6.15.12 San Antonio

Way back in June we took a weekend trip to San Antonio for Marc's birthday.  It's about a 5 hour drive from Midland, but apparently to Texans, this is a quick drive for a weekend getaway.

Our first stop was the Alamo in downtown San Antonio...

Sadly, all I really knew about the Alamo before we decided to go to San Antonio came from Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure.  We watched The Alamo movie (the modern version with Billy Bob Thornton) a few weeks before we went to get some of the history. I obviously knew nothing about the Alamo because I was shocked when we got to the end and the Mexicans won!  I had no idea!

Near the Alamo is the famed River Walk.  It really is beautiful and was one of my favorite parts of our short trip.

Ezra loved the boat ride...not so much because we were on a boat or in water.  I'm pretty sure he was oblivious to this.  He loved it because he had a captive audience of strangers.  Our little boy loves to be the center of attention.  I really don't know where he gets it because neither Marc nor I are that way.

After the boat ride, we had dinner at one of the restaurants on the river.  The River Walk is beautiful at night, but the heat and humidity didn't let up at all after nightfall.

The unfortunate part of our trip happened when we got back to our truck after dinner.  We found the window smashed and all of our luggage opened inside.  Thankfully, my ipod was the only thing that was stolen.  However, we couldn't find any one that could fix the window until Tuesday, long after we were planning to head home.  So for the rest of the trip and on the drive back to Midland we drove around without a driver's side window.  We shut up a blanket in the door to block out some of the wind and keep in the some of the cold air.  This helped a little, but it also made us look very white trash.

On Saturday, we went to the San Antonio Zoo.  It was fun but very HOT.  Ezra was even pretty lethargic from the heat.

We found some respite in the reptile house...

...and the riverbed play area.  Ezra loved the riverbed, although I spend most of the time trying to prevent handfuls of sand from making it into his mouth.

Ezra really liked all the colorful birds....

...as well as the hippopotamus feeding.

After a long nap back at the hotel, we had some fun in the pool, which was actually heated unlike any pool I've bee to in Midland.

We really liked San Antonio, and hopefully we'll get back there soon to see and do more.  But next time we could definitely do without any break-ins!

7.4.12 Independence Day

Summer is almost over...school starts in the morning for the kids in Midland, so I guess it's about time I post about our summer.  I'll start with one of my summer favorites -- the 4th of July.

Our 4th was different this year being away from Utah and all of our regular family traditions.  Thankfully, Midland had a firework show downtown.  It was the first one in 7 years due to fire restrictions.  We're still in a pretty bad drought, but I guess it was just wet enough to permit fireworks this year.

We headed downtown with two other couples from our ward and strolled around trying to figure out where we would have the best view.

Ezra was terrified of the fireworks.  He doesn't get scared of much, so I'm thinking his reaction was mainly due to the fact that he was up way past his bedtime.

He didn't cry, but he held on to us as tight as possible and had this horrified look on his face.  He kept reaching for Marc, and then me, back and forth like he was just trying to get away from them. However, he couldn't seem to look away either.

The fireworks were actually quite impressive...definitely no Stadium of Fire, but they went on for about 20 minutes and made it feel like Independence Day.

7.25.12 First Haircut

Ezra finally got his first proper haircut.  We loved his curls, but too often his hair just looked more scraggly than curly. Aunt Brianne was kind enough to do the cutting for us.

All ready for his hair cut...he was very entertained just sitting in this new chair in the great outdoors.

We gave him a sucker to distract him from the fact that someone was messing with his hair.  It served its purpose very well, but in the end Ezra was a sticky mess.  Sticky and hairy since the trimmings stuck right to him.

     

             
 And the results...not the best photos, but they give the overall idea.  I think it makes him look older, as well as make his "Minster ears" more noticeable.

      

We only wish his daddy could have been here...but hopefully these photos will help him be a part of the experience.  We love you and miss you, Marc!  Less than a week and we'll be home!

5.29.12 The Crawling Begins

Yes.  Ezra started crawling the last week of May.  Once he started, he perfected it pretty quickly and began getting into everything.  I had to do some quick baby proofing involving pool noodles, duct tape, and cardboard (our ghetto apartment looks even more ghetto if that's possible).

Crawling opened the door to rolling over, which caused some new problems in the bath tub and sleeping in his crib.  It is like he forgot how to do those things once he could suddenly move in new ways.  Thankfully, he's now figured out those things for the most part (although he seems to enjoy sleeping in the oddest positions).

Here is a little video of Ezra in action from early in June...

Happy Father's Day

I love my dad!  He has set such great example of love and dedication to God and his family.  I am so grateful for all he has taught me.  I know he would drop everything to help me at anytime.

Thank you for being a wonderful father and grandpa, Dad!  Love you and Happy Father's Day!

And Happy First Father's Day to Marc!  He loves Ezra more than anything. They already have way too much fun together and Ezra gets so excited every time Marc walks through the door after work. Thank you, Marc, for being such a great dad to our little boy.

Memorial Day Weekend

Our Memorial Day weekend was filled with fun.  Nothing too exciting, but it was just nice to do something different and have more time to spend with Marc.

On Friday night there was a free Beatles Tribute concert in downtown Midland.  Ezra loved dancing to to the music with Mommy.  Dad didn't dance so much :).

On Saturday, we went with some friends to Monahans Sandhill State Park.

Ezra loved the sand so much that he brought at least a bucket full home in his diaper...I'm sure burying him in the sand might have contributed to that.

5.16.12 Eight Months

Our little Ezra is 8 months old and what a big boy he is!  He is 29 inches tall, and over 20 pounds.  We went swimming to celebrate and then Ezra took a long nap and woke up with crazy hair--unfortunately he gets that from his mom.

Oh, what a funny little boy!