Corn Maze

On Saturday we took the the boys to the South Texas Corn Maize. It was a perfect day for some fall fun. A passing cold front meant it actually felt like fall (a rarity in Texas); so we pulled on our sweaters and socks, grabbed some hot chocolate, and drove down to Hondo, Texas.

Once there, we wandered through the corn maze, went on a hay ride, and explored the pumpkin patch. Howie had lots of fun playing on a bouncy play mat, climbing on tractors, and going down the giant tube slide. Henry loved playing in the dirt. The whole family had a great time!

We are ready to enter the corn maze!

Our fearless leader, Howie! Amazingly, we didn't get too lost even following Howie's directions.

We made it out! I was pleased to discover that my directional abilities have improved since the last time I was in a corn maze (which was in high school).  We never got hopelessly lost and we found the end without cheating!

Playing in the pumpkin patch.

Howie had a hard time picking a pumpkin so he ran around the patch picking up all of them.

Henry sat down at the first pumpkin he saw and reached for whatever pumpkins were within arm's reach.

Henry loves his pumpkin! We brought it home where he plays with it and chews on the stem.

Henry and Matt

I just love this boy's smile!

Howie playing on a tractor. After his experience with golf carts, Howie was a little worried that the tractor would start moving while he was on it. He got very upset when I pushed down on the pedals, even though the wheels were half buried in the dirt.

There are room for two boys on this tractor.

Howie goes on a tractor ride. You might think from his face that Howie is not enjoying the ride, but this is actually Howie saying, "Cheese!"

Howie playing on the bouncy thing.

Dinosaur Tracking

Michelle has asked that I, Matt, be a guest writer for this post.  The San Antonio Botanical Gardens recently opened its newest exhibit "Dinosaur Live."  It features 11 lifesize dinosaurs scattered throughout the area.  The opening of the exhibit coincided nicely with a book that we've been reading with Howie at night titled Dinosaur Tamer (it is the story of little boy named Rocky who lives in the wild west and lassos big dinos).  Naturally, Howie assumed the role of dinosaur tamer at the gardens while Henry served as the timid naturalist strapped to the back of his dad.

The exhibits featured giant, prehistoric cockroaches, 3-foot long scorpions, an allosaur, and some other big dinosaurs that I can't spell let alone pronounce.  The exhibits were setup like a scavenger hunt with some of the dinosaurs, as big as they are, tucked away in dense forests making it fun to search for them.

This was also the first time we've gone to the Gardens in the fall, so a lot of the foliage was new to us.  We'll be sure to take some non-dinosaur pictures next time we go to show everyone.  Hopefully, in a few weeks all of the leaves will begin to change color giving us a reason to go again.

The Allosaur mom is too busy keeping all of kids in order to notice us in the background (Michelle and I feel for this dino-mama)

I love it that Howie is too concerned with the dinosaur to smile for the camera.  This was one of the first dinosaurs on the exhibit, so he was still trying to determine if they were actually alive.

They had set this big dino up in a big clearing, so you could see from a lot of different spots throughout the park.

Finally, one of the rarest finds along the tour, the Hobson family together in a picture.  From the look of the dinosaur's face in the background, she was very surprised, too.

A Little Redecorating

We love color! Bright color! Lots of color! We have lots of color everywhere in our apartment except the living room. We were tired of our living room dragging us down, so we decided to redecorate. So far we have rearranged some furniture and purchased a few things, but I think it will take us quite awhile to actually finish for several reasons: we are cheap, we have no idea what we are doing, and we have kids. In the meanwhile, here is a glimpse of what we have done so far.

I purchased a new cushion for our papasan chair. The old maroon one was a major part of the color problems in the living room. All of the maroon and navy blue needed to go--and quickly! 

A new rug for the floor gave us some much needed color right away. Our old run was brown and boring. I don't think anyone would call this new rug boring. And it has polka dots. I love polka dots.

I love these lamps! (We bought two.)

An end table we purchased at a flea market for $10.

Another end table purchased from Craigslist for $30. I love it!

And it has storage! Our remote is lost much less often these days.

Some new art for the walls. I think eventually these may be replaced with something more custom, like something I paint myself, but for now these give the walls some lovely color.

A bike clock! So awesome! 

A new stool for my desk to replace the wooden folding chair that threatened to collapse whenever someone sat down.  Howie really likes this one because it swivels up and down--it is a chair and toy all in one!

So, there you have it. If we ever manage to finish our redecorating I will show you the end result. Will all of these things go together? I don't know. I am not much of a decorator. But I do know that our living room will be colorful!

Good Eats

We love to eat good food. Doesn't everyone? It is one of the things we do for fun. Here is what we have been eating lately. 

Last week we had dinner at Henry's Puffy Tacos as part of our restaurant tour of San Antonio. Earlier this year we ate at Hungry Howie's Pizza, so this stop finished up the "restaurants with the same names as our kids" portion of the tour.

Puffy tacos! Yummy!

We also enjoyed some home cooked Texas style barbeque. Matt smoked a brisket. I made some beans and blackberry cobbler. We often enjoy brisket at home, but this one deserves mentioning because it is the very best brisket Matt has ever cooked. Seriously. And we are pretty sure the next one is going to be even better.

Matt is showing off his mad smoking skills. Note how the brisket can be pulled apart with his fingers. This is a first for us, and we were very proud. This brisket didn't last long.

 Of course, the biggest eater in our family is Henry. That kid loves food so much! If you don't believe me, just look at his thighs. One of his favorite foods is apples. If I am eating an apple next to him, he grabs it and starts gnawing away with his gums. If I try to take my apple back, he gets very upset. As much as he loves apples, it should probably be noted that he gets very upset if you take anything away from him, food or otherwise.

Family Vacation

Last Wednesday we decided we would like to go on a family vacation. Immediately. Matt took Thursday and Friday off of work. We booked two nights in a resort hotel, threw some stuff in a suitcase, and took off. Thirty minutes later we arrived at our destination, and our vacation began.

For our vacation we chose to stay at the lovely Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa. It was close to home, but tucked just far enough away in a little corner of the Hill Country to feel removed from home. Since this was a resort hotel, we had the luxury of doing all our eating, sleeping, and playing in one convenient location. The resort had a spa, golf course, tennis courts, multiple swimming pools, a lazy river with tubes, a beach, sand volleyball, a nature trail, a playground, and bike rentals. It had all the makings for a very fun vacation!

On Wednesday night we explored the hotel grounds, ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, and made s'mores at the hotel fire pit. Then we relaxed in our room and watched movies.

Here is the gang roasting marshmallows.

Here is part of the hotel.

Room with a view: We were on the fourth floor and had a balcony.

On Thursday we had lots of fun! We played beach volleyball and floated on tubes around the lazy river. We played water basketball and soaked in the jacuzzi tub. Howie played on the playground and rode a tricycle on a short (very short) portion of the nature trail.

All of this was a lot of fun, but the highlight of our vacation was our afternoon on the golf course. In our pre-kid days, Matt and I did a lot of golfing. We love to golf! Golfing is being outside together on a beautiful day in a beautiful place driving a golf cart around and hitting balls with a stick. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Prior to our vacation, it had been over four years since we had been golfing. We just never thought to golf with kids along, but it turns out that golfing is a great family activity. Henry loves to be outside with his family. Howie loves to ride in golf carts and hit balls around. And Matt and I discovered that we can still fully enjoy golfing, even with kiddos along.

The resort had a family golf special which included 9 holes, a set of golf clubs for everyone, and a golf cart, all for a very reasonable price. Howie even got his own little golf bag with a kid-sized driver and putter. Howie liked that, but he was even more excited about the golf cart. While we were all standing around getting things ready to go, Howie climbed in the golf cart, pushed the gas pedal, and started rolling away. It gave him a pretty good scare but not enough to keep him from wanting to help drive.

So we spent a very pleasant afternoon driving through the trees and grass. Henry sat on the golf cart and grass watching everything. Howie jumped out of the golf cart every time we stopped and hit his ball around. Matt and I found that our golf skills hadn't digressed too much in our four year absence from golf. (It's hard to get worse when you aren't very good to begin with.) And we all enjoyed being outside together on a beautiful day in a beautiful place.

Matt is showing off his mad driving skills. This is where his ball landed, which is within site of the hole.  It was the best drive of the day!

We came back from our golf adventures tired and happy. What a good day we had. What a nice vacation!

Solid Waste Softball Tournament

On Saturday we went to the Fourth Annual Solid Waste Softball Tournament. It was a beautiful and cool Fall day. We rode our bikes to the softball fields and enjoyed a morning watching softball and eating sausages.

All the boys enjoying the game.

This is Henry's first softball tournament. Howie was this age when he went to his first  softball tournament.

Howie and his best friend Pax. Those two played on this pile of sand for a solid 5 hours.  I wish I had a picture of them at the end. They were covered head to foot with sand and ice cream. 

Matt enjoying a sausage wrap.

I don't know about you, but I think it is a great idea to work for the city department that has its own smoker trailer. 

Henry played in the sand too, but he did not get nearly as dirty.