Halloween Saturday was a very busy day.  We had soccer games, a party at the Arcadia to see Astroboy and of course Halloween.  Since David was flying in that evening at about 8:30, we needed to get to San Antonio.  So we decided to visit the ZooBoo.  It was SO crowded…but the kids had a glorious time.  Cal dressed as the Dark Knight and Kate decided to finally use the witch costume that Aunt Lori got her years ago.  They both looked great and we had a really nice time.  A lot of the animals were out and moving, of course Cal reminded me they were nocturnal..;-)

We picked David up (late!) and then went to EZ’s for dinner.  It was a late night getting home, but lots of fun. 

Later.

David was out of town most of Halloween week in Washington DC, but we had many events and plans.  Maybe too many?  We visited the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins to carve (which we never did!) and then on Friday, Floresville Primary held their 2nd annual career day.  The kids worked long and hard picking out their career outfits.  Kate would like to be an artist (David is looking for a more lucrative angle on that career) and of course Cal is still interested in being an astronaut.  They both looked great!

Later.

We recently decided to take our first family camping trip.  David is an extremely experienced camper…I’ve been camping in a pop-up .

We were originally going to stay at a state park near San Antonio, but the weekend we were able to go coincided with Area Marching Band contest in Corpus Christi.  So we relocated our camping trip to Lake Corpus Christi State Park at Mathis.  It was a VERY nice park.  We really enjoyed our time.  The kids loved hunting for shells in the lake.  We had a bit of trouble with damp wood at first (it had rained a lot that week), but other than that it was really nice – showers and bathrooms were not a far walk and a very short walk to the lakeshore.

We also met the park superintendent, David, who was originally from Lubbock.  We had a very nice talk with him.  We were only able to stay the night as we had to go to band contest the next day.  But it was fun and we will definitely do it again soon.

Later.

Okay well, it’s not as hard as breaking up!   HAHA!  Just kidding…

The kids have had various dress up events this fall including AWANA crazy hair night, College Thursdays at school and Red Ribbon Week (including career day) – they love doing it even though it gives mom gray hairs!

Here are a few samples…

Later.

Well, we never said we were great soccer players and our team is so-so.  We have an awesome coach, Mario Garcia.  He’s so patient with the kids and we really, really like him.  But on this Saturday, we beat the other team 2-0.  Guess who made the two?  Cal and Kate each scored a goal – it was a Vinson banner day!

Later.

Well, in Floresville, October is Peanut Festival time.  The kids love the festival and it is a lot of fun.  On the Wednesday of Peanut Festival week, the Primary school has their own parade.  First graders and Kindergartners watch and the 2nd graders (and administrators, band, cheerleaders) march.

Later.

For Cal’s 8th birthday – we celebrated Star Wars style!  He invited some boys from school to come over on a Thursday afternoon.  We had ice cream cake, a Darth Vader pinata, opened gifts and ate some pizza with Light Saber Green Lemonade!  The boys had a fun time – I don’t know how many more of these birthday parties I will host though!

Cal took alien (of course!) cupcakes to school for his birthday.

Later.

Cal LOVES Star Wars – I mean loves it and so in turn Kate if forced to watch many, many hours of it.  She’s come to like it, but since art is her favorite – she just does projects while it’s on.  One Saturday evening they were watching it and Kate came in to the living room like this (see below).  David and I were VERY impressed with her artistic talent.

Later.

Okay – so Kate never got to go to Art Camp this summer.  We’ve been looking around for little “art days” that she could go to.  San Antonio Museum of Art has Family Sundays – which are really nice – free for kids – parents pay regular price ($8.00).  Anyway, it’s from 1pm-5pm on the first Sunday of the month and they have music, refreshments and all sorts of arts & crafts for the kids.  We decided to check it out the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, especially since it’s on the new expansion of the River.

We went to the River and ate at Hard Rock Cafe (Cal’s choice) and then took a river taxi down to the museum.  Well, a few things to consider – it took about an hour to make it all around the river and back to the expansion – there is some strategy involved and well – we didn’t have it…;-)  You pay an extra $5.00 to go to the new part which is fine, but right around the Tropicana hotel you have to change boats.  Then you take that boat the rest of the way.  The coolest part is that you have to go through this lock and dam (think Panama Canal) to lift the boat up 9 feet to the new part of the river.  This was worth the extra money and time.  Anyway, by the time we got to the museum it was about 3pm – but Kate loved every moment until they were done at 5pm – every moment – she made about 8 projects and still missed out on 2 of them.  Cal wasn’t quite enamored and so dragged Dad around to look at statues etc. – Dad was thrilled.

When it was time to go – we waited and waited on a boat to come and they did  – then they dropped us at the place to switch only to tell us – yep – the Little League champs were being honored with a river parade and all the taxis were held up for 45 minutes.  Oh, my we were SO tired….but we met some neat people from Abilene and chatted about school and such.  We finally made it on and by this time it was like 7pm – so we stopped at Carino’s on Military and ate dinner there.  It was a long day and we were really exhausted, but it was so fun!  Something neat to do since we couldn’t go anywhere for Labor Day (football on saturday and sunday school teaching on Sunday!).

Later.

Yep, it was that time again – first day of school.  It came too soon as it always does, but the kids were very excited (less so excited about going to bed earlier!).   Cal is in 2nd grade this year at Floresville Primary School and his teacher is Ms. Olivia Bailey – he is loving his class – every bit of it!  Kate is in 1st grade also at Floresville Primary School and her teacher is Ms. Kathleen Frantz – we love Mrs. Frantz – she and Kate compete to see who can talk the most – haha – I knew you guys would catch that.  She is lovely and Kate loves school!

The kids also started soccer, church activities and Kate is taking gymnastics – Cal is toying with joining Boy Scouts – we’ll see!

It’s looking to be a great year!

Later.