off of deer's heads were called sheds. Apparently, it is common in some areas to collect those. 

I guess I have been reading obituaries for a long time. One time I read an obituary, and the man was a collector of sheds. So I pictured a yard full of gardening sheds, storage sheds, little baby Barn sheds. 

I thought it was a rather strange hobby to have. Only later did I find out what the hobby really entailed. 

Thus the silly texts from our silly children this morning. Mike and I DID have a good laugh over it.

Another Film recommendation

 "Rule Breakers." Mike and I took Mom a week or so ago in Cedar. 

Good stuff. Based on a true story. 

Check it out.

Tuesday March 18, San Antonio

 Pretty sunrise.

Just from the bedroom window. It was way prettier in real life. The camera doesn't do it justice.

Breakfast at Buc-ee's. I just wanted some cinnamon rolls and pastries. And we hadn't really been able to much shopping the first time we went. So eating and shopping was what we did! Just me and Mike and Hayden.

After Buc-ee's, we drove to the place where the "Space Walk" augmented reality experience was. "Verse Immersive". Mike and I failed miserably. 45 points. Hayden had over 400. Obviously, he figured out how to move on to different levels and we did not. Meh. It was an experience. Not one I will repeat. It WAS interesting and kind of fun, but a bit frustrating to us old fogies.

The pool in the afternoon was a BETTER experience. We were able to see Damian for a bit before he went into work.  He had already swum for 35 minutes and ran for several miles. Yikes. He has a triathlon in Galveston, TX in April. Tandy was out for a walk when we returned. She does about 5 to 6 miles through these winding hilly windy areas . The wind is back. Ugh. Tandy joined us in the pool ( Hayden napped). 

No sunburns. Yay! 

Steaks for dinner, relaxing , visiting. Laundry.

We head out tomorrow evening.

And I lied about the "no sunburns". I discovered at bedtime that my shoulders ARE sunburned.

This is after a night of sleep and no lotion. It didn't bother me, but I might think differently after shouldering a bag at the airport this evening.

Monday and Remember the Alamo

 

Construction all over the block!

Hayden and Mike were both listening to the narrative on our rented devices.

This is a gorgeous live oak tree, planted in 1912 as a 14 year old tree.

I loved this narrated diorama in the collections area. Who knew that much of the collections came from Phil Collins, a very huge fan of the Alamo. This presentation is narrated by him. 

The Alamo was our first stop of the day. Me, Mike, Hayden. We got there around 10 am. So crowded! It's Spring Break for many schools, so there were lots of families. And not families. And foreign tourists. So many people.  We used the audio self- guided tours with hand sets. The museum was included in our ticket. Nice museum. There is much still under construction as they renovated the grounds, expand and improve. The Alamo church itself is still the same, but archeologists and researchers are still finding things.  When we were here before, there was a shady courtyard with pools and fountains, big trees, out buildings.  No more. There are some, but no more pools. 

The photos are all above.

Then we moved on to lunch. We forgot to wear our green socks today! Tandy gave me st Patrick's day socks, 2 pair, so Mike and I were both going to wear a pair. With shorts ( or capris, in my case). And, sadly, we totally forgot to put them on. But on our way to the river walk area, we passed an Irish Pub with lunch specials, so in we went. Ha. I took one of their derby hats. I think it was O'Brian's. Live music, outdoor shady courtyard. So-so food, but generous portions. Good fries. They dyed their fountain green and all the servers were wearing plenty of green.

On to the river walk area and the narrated boat ride. It's still fun. 

A theater on the river where Miss Congeniality was filmed.

Then we headed on our walk to the Tower of the Americas. In a round-a-bout way due to construction. Around and under and through a huge convention center. Finally found it. It's hard to miss a 700 foot tall tower. Ha.

Lots of views from the observation deck. The WINDY observation deck!

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to watch the 4D movies that came with the tickets I bought. They are about an hour apart...and our parking time was about up. Oh well. I could have extended, but didn't know that till later.

Then Hayden and I left Grandpa to wait for us there while we went to get the car. My parking time was about up. I was hoping we could find it fairly easily. And we did, with a quick stop for a magnet in the gift shop.

We found Mike after getting the rental car out of the lot and navigating through all the construction. Drove through pre-rush hour traffic back to Tandy's . Fun long day. 

I'm bushed 🥱 and ready for a dip into the pool....the wind seems to be kicking up again,  too.😐

Sunday, March 16, SA

 Ella, sleeping in on a Sunday morning.

This is not morning crepes, but the evening's spaghetti.

Church is from 12 to 2 pm. Just like at my house. It's nice sleeping in😉. AND Tandy made another batch of crepe batter so we could finish off the leftover toppings from last night's dinner.

Lexi stayed for Church instead of driving straight home, so it was nice to see her a bit longer. She helped Tandy in the nursery. A couple of Tandy's current and former nursery kiddos sat in front of us during Sacrament meeting and ended up WITH Tandy. She's like a baby magnet. Ha.

I thought the substitute for the substitute Sunday School teacher was really good.

After church, we looked at photos and films of the beautiful scuba dives Damian and Lexi did. . . Except Mike. He dozed off. After Lexi was packed, and on her way back to Texas A&M, I joined Mike in the nap. Sunday afternoon naps are the best, tho the very hardest to wake up from.

Ella grating lemon zest. For meatballs (?)

Damian mincing garlic for sauce.

Tandy making homemade noodles dough.

These guys all attended an Italian cooking class IN Italy last November. So tonight, it's homemade pasta and sauce. Extremely authentic and VERY serious. I'm just stayin' out of the way...

Angel hair pasta by Ella and Hayden.

Pretty little piles of pasta.

Meatballs. So flavorful!

            The entire meal. Bellissimo!