Day 5...Outlet Shopping, and SUU!

James had a special surprise for me on our last day. We were able to go to our good friend's football game. Ed and Sarah were in San Marcos Texas and their team SUU was playing Texas State.

It was great to see Sarah. We didn't get to talk to Ed, he was coaching the game and slightly unavailable. We sat right in the middle of the student section and their were maybe 20 of us their supporting SUU. It was a little intimidating, but we made fast friends.

Earlier in the day we went to the LARGEST outdoor outlets I have ever been too. When they say Texans do it big, they are not kidding. This place was so big that we couldn't walk the whole thing. The humidity was partly to blame. I never thought I could sweat in certain places....but now I know.

Our trip was great. The best part of it was just being with our little family! LOVE THEM!!!

Day 4...A Real Mall, IMax, Swimming

Day four we went to not one, but two malls! REAL MALLS. It was like we couldn't get enough. And if that wasn't bad enough we hit all the cliche things in the mall like...Orange Julius, Cinnabon, Imax, etc,....

Our favorite stops...Old Navy, Crazy 8, Gap, Barnes and Nobel, Jamba Juice, and Red Mango...pretty sad huh.

In between malls, James took the kids swimming on the roof of our hotel...I should have taken better pictures. The hotel was 21 stories high, and the views were amazing!

Day 3...River, Alamo, and Dinos

We stayed in a hotel that overlooked part of the Riverwalk, and it was great. We were able to catch a taxi boat each day and go up the river. One of our taxi drivers took us from one end of the Riverwalk to the other. It was beautiful. It has many, many, many art sculptures, beautiful building and scenery.

We also went on a tour of the Alamo. The boys especially loved that. It was interesting to see where it all happened after watching movies and reading about it.

Then it was off to the mall...yes a REAL mall. This particular mall had a dinosaur exhibit that Ethan was thrilled to see. He must have spent two hours there.

Day 2...A Deep Dark Hole

This was probably one of my most favorite days of our trip...Carlsbad Caverns. It was amazingly beautiful and HUGE! I had had pretty low expectations (I thought I would be claustrophobic), but this place is so BIG, you just don't feel that way. The caverns are 753 feet below the ground, and cover an amazing 600,000 sq. ft.

After we got up to ground level, I texted my psychologist father and told him that I had been in a deep dark hole, his reply "Climb out as fast as you can, it only gets worse if you stay down there, stop digging it makes things worse!" Only my Dad.

The rest of the day was spent making the trek to San Antonio. After we checked into the hotel, we went down to the Riverwalk (which is beautiful), ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (huge discussion on the cost of the souvenir alligator cups, which to my great frustration...we bought), and then on to see the Alamo at night...AWESOME!

Day 1..."We Come in Pieces"

"We come in pieces"....I know it is peace, but Ethan saw some commercial about aliens, and candy and coming in pieces....It was our favorite saying for Day 1 of our Vacation.

We went to Roswell New Mexico, where they say an alien landed...Do you believe it? Ethan definitely does. He has been wanting to go here for a while, so it was worth it just seeing the smile on his face!

A Larson Visit

It was wonderful to have James' family come to visit. The only thing that we were disappointed in was that they could not stay longer....or better yet, that we all didn't live closer together. Thank you Park and Sybil for the trip, it has been the highlight of our year!

Aztec Ruins with Park and Sybil

Another adventure that James took his parents on was a trip to Aztec Ruins.

James has always loved ruins since he was a boy, and thought it would be fun for his parent's to see some (when Rose came out in April, he took her too, and she was still willing to go back)!

Ethan also went and was their official tour guide.