So Much Fun... and we're not even done!!

Ok, so we left off in Guadalupe River State Park, which, I should say, was a lovely park, but the kids wanted to get in the water and since they didn't have their swimsuits, I didn't reeeeally think that anything beyond a lil toe-dippin' was such a great idea.

So we ended up at Landa Park in New Braunfels.



We rode the train around the park,







and the kids played on the playground



and splashed in the spring which is the source of the Comal River. Perfect.






Tuesday was a kinda low-action day. R and I took Beebie and Pie to see Coraline in 3D, which was absolutely spectacular. You can't see it in 3D in St. Louis anymore, so I was afraid we'd have to settle for 2D, but I'm so glad we were able to see it as it should be seen. I will say this, though - it was a lot scarier than I expected.

I mean, yeah, I kinda know what to expect with Tim Burton, but I think the commercials were a little bit misleading in that they didn't exactly convey how dark the story is. Even Pie, who is a huge Burton fan (he's even seen Sweeney Todd, please don't call CPS) was a little creeped out at some parts. I was glad Tito didn't want to come, he would never have made it through.

Afterwards R took me shopping and I got a pair of shorts and jeans in a size smaller than last year. That was probably the highlight of the trip, for me.

While we were at the movie, my parents took Tito to H-E-B, (which is the greatest chain of supermarkets in the WORLD, if you ask me) and to Half Price Books. Half Price Books is one of my favorite things about San Antonio. It's like a treasure hunt every time. I found this at the HPB on San Pedro and was ecstatic.



At the store on Broadway, Tito locked accidentally himself in the bathroom and freaked out - it was quite the scene.



The boys found some Bionicle, Magic Tree House and Artemis Fowl books. I found a few knitting books, and R found some geek books from some geek book series I've never heard of, cuz, well, cuz I'm not a geek.

Tuesday afternoon was a beautiful day, so my parents and the kids played Apples to Apples on the deck. Apples to Apples is one of the Apes' favorite games.

If you've never played it, basically one player (the judge) draws a green card that's an adjective, and the other players are dealt red cards that are nouns (both common and proper) and the object is to submit the noun card that the judge determines is the best representation of the adjective. As a lexophile and former English teacher, it does my heart good to see my kids enjoying games like this.

Anyway, Mom and Dad and the kiddos were playing Apples to Apples, and the green card was "trustworthy, loyal". Beeb was the judge, and she was reading through the red cards, and she read the one my mom played, which was "flies" (not the verb - the kind that swarm at picnics). Sometimes you get crappy cards and none of them match the adjective, so you have to play the one that sucks least.

Beeb questioned Mom's logic. "FLIES, Nana???"

Mom countered, "Well, have you ever known a dishonest fly?"

(My mom thinks she's funny.)

And then Tito, in his Antonio Banderas voice, said -

"One time... A FLY BETRAYED ME."

And I about pissed myself laughing.


After dinner we went for a walk, at a park where I encountered this warning sign.


Feral hogs??? I love how if you see a mountain lion, you're supposed to call and report it (assuming said mountain lion didn't claw your throat to ribbons), but if you encounter feral hogs, you're on your own.

And can I just point out that I was hoping to see some wildlife on our trip, and after 2500 miles in the Odyssexy, we didn't see one stinkin dead armadillo? I did, however, get stung by a fire ant (just one, mind you) on my toe. That's about all the Texas wildlife I got to see.

We climbed to the top of the tower, where the view was so awesome you could see downtown.





We slept like logs that night.


Wednesday my parents took the kids and gave R and me a day to ourselves. We hadn't been to Gruene since before the boys were born, so that was where I wanted to go. Gruene has grown a lot since we were there last, but the parts that I love the most were exactly as I remembered them.

I love how skinny my waist looks in this pic.

THE place to eat in Gruene, Texas is The Grist Mill. It overlooks the Guadalupe River, and you can eat outside or in, but even inside feels like outside because the windows are wide open and the breeze brings in the unmistakable scent of mountain laurel and barbecue. Absolute Heaven, I tell you.



R had the bratwurst. With PICKLES. Fucker.



(Just wanna say for the record that when I go out to eat with Speed, he voluntarily orders his meals pickle-free.)

I had the cheeseburger. And if I've never defined for you my standard of a good, greasy cheeseburger, here ya go: If it's completely left your system before you've left the restaurant, THAT's a good, greasy cheeseburger.

And if that's TMI for you, then Welkommen, Bienvenue... you must be new to my blog.

We walked around my favorite antique shop,



and found some amusing stuff.



And remember the parsley flakes from 1981 I found in my parent's spice cabinet last time? They still have crazy shit in there that's older than me.





Nineteen cents? When was the last time ANYTHING cost nineteen cents??? You can't send a post card for nineteen cents.



But then we saw this at the antique shop...



(it's blurry, but that says $16.00)



and I decided not to give Mom one more ounce of grief about it... provided she leaves me her extensive vintage spice collection in her will.

We bought some groovy vintage aluminum tumblers.



Stopped for dinner at Rudy's BBQ,


which didn't seem as yummy to me now that I've experienced Pappy's in St. Louis.

Meanwhile, the Apes went to the Witte Museum and back to Landa Park with my parents.

I still have Thursday, Friday and Saturday to write about, but I hope this tides you over until I get that posted.