“Half-time” for k!

Last month, k turned nine years old.  This was a bittersweet celebration since nine is half-way to eighteen years old!  How can that be?  This article about this milestone really resonated with me.  We were supposed to be in San Diego for her birthday, but D was sick, so we had to postpone our trip to the next week.  Although I did not enjoy being in the hospital just before Christmas when she was born, it is nice that she is usually on school break on her birthday now.

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This funny girl wanted pumpkin pie for her birthday dessert!

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Aquarium of the Pacific in December

I won a couple of sets of tickets to Aquarium of the Pacific, so we went to their holiday celebration.  We also were able to invite some friends to come along with us.

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We saw some feedings.

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This moray eel is so creepy!

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My favorite—penguins!

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When our friends came, the kids became braver about touching the animals.

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Well, maybe not that brave.  Look at the disgust!

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Our trip was cut somewhat short because one kid in each family was not feeling well.

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We did make a quick stop to slide down the small snow hill before leaving, though!

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D is in the Mazda Drive For Good® Event 2015 Commercial!

D went to Memphis to shoot this commercial.  You can only see him for about a second, but he’s the Asian American guy in the car, playing a salesman–haha.  We have yet to see this commercial on television, but plenty of other people have told us they saw it. 

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Thanksgiving in Napa

We had dinner the night before Thanksgiving at a neighborhood Italian restaurant called Il Posto.  Note to self: the kid’s cheese pizza is the same size the adult pizza.  Also, the meat pizza has tons of meat!

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The leaves actually change color in Napa!  How lovely.

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We ate Thanksgiving lunch with D’s family at Embassy Suites in Napa.

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They were already ready for Christmas!

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The kids had fun playing with their cousin S.  Good times.

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Fall Soccer Recap

This is what playing soccer during a drought looks like!

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n played both spring and fall soccer this year.  After the fall season ended, I was totally burned out.  Two practices during the weekdays plus game every Saturday was too much for this mama to handle (along with all the other kids’ activities).  n did have a good season, though.  He scored two key goals, one that helped his team go into the top division.  The second was a last minute tie-breaker to win their first tournament game.  (They also ended up winning their second tournament game).  His team received both a participation trophy and a championship medal for their division (#2).  I am sure we will sign him up again for next fall, but I am taking a break next spring!

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San Antonio, Eats and The Saga

 

One thing that San Antonio does not lack is restaurants.  Walking up and down the River Walk, there is a seemingly endless chain of restaurant after restaurant.  D and I made mental notes of what was there and I researched them on Yelp during my downtime.  For dinner, we settled on The County Line.

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For checking into Yelp we received a free appetizer plate of sausage.

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We also ordered a side of the homemade wheat bread which was quite good.  However, we needed to save room for the main event, the bbq!

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We ordered the five meat platter, which included brisket, sausage, turkey, a beef rib and baby back ribs.  I realize this picture is not very appetizing, but it was pretty good.  I should also mention that our waitress was particularly nice which made the experience even better.  However, the mosquitoes also had a feast on my legs while we dined outside, so that was not fun. 

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View from our hotel room.

After D fulfilled his work duties the next day, we went to an area of San Antonio called The Market Square, which has a bunch of Mexican restaurants and shops.  I would not recommend walking there at night, as it is a bit sketchy, but during the day it was fine. 

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We ate at Mi Tierra.  I ordered the lunch special of chicken with zucchini, rice, beans and a side of tortillas.

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D ordered the beef enchiladas.

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D also felt the need to order this red soda.  I forgot the actual name, but when D asked the waitress what it tasted like, she said it was like “Big Red”.  That was not helpful since we were not familiar with Big Red either.  I had one sip, but was not a fan.  I think it is like cherry Dr. Pepper. 

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The restaurant had a lot of atmosphere, and we could not believe what a bargain the food was!

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Of course, we had to make a stop at the bakery counter afterward. 

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San Fernando Cathedral…more on this later.

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This is the courthouse. 

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Chillin’ out with our guava and lemon pastries—yum!  For dinner, we went to the Awards Banquet at the Wyndham.  We excused ourselves to make the 9:00 p.m. showing of The Saga, which is an art installation by Xavier de Richemont which is projected onto the façade of the aforementioned San Fernando Cathedral.

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This is what it looked like at night, before the show began.

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The show lasts about twenty minutes, and there is music to accompany the lights, which tells the history of San Antonio.

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The production, which is free to the public, is so amazing!  I am glad I was able to convince D to go.  It was a wonderful way to wrap up our trip!

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San Antonio: Riverwalk Cruise and Alamo

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In the morning, we had a nice breakfast and D manned the Mazda table. 

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In the afternoon, we took a short narrated cruise on the Riverwalk.  This is a must do when visiting San Antonio!  Well worth the $8.25 admission.

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One interesting tidbit is that the river is only 3-4 feet deep in most parts.  Also, the majority of the river is natural, with just one bend being manmade!

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There are some intricate mosaics integrated into the architecture. 

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There were some Christmas decorations up, but we missed the lights on the trees along the Riverwalk.  I bet that looks spectacular!

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Gargoyles!

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We were also able to visit the Alamo during our first afternoon.  It was nice being able to walk everywhere.

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The garden of the Alamo has koi fish!

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We caught a short recitation by a school group in front of the Alamo.

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However, the real crowd started gathering to see this guy:

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Ozzy Osbourne!  Apparently, he was making a public apology for urinating on the Alamo a while back.  Classy.

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