Friday, March 23, 2012

03.23.2012: I Looked Into the Windows of Her Soul and I Said....Party?!

Our last night here......

So, we were planning to have just a nice quiet little family dinner with just us and all the kids over there at VJ & Sarah's house for the night...but somehow turned into a little party!  Patty & Katrina had driven up from Brownsville to spend the weekend with Charles....so they came over!  Vince's longtime family friend from early Air Force days. Stacy, and her family came over.  Vince's nephew Luke came over.  Christina's friends found out she was in town, so they came over.  So we had a nice little impromptu gathering over at the house!  It was great seeing everyone and spending the evening together.  Vince and I were really sad we were leaving...it was a bittersweet party....only because everytime we are all together with VJ, Christina, and Sarah, and of course all the kiddos, it just reminds us how much we miss them & wish they would move back to AZ.  Although VJ & Sarah are definitely where they need to be for the kiddos, it just isn't fair that they are so far away! So, as we do....we make the best of it when we are all together!!!



 Poor Vince (Jr) had just rolled back into town from his work trip to Lareto, after getting stuck in completely stopped traffic on the 35 for hours....and we put him right to work.  All Vince wanted was some of VJ's special chicken fajitas.....and had been waiting all week for them.  Oh, and some fresh pico too!  So, being the trooper, he got home (exhausted) and got right to work!  THANKS...we appreciated it!!!!  :)
 Reunited......Charles is living in San Antonio right now for work, and Patty is still in Brownsville until Katrina finishes up this year of school.  Then they will move up to SA as well.  So, for now they enjoy their time together on the short weekends that they get!
 Kids.....being kids!!  They were posed all pretty earlier....then BAM!
 Christina with Paisley....and champ!  Good Auntie!
 "Storm"....this is Christina's friend Rachel.  Hilarious Rachel!!  It was a blast FINALLY meeting her, as I had heard sooooo many stories about Rachel and Christina growing up!  The first night we were there, Rachel heard we were in town and rushed over to say hi!  We missed her on our last visit, so she wanted to make sure she got her "Uncle Vince" time in!  We stayed up laughing with her for hours!  And the stories.....on my gooooosh!  The first night we watched the Key & Peele skit of "I Said B****.." and laughed and laughed....and tonight Rachel had her own "I Said..." skit for every scenario that you can imagine.  So funny!!
 Aaaahhhhh.....loving aunt!!!
 Best buds!!!!
 Yes I was there too!
 Vince, the neph Luke, and VJ
 Stacy, Vince, Charles, Patty, Christina & Paisley


 Trouble.....
 Sis's

 So, leave it to VJ to entertain the kids with some crazy game of "stuff this big cracker in your mouth all at once and whoever chews it up and swallows it all first wins" without spitting any out of course!  Not only did they think this was hilarious, but they were way delirous and wired and tired and crazy.  So, it was really funny watching them!  Such great parents we all are :)



  

Drake won!

What a fun night....we had a blast!!  All the kids ended up staying there and having a sleepover for the night.  Drake had the best spring break ever!  Getting to spend a week with his brother & family was the best thing in the world for him!  Definitely something we should make an annual tradition!  We left the next afternoon....sad and missing everyone already....but with such great memories...and getting to meet the newest member of the Hearns!!!  :)


Thursday, March 22, 2012

03.22.2012: First Babysitters

So after the crazy animal park experience, we dropped off Drake with Sarah & Christina.  Vince and I had a work dinner with Charles & some potential future partners in a new endeavor.  So the girls volunteered to watch Drake, along with the Gabby & Darien...and of course Paisley!  Before we headed off for dinner, Christina & Sarah needed to run some errands (without all the kiddos) for a while so they left Paisley with us.  Her first babysitting session!!!!  I feel sooooooo lucky to be the first to watch her! :)  Well, Vince was there too...so I guess we both get the prize! 

So, of course the kids all decide they want to hold her....the only time they come downstairs all evening/afternoon!  Vince wanted his time holding Paisley since I was hogging her up until then...but the kids were begging to hold her.  So they each got a little turn...until she got mad anyways.  Then we took her back, and they ran back upstairs! :)







03.22.2012: Crazy Wildlife Park

So remember growing up when you could go drive your car around the Wild Animal Park or Wild Rivers and the animals would come up to your car and try to climb in your windows....and it one parked itself right in front of you, you couldn't go anywhere until they decided to move.  Well, this place is like that....except much less dangerous-type animals...but still crazy and wild. 

Just so happened there was one right in SA!  I was excited to go since it had been forever since I had been to one of these parks.  It was very Jurassic Park looking as we drove up....bought our animal food....and drove in!  The first animals we came to were the buffalo and the cows.  Yes, cows.  Ok, there were some longhorns too, after all, it is Texas...what do you expect.  They were all pretty domicle and very uninterested in our vehicle...or our food....or us in general.  Which was fine by me...I was not going to get tricked into feeding some cows when I know there are things such as zebras & emu's down the road!  And there used to be a fully stocked buffalo ranch down the street from me in AZ, so everyday I drove by on my way to work and waved (in my head, not actually waved out the window) to the buffalo.   That is until the property sold to a developer and they built a whole subdivision on it...which by the way are gorgeous houses...but I really miss those buffalo.  But that is for another post another day!  Anways, back to the buffalos at hand.  So, out of respect for these poor guys, I took some pics so they felt like they were just as interesting as all those other animals in the wild!




These guys amused us and came up to the car looking for food.  Drake almost emptied his whole bag because he was so excited that he could feed them by hand....even though I warned him to save some for the rest of the trip.  He held back a little....but these guys were persistent!





The Texas terrain....actually there were really pretty views from up here...all pretty flat with little rolling hills, but it allowed you to see off into the distance.

OK, NOW WE ARE TALKING!!!!!  Here comes the most exciting part of the trip!!!  This sign is no joke.  Those zebras are aggressive!!  So, we decided there are some newbies here (or just slightly less intelligent), and there are some veterans here (or just slightly more intelligent).  As with humans, I guess!!  Haha!   Anyways, as soon as we drove up, they made a mad dash for the car....luckily we had a Chevy Acadia so we were up higher, and felt a little more secure!  It was actually a little intimidating watching them approach, but we were excited!


 Now this guy, he is a veteran here....or just one of the slightly more intelligent zebras in the bunch.  Lets just say he knew how to get himself fed!!  He walked up to Drake's side of the car (behind me) and went to the window and just opened his mouth...WIDE open!  He didn't encroach, he didn't try to jump in the car, he didn't try to bite....he just sat there calmly with his mouth open waiting for the prize.  So Drake would throw some food in there and he would chew it up and open back up.  Now, itsn't that an amazing thing to do, if ya just want some food?!



 Alright...now this guy is on the other end of the spectrum.  He came over to Vince's window.  He didn't know the rules, or how to get himself fed.  He stuck his whole head right in the car and was fishing around for some food.  Vince kept trying to get him out of the car and feed him from a distance, but he didn't get it.  So, he was literally all up in Vince's face....so Vince rolled up his window.  And what does this intelligent creature do??  Starts chewing on the rubber frame around the window!!  Haha!!!  Thank goodness for rentals.  However, he never did get himself some real food.....he needs some lessons.


 Back to the veterans...these guys knew how to get it done!!!


 Next up...the ostriches.  This one creeped me out!  When he saw us driving towards him, he camee running at the car, straight on.  It looked like an alien.  I swore we were going to be attacked.  But he moved over to Vince's side window.  Those long creepy necks are just strange, and their eyes are strange, and they look at you strange.  It was wierd, and I never realized how wierd these creatures are!  Anyways, he came up to us and just stuck his head in the car.  And it was scary because his neck was so long and he looked like he would peck you in the face.  They don't look nice.


 So, Drake ended rolling up his window cuz he wasn't all about this thing pecking him in the face.  But really wanted to feed him so rolled the window down halfway and this guy turns his head and sticks it in the car....again creepy!
 The llama's were cute...and seemed a little dumb.  They were slow and looked like they were drugged or half sleep.
 The emu's just helped themselves to the bag of food....they seemed nice and wanted the whole bag more than just a nugget here & there.
 After the drive thru, you can get out of the car and walk up to the giraffe cages.  They couldn't climb all up in your car, and you couldn't feed these guys.  They are wierd also though!!!  Their tongues are CRAZY LONG!!!  And they always have slobber and spit dripping from their mouths.  And it was windy, so there were long strains of spit flying all over the place.  I swear we were going to get hit!  It was gross....and again, wierd!

 This guy spent the whole time licking the side of the house.  Yup, again, who knows....maybe it was sprayed with candy or something delish....or maybe he was just special.  I don't know....again, wierd.
 This guy kept looking at me...which was slightly intriguing and slightly scary all at the same time!


 Baby llama's....in the petting zoo...they were sooooo cute!!
 This one kept chewing on Drake's shirt....which he first thought was funny and cool, then it freaked him out!

SO, WOW!!!  What a day at the park!!!  Who knew......it was a definitely MUST-DO if you are in San Antonio though....highlight of the trip...besides the whole Paisley & family part!!!  Nothing really tops that...however this was pretty fun & exciting!!  Drake had a blast & said about 100x's how cool it was!