It's all good . . .

Celebrating 80 Amazing Years

A few months ago, my mother decided that what she really wanted for her birthday, was to have a big family party, and although at the time, I didn't think there was a way on earth that I would be able to make the trip happen, the stars aligned, and with some creative trip planning, I was able to join five of my six siblings to throw her an 80th birthday celebration.

I arrived in Twin Falls on Thursday, and on Friday I started baking cakes for the party.  I was in charge of a lemon cake (with yummy lemon curd) and a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. On Saturday morning, I frosted the cakes, and since my mom no longer has cake decorating supplies, I fashion a ziplock bag into a frosting bag and made it work ;). They actually turned out really pretty.

One of the extra exciting things, and a true bonus, was that Cheryl brought Lily down from Rexburg for the party.  Oh, it was so good to not only be there with my mama, but to have my baby girl there with me as well.

Matthew and Susan, along with their kids, arrived on Thursday night, and so not only where they there to help, but were there to hang out with and laugh with throughout the weekend. As Saturday continued on, more and more family arrived - married nieces and nephews and more of my siblings. I finally got to meet Preston's grandson, Blays.  It was crazy and chaotic, but I had a great time - and I didn't have to worry about anyone, since Lily is a "grown-up" and the other kids were back in Texas.

The weather was not warm, but miraculously, the sun came out and the rain stopped for the outdoor activities.

Cheryl put on an obstacle course, and then times the kids as they ran it, with the winner getting a prize.  Good times!  It was especially funny to see the grown grandchildren going through it, especially since they couldn't fit through some of the obstacles- ha ha!
Then Matthew put on what has become a traditional donut on a string eating competition.  They started with the littlest kids, but then made their way up to the older kids and grown grandkids. Good times!
At one point, some of us went inside to watch a special recording of Misty singing my mom "Rose Garden," which was originally sung by Lynn Anderson, the country singer. It was so fun, and we sure missed having her there!

Then it was finally time for the party! We had a big taco bar, with all the fixings, which was perfect for the amount of little kids that were there.My mom wanted the party to be mostly family, but we made sure to invite her friends, Paula and Marcy. And truthfully, we had so many people there with family alone, we filled up every table - ha ha!
After dinner, we had a special performance of Holly and I singing "Past My Prime" from Little Abner, and then Matthew sang "Right on the Money" by Alan Jackson - his old Madrigal solo. It was awesome and so much fun. We finished that off with a slide show of pictures of mom and a recording of Melanie singing "I Hope You Dance."

Then it was time to take advantage of yet another miraculous break in the awful weather to go outside. First, we had to play with the parachute.  We have had this old parachute longer that I have been alive, and even though there is only half of it now, it is still so much fun.After the parachute, it was time to move over to the candy cannon, and while we waited, I got to spend some time with my niece, McKayla, and her brand new husband, Joe.

The candy cannon is Tom's, and he does a fabulous job of it.  The kids think it is awesome, and I always run for cover, as the candy hurts if it hits you. Preston was talented enough to catch some in his bag - ha ha! Good times!
When we came back in, the carnival was all set up for the kids. Lily was in charge of the "Hot Air" game, and she had a great time. It was fun to see her transition to being an adult grandchild.
There were all sorts of games, including Grandma's traditional fish pond, but Preston and his wife, Heather, took care of it for her this year.
After the carnival, it was time for dessert - my two cakes, a Boston Creme Pie, and lots of ice cream. The lemon cake with the lemon curd was the star of the show - at least, for people who like lemon - ha ha! I had to have all three cakes.
We finished off the celebration with an epic dance party. Oh, my goodness, it was so much fun, and I know it was Lily's favorite part of the night. I think the best part of the dance was when we had almost everyone out on the floor doing the "Cupid Shuffle." Awesome!

Although the party was over on Saturday, and most everybody headed home, we did continue things on Sunday by having a special Zoom meeting fireside, where my mom got to share some stories from her life, and her history, including her conversion story.  It was awesome. And then we had a special ham dinner with Matthew and Holly's families. My niece, Katie, and I had the best time baking Peasant Bread to go with the dinner (we made two loaves and I taught her as we went). We played many games of Apples to Apples, snuck in a birthday cake/celebration for Harvey, and we stayed up late talking. It was such a wonderful weekend and celebration.

The Last Week of School

The last week of school was full of fun for Arthur and finals for Derek, but such is the life of an elementary schooler and a high schooler ;).

One of the things that made the last week of school especially fun for Arthur, was that I was a substitute in the third grade from Monday to Wednesday, which meant I got to be doing all the fun third grade team activities with him. And on Monday, Arthur's teacher, Miss Brown, was ill, and since they couldn't find a sub, they split up her class and I got Arthur and his best friend, Oliver.  It was so much fun and totally made Arthur's year!

One of the fun activities they had for the grade level was an ice cream party for passing off times tables. Depending on how much they passed off, depended on how many toppings they could get on their sundae. Arthur was annoyed that he didn't get whipped cream, but it was because he didn't pass off all them, thinking he only needed enough to get a couple toppings - so he essentially shot himself in the foot by not doing his best.  Oh well - he still got his chocolate sauce and a cherry, and so he was fine.

The most fun thing about the week was the kickball tournament, and since there are 5 third grade classes, they split up Arthur's class between the others, and I got him on my team. It was a very fun three days of teaching them to play kickball and then watching the chaos ensue.  Arthur loved it!
On Wednesday night, we had a special "Spa Night" for our Primary Activity Girls. They all brought nail polish and I brought stuff to fix hair, and they did each others' nails and I fixed hair for an hour.  They had a blast, and the girls were sad I didn't have the time to do everyone's hair.

On Thursday, I left for Idaho, and so I missed the boy's last day of school on Friday. Kevin was awesome and got me pictures of the boys, and we were able to FaceTime and have family prayer before they left. (And I may have reminded Arthur that he needed to wear his Las Lomas shirt, and so he got two last day pictures - ha ha!) Arthur absolutely loved this past school year, and I am truly grateful that we are where we are.

I cannot get over how much Derek has grown this year! It is crazy! And he is still growing - so fun! He had such a great school year at Reagan High School, and I am so grateful that we moved here.

Arthur brought home the sweetest present for me from his teachers - a flower and a Home Depot gift card - seriously, it was perfect.  Kevin made sure to take pictures of it for me, since I was not there to receive it in person.  It really was a fabulous school year, and I am so proud of my boys for jumping in and making a place for themselves in a new school, city, state. Moving is not easy, and they were champs!

A Beach to Bay Adventure

A few months ago, Kevin came up to me and said, "Why did I make friends?" I laughed and asked him why, and he said that a group of guys from our ward were running in a relay race and asked him to join their team, and he said yes. Well, only a few days later, my friend, Erica asked me if I would join the girl's team. I haven't done any kind of race since I ran the 100 meter dash in the Jesse Owens games 34 years ago, and so I was a bit hesitant of saying yes, but Erica is very convincing. And the fact that it was in Corpus Christi and Kevin was already participating - and the fact that she said I could even walk my 4.2 miles if I wanted, and I found myself saying yes! Ahh!

And so after months of walking/jogging around the neighborhood to train, it was finally race weekend.  We carpooled down to Corpus, and then met up for dinner at a fun pizza place to "carb load" - but do you really need to carb load if you are only running four miles? Oh well, I really enjoyed my bacon cheesy pasta and Kevin loved his pizza fries. So yummy!

After dinner, we got checked into our hotel and most of our group headed down to the beach to play in the water for a while. I stayed at the hotel, as it had not only been a very busy day, but a very busy week, and I was completely exhausted, and so I chose to read my book for a bit. Kevin also stayed back, but he was in the guys room and was watching baseball - ha ha!

That night, we also all got our stuff ready for the next day, since some of our group would be starting at 4am. I got my number attached to my shirt, attempted to get some sleep, and tried to sleep through the three ladies that had to wake up extra early and who were actually super quiet. Before I knew it, the sun was up and I was getting ready.  I had to leave by 7:30am to get to the bus stop.

Meanwhile, the first legs of our teams had already begun.  The race began with five miles on the beach - glad it was Barbara and Steve and wasn't me running on the sand for five miles ;). After that, Richard and Erica were ready to take over and run leg #2.

Leg three was the bridge run, and that was Kevin and Sharon's turn. That bridge was pretty gigantic, and it was pretty hot, but luckily for them, there were plenty of shady places for them to wait to run.

Kevin passed the baton to our bishop and friend, Brent Fisher. Kevin was so happy to be done! Sharon passed our baton to Stephanie, which meant that I was up next.

And hallelujah, I was so ready to be done waiting. I got to my station at 8 am, and it was very hot, no shade, and the only place to sit was on the dirt or on broken pieces of road along the beach. Luckily, I did have a beautiful view of the bay. I hung out with my leg partner, Tyler, but he was quiet, and was gone almost an hour before I got to head out. In fact, I had to wait in the hot sun with very little water to drink for three hours. Not ideal, that is for sure - ha ha!

When Stephanie passed me the baton, I so incredibly relieved to start my 4.2 miles. It was hot, the first water station wasn't until 2.5 miles in, and I may have started my run already dehydrated and overheated (I mean, I didn't sweat, which is not a good sign - ha ha!), but I had my awesome running playlist, and I just kept going.  I would find someone ahead of me that I would try to eventually pass, and I would also run the first part of each new song, and then I would speed walk until the next song.

When I was finished, I had killed my PR, dropping time off of every mile, averaging 12.5 minutes a mile, which was awesome! I was so happy with how I did. After I passed the baton to Bella, I walked around searching for water, and I found a medical tent where they handed me an ice cold Gatorade and put ice cold wet towels on my shoulders and lap. I sat there and didn't ever want to move again.
Bella had taken over for me, but the guys, who were ahead of us, had already switched from Tyler to Shane, Sharon's husband.
Erica was able to pick me up from my station, which was great, and as we made our way to our hotel at the finish line, we drove right past Bella, running the final leg.
I was able to sneak into our hotel room and quickly shower, even though it was technically past check out time, and then I headed back over to the finish line to wait for Bella. I was so proud of our team! (And yes, since I didn't want to put my wet shirt back on - even it was only wet because of the ice towels - I just put it up in front of me for the picture - ha ha!) We also got a picture with both of our teams together with our medals on (Tyler had already had to leave). Oh, and I was starving, so I was very happy to get my free slice of pizza. 

Before we knew it, we were back on the road and headed home to San Antonio, but this time Kevin and I rode with Brent, so he wouldn't have to go alone. It was definitely an adventure, and although Kevin and I both agree that we will never do this type of race again, however, if there was ever a 5K fun run type of thing, where we would all start in the morning and could run with our friends (instead of being separated from them the entire day and waiting for hours in the sun for our turn to run). Or better yet, if they decide to do this again, we will come hang out with our friends, and then play golf while they run the race ;). Good times!

 

More May Fun

This past week was pretty busy, but tucked into all of it, were moments of fun and joy. One of those moments was on Friday, when I got to volunteer at the third grade field day. My good friend, Erica, and I got to be in charge of a station where the kids ran back and forth between one bucket to another and trying to squeeze as much water as possible in their second bucket.  It was so fun to not only watch Arthur participate in my station, but to run around and have a blast all over the playground at other stations.

This week, I also got a few more blackberries. I don't know how many more I will get this season, since the bushes are new. Also, some more of my roses bloomed, and they smell amazing!

I have been preparing for the past couple months for a race that Kevin, some friends, and I will be running, and my part of the relay is 4.2 miles. As I have walked/jogged my miles each week, I was consistently getting a 15 minute mile. Well, in anticipation for the race, I decided to put together a running play list, and when I used it on Thursday morning, I cut a minute off of my time. I guess I go a lot faster to upbeat music than I do to audio books - ha ha!

This past week was also a big celebration for my sweet primary class.  Since the beginning of the year, the class have been adding beans to a jar.  They earn beans for singing well in singing time, bringing their scriptures to class, being reverent, participating in the lesson, passing off Articles of Faith. Well, last Sunday, they filled the jar, which meant they earned a special class party.  And so today, we had a picnic on the lawn during our lesson. It was so much fun, the kids loved it, the weather was perfect, and we actually had a fabulous lesson and discussion. It was definitely a success, and they can't wait to earn their next party.

One of the best parts of this week, however, was celebrating Lily's 19th birthday. I had arranged for my sister-in-law's cousin to make her a caramel cheesecake, and then I had pizza delivered for her and her roommates to share for dinner. We FaceTimed with her and sang "Happy Birthday", and although it was so sad not to be with her on her birthday, I am so glad we were still able to make her day special.

A Very Musical Weekend

May is known for a plethora of concerts and recitals to finish out the school year, and for our family, it happened that all of our musical performances happened in the same weekend. It all started off with Derek's school choir concert on Thursday and Friday night, the Ronald Reagan High School Pop Show. It is a huge concert with lots of people singing solos and giant group numbers. Derek was in "Footloose", "Sieze the Day" from Newsies, and "Yesterday" - and they were fantastic! I think the Newsies number was my favorite though. So much fun!

It was always fun picking Derek out in the numbers. For Footloose and Yesterday, he was in a bright orange shirt.

Here is a video I took of his songs . . .

Derek's best friend Paul, and his mom, came to see the show the same night as us, and it just happened to be that their tickets were right next to ours. Pretty fun!

After a very busy couple weeks of rehearsals, and back to back shows on Friday and Saturday, we went into Sunday with both of the boys having their piano recital. Arthur and Derek had been preparing for it for the past couple months, and they did a fabulous job!

Here is a video of their performances . . .

After the kids had all performed, their teacher, Tony, gave them each a certificate of achievement. Pretty fun!
And afterwards, there was a reception with refreshments. We sure do love the boy's teacher! He is so amazing with them!

Our final musical performance of the weekend was on Monday night, when Derek had his spring voice recital.  He picked the song "Gary Indiana" from The Music Man, and so he even got to dress up like Harold Hill.  He looked awesome, and he sang wonderfully! So proud of our Derek and all his hard work!

Here is a video of his performance . . .

It is pretty funny that he is one of only about six boys taking voice from his teacher, which is very evident in the picture they took of the group.  Good times!

The very last activity to tack onto this musical weekend actually happened tonight, at Derek's choir awards ceremony. First of all, somehow I accidentally left my phone at home, and so I didn't get any pictures, but I sat next to my friend, Laura Majors (a second grade teacher I sub for all the time), and she took a couple pictures as Derek was awarded his medal for getting a 1 rating on his Solo and Ensemble performance earlier in the spring. Pretty cool. Oh, and second of all, I guess we didn't get the memo that it was a formal event??? Everyone was super dressed up, and some of the girls were even in prom dresses. And Derek was in his clothes from school - ha ha! Oh well. The best part of the night, and what I really wished I had my phone for was when they sang a special goodbye song to Derek's director, Mr. Delacruz, who is moving to Houston. They sang "You Raise Me Up," and it totally made me cry.  (Why didn't I have my phone to video it????) Such a perfect way to finish off our musical weekend/days.

Adventures in May

May is always a whirlwind of activities and adventures. And in the midst of all the school and other activities, I have also had a few more photo shoots, which always makes me happy.  I was able to do a Real Estate shoot for my friend, Karen, and it was so fun to get to hang out - even if it was for work. She even snuck a picture of me doing my thing :).

Speaking of friends, my friend, Erica, invited me to come along with her and some other ladies to go paddle boarding on the river. It was my first time going, and it was so much fun! And we had such a fun group of ladies.

In my inexperience, I chose to stay sitting most of the time, mostly because I didn't relish the idea of falling in what looked to be very murky water. I did get brave and stood up for a few minutes, but then I promptly sat back down. Once again, I did not want to fall into the water - ha ha!
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful location or more beautiful day. It was so peaceful, and being there with friends and good conversation made it even better. 

Afterwards, we went over to this fun restaurant in an old historic building, The Power Plant in Seguin. The food was yummy, and once again, the company was fantastic.

Another thing that has brought me joy this past little bit, was that my gardenias are blooming and they are amazing.  They smell so good and are so pretty, and it makes me happy every time I see or smell them. And I got a blackberry! Yum!

Arthur has had a lot of fun things as the school year is starting to wind down. Firstly, the third grade team did the cutest review for the STAAR testing, where the kids all dressed up like doctors, and they went around to stations that fit the doctor theme for them to review what they had learned this year.  So cool.

And another day, they had a special reward where they were able to make a blanket fort with their desks and then read with a flashlight under it. It was seriously a highlight of the year for Arthur.

Arthur is also finishing up his weekly swim lessons. He has had them the entire school year, and has really progressed so very much. We are really proud of him and how far he has come.

A Not Quite Happy Mother's Day

 

Twas the night before Mother's Day, I was watching a movie with Kevin and Arthur while Derek was at Prom, and suddenly my stomach felt awful. By midnight, I had a full blown stomach bug that kept me up most of the night. Definitely not my idea of a good day, let alone Mother's Day. There was no special breakfast or even a meal at all, since I couldn't even keep down Sprite and toast. Although at one point, Derek did make me Kraft Mac & Cheese, just in case I could eat it, which sadly didn't happen.

I was grateful that Derek was there to help me out, because right before Kevin was going to take the boys to church, the stomach bug hit him as well, and so he was in bed all day. Like I said, it was a good thing that Derek was there to take care of us, because I barely had enough energy to make it to the bathroom, and never even went downstairs the entire day. We still managed to have our family CFM study with Lily - just from our bed - ha ha!

As I spent the day seeing posts and pictures of everyone else's Mother's Day, I was feeling sorry for myself and sad that I had missed out on all the fun of the day, including seeing the kids at church sing and the chocolate they give the moms, etc. But then I started thinking about motherhood, and I started reading about mothers.

"We really are all mothers in Zion. We have a work to do. It stretches into eternity. And like the Master we follow, our love "never faileth." - Sharon Eubank

"A good mom has bad days, and great days, and normal days, overwhelming days, and perfect days, and trying days, and supermom days, and just being a mom days, and a whole lot of love and real crazy motherhood days." - Rachel Marie Martin

"Motherhood is more than bearing children . . . It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our [Heavenly] Father gave us." - Sheri Dew

"To all of our mothers everywhere, past, present, or future, I say, “Thank you. Thank you for giving birth, for shaping souls, for forming character, and for demonstrating the pure love of Christ . . . To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle—and all will—I say, “Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are." - Elder Jeffery R. Holland

As I read these inspiring quotes about motherhood and what it is to be a mother, I realized that although I love the idea of this day and my kids celebrating me as their mother ;), that is really not what it is all about.  It is about the good days and the hard days, and the frustrating days, and the days when you are filled with sorrow or fear for your child. Motherhood becomes so much a part of our nature, that once you have a child, it is something you will feel for the rest of your life - and beyond, for that matter. It is hard, and it is wonderful, and it is part of our Father in Heaven's plan for us because he wants us to be like him. And he wants for us, imperfect as we are, to help our children return to Him again. 

And so, yes, my Mother's Day was not so wonderful, but in spite of that, being a mother is. It is wonderful and terrible, and all the things in between, and I am so grateful for the three children that made me a mother.

Derek at the Prom

This is Derek who is writing this, just to be clear. So, this past weekend I was able to go to a dance that was run by members of my Church called Mormon Prom (Or MoPro for short). It was basically like traditional Prom, except it was put on by members of the church in the area. I missed out on going to the actual Prom this school year because I didn't have anyone to ask that I knew was planning on going to Prom. But for MoPro, I had an idea of someone I wanted to ask. That person was my friend, Gabby Rice. 

Before this, I had never actually asked a girl to come to a dance, so I had no idea how to ask Gabby if she wanted to go with me. Thankfully, I had seen some examples throughout the year from some of the men in my choir group when they asked girls to Prom and The Choir winter ball. So with my mom's help, I was able to make a poster board that I brought with me to seminary.

I felt so happy when I heard Gabby say yes. I was on top of the world. We would be going in a group which included my friends Jeff, Ella, Michael, and many others.
The wait was so long, but it was also so worth it. On the afternoon of the dance me, Gabby, and everyone else who would be in the group got together for a group date. All the couples were paired together to paint a picture. But there was also a catch that we had to switch who was painting every minute. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards, the girls stayed at the house we were at to get changed, and me and the other boys left to change at our homes. We then returned later to pick our dates up, and then headed off to the place where we were going to take pictures. 
After all the portraits had been taken (By none other than my awesome mom), we headed off to a Mexican restaurant named Chuy's for dinner. The food there was great, and I also had a lot of fun talking with everybody. Also did I mention how HOT it was outside? And we were wearing very fancy and formal clothing. That was an adventure.

Then, It was finally time to head off to the dance. Gabby and I were riding with Jeff and Ella, and we had a blast doing a little Carpool Karaoke. And the dance was so fun. It was held at this old house in the country that had plenty of space for dancing. We were all having a blast, and I actually got the person in charge of the music to play the song "Can I Have This Dance" from High School Musical 3. It was Awesome.
We stayed at the dance for a couple of hours, having fun together. I got to slow dance with Gabby twice And a lot of the people who went to Prom thought that MoPro went so much better than how the actual Prom went. Apparently, the people in charge of running Prom at the school, didn't really do the best job at keeping the flow moving. Either way, this felt so much different than any of the other dances I've been to. It felt special, like this was something that might only happen once in a lifetime. And I didn't want it to end.
The night wasn't over when the dance finished though. Afterwards, we headed to the house of one of the people in our group for the afterparty. For a few more hours we had more fun as we swam in their pool, talked, played basketball, and just had a good time. I probably may have not gone home if it weren't for a text from my parents. Turns out, we had completely forgotten to discuss my curfew. But hey, all's well that ends well. 
I had so much fun, and I really hope I can do this again next year. I wouldn't let another chance like this ever pass me by.

21 Fabulous Years Together

Sometimes it amazes me as I look back on my life, especially at the past twenty-one years I have had with Kevin. It is crazy to think that I have known him for 29 years (essentially 2/3 of my life). We have had so many different adventures together on this crazy journey of life, both the good, the hard, and the crazy, but I can't imagine anyone else by my side.

Yesterday, to celebrate our anniversary, we both took the day off of work and went golfing. I love going golfing with Kevin, and the weather was beautiful. We played at our nearby Canyon Springs Golf Course, and had so much fun!

Kevin played awesome, and I actually did really well for me.  Someday, when we have the time and the money for me to play more consistently, I might actually just play really well all the time, and not only occasionally ;).

The scenery on the course is beautiful, with the rolling hills and Live Oaks. 
And on the 18th hole, there is a waterfall. Kevin and I also like picking out our favorite backyards of the houses on the course.  Good times! This time, we even saw a herd of deer. And then there are the mascots of the course, the Texas Longhorns that they have in a pasture by the clubhouse. Very fun!

After we finished up play, a nice retired gentleman that had been playing with us, offered to take our picture. Much easier than trying to get a good selfie with the waterfall in the background :).

After golfing, we found a fabulous steak house not far from the course and our house, and had the yummiest meal. It was such a fun day, and just what we needed to celebrate together.

Derek's Choir Adventure

Man, what is this? The third time I've posted about a time that something crazy happened in the life of me (Derek Brown)? I don't understand how my mom does this. But anyway, this time I get to talk about my choir trip to Houston and Galveston for my choir competition Celebration of Excellence. I guess you can say it all started like most of my choir trips, with my choir competing in a competition. This one wasn't as eventful as the last one that happened (which was back in 2019). We didn't win, but we performed really well. In between though, I got to watch my sister open her mission call via FaceTime. Fun! However, what happened after the competition, is what I'm really here to talk about.

After our competition, which was on Thursday, we went to a huge mall to hang out and buy stuff. I was in group with a few of my friends and we had fun wandering around the mall. One of the first places we went to was the Lego store and I decided that I wanted to get a Lego set for my brother Arthur just because I wanted too. I also bought some candy for this awesome candy store there, as well as some roleplaying dice from Gamestop.

After lunch was when the fun really got going. Me and my group had seen this escape room as we were exploring, so we decided to try it out. And it was pretty fun. The escape room we went to had us playing scientists who were attempting to find and escape an underwater lab. I actually helped significantly in figuring out one of the clues. We did cut it close on time and barely managed to escape a GIANT KRAKEN with only 2 minutes left on the clock. It was a blast. Afterwards, we headed off to our hotel and settled in for the night.

Friday morning, me and my roommates woke up early so we could explore before it was breakfast time. It was so amazing to feel the fresh sea air in the early morning. After breakfast, the day kicked off with us going on a small tour of Galveston via cars that could also go in water. Then afterwards we spent a lot of the day on the Pleasure Pier, which was a sort of Amusement Park.

There were lots of fun rides. However, I would recommend you not wear clothes that you want to stay dry for the water ride that they have. At the end of it, me and my friends were completely soaked. But we all had a blast. 

We also spent some time on the beach, which was also fun. As we arrived on the beach however, we actually saw a jellyfish. Crazy! I love being able to play around in the water, so this was awesome. And after a few hours, we headed to the Strand (a street with lots of shops) to do some more shopping and I got to hang out and talk with a senior by the name of Westlund.

 

Then, it was time to go get dinner. We ate at a place called the Fisherman's Wharf, which was known for its great views of the waterfront. It was amazing. The food was great and filling. It was also fun to hear from others about how they spent their day on the pier and where they went on the Strand.

In the late evening it was time for our ghost tour of town. Now I don't believe in ghosts, so I had a hard time paying attention to everything that was said. All I know is that what was said all sounded like it could have a logical explanation, but a few stories I actually enjoyed. Like one about what happened to a family when a hurricane hit Galveston. Or the chance of there being a buried sarcophagus under an old house. It was fun.

On Saturday morning, We went to an aquarium and  a rainforest exhibit that was located by the hotel we were staying at. Lets just say that I was very surprised to see Penguins.
Because there were a lot of them. I loved seeing all the fun little sea creatures that came from all around the world.  I always feel like I'm in a different world when I go to places like this.
Just look at these cool exhibits!
The rainforest was also very fun. I got to see birds, frogs, monkeys, and snakes. Lots of snakes. I made sure that I took pictures for Lily, because she loves snakes. There was one snake though, that blew my mind. It was so big that it could have been mistaken for a crocodile or an alligator. It was amazing.

Afterwards, we headed off to the NASA Space center in Houston. I had so much fun going around and seeing all the awesome technology. They had a DeLorean, like the car in "Back to the Future", that I got to pose by.  I even got to go inside a replica of a space shuttle. It was here that a pretty crazy moment happened. I was going to the cafeteria so I could get some lunch, and the place I wanted to get food from, a place that sold pizza, had just closed. But the thing is, the guy who was behind the counter had a few pizzas that he had to throw out, so he told me to just take them and not tell anyone. Its a secret to everyone I guess. 

After NASA, we got all dressed up for dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant and then headed off to see an opera. It was the first time anyone in our family has been to an opera, and it was amazing. I loved it.

The last part of our adventure was on the bus ride back to San Antonio.  About two hours away from the school, our bus started smoking and they had to pull over.  We ended up stranded on the side of the road for hours while we waited for a new bus to arrive. We sill had fun together, but we sure were grateful when we finally made it home.

This trip was so much fun, and while it may have not been as fun as going to Hawaii like we were supposed to do, it was great.