Family Vacation Part I

I took off from work this Wednesday through the Fourth of July for a week of family vacation. Despite rainy forecasts, we took off for Schlitterbahn on Wednesday morning and it turned out to be a perfect day to go. It was not too hot (the sun was actually shining most of the day) and the crowds were minimal for a summer waterpark. We stayed till the park closed and went back to our hotel to clean up before going out for dinner. By that time, it was 9 PM and everyone was starving. We ate at New Braunfels Smokehouse, which was excellent. On Thursday, we drove into San Antonio, which was when the rain finally hit. It was OK because we spent some time in the Riverwalk Mall, saw a 3D IMAX on dinosaurs, and then met April, Cesar, and Noah for dinner on our way back to Austin. It was a great start to the vacation.

Kenneth is Famous

Awhile back, through a neighbor who worked at an ad agency, Kenneth and Evelyn participated in an ad for Seton hospital's annual report (along with some other kids). They each got $50 to spend over Spring Break and that was that. We never saw that one in print. Soon after, I received a call from the same agency asking if Kenneth would like to be in another ad campaign for the new Dell Children's Hospital. He was paid $150 (which he is saving). He took some pictures holding a sign with an arrow on it (to signify that the Children's Hospital is moving from its current location downtown to its new location north on I-35). Well, that campaign has come to fruition and Kenneth is featured on the side of the parking garage on the current hospital location with his arrow pointing north up I-35. We took a picture of the side of the parking garage while driving slowly up an entrance ramp to the highway. You can see it better if you click on the image. Now, every time we drive past it, we all say "There's Kenneth!" and he smiles proudly.

Mom, God Can See You

We have a very important announcement: Elizabeth had her third baby! The baby's name is Ann Marie, and she arrived on Friday. Caleb and Kyle are both trying to be helpful, Elizabeth says. All of them look great! (I stole the picture from their website, so if you want to see more, check out The Simmons Family link and scroll down to Ann Marie's Hospital Pictures.) We will be visiting them to meet Ann Marie this Saturday. Elizabeth sounds great and is actually celebrating her birthday today as well. Happy birthday Elizabeth!

Sunday was spent doing several things. We had lunch at Central Market, and let the kids play awhile before going on the Cool House Tour. (Oddly enough, we ran into Elizabeth's in-laws, Joey and Paula, and Matthew and Jennifer's family, who had driven in from College Station for the home tour. Jennifer is Elizabeth's sister-in-law and Joey and Paula are her father and mother-in-law.) This tour is made up of several Austin-area "green" homes that have been modified in some or many ways to be environmentally friendly. We only saw 4 of the 8 homes on the tour, but the houses were spread all over town, and it would have been difficult to get to them all. These homes were being lived in and the owners graciously opened them up to any Austinite willing to pay $10 a ticket (kids were free). Needless to say, there were several volunteers manning almost every room in the houses to answer any questions, but probably to prevent theft. Shoes had to be removed in each house. Anyone who knows me well knows I am not fond of feet so I wish I had worn socks instead of flip-flops. I had to traipse around bare foot (like the majority of the visitors) all over these houses. If I were one of those homeowners, the hundreds of barefeet would have bothered me more than some dirt.

At the summer camp, the kids have a dedicated time each day for board games. Both of them have picked up on chess, which has impressed me to no end. I am learning by watching them play with Rod. I am not joking when I say that both of them can hold their own very well. They already know all of the tricky rules. Sponges, that's what they are.

On our way to camp and work this morning, a car pulled out in front of us and we nearly hit them. I had to slam my brakes hard. When we passed the lady who did it, she looked dazed and had a crazy smile on her face, and was going about 5 miles an hour. I looked at her and kind of waved my hands in a "what was that???" gesture. About a minute later, Evelyn informed me "Mom, God can see you." I told her that I was quite aware of that, but that I was behaving respectably towards the person that very nearly caused an accident considering that she could have hit Kenneth's side of the car if we had been 5 seconds ahead, but thanks for keeping me in line.

A Relaxing Saturday

We started the day by heading to The Omlettetry, which is one of our favorite breakfast places. After that we looked at some furniture in a store where the starting price for a dining room table is ~17K. Not exactly our price range, but Rod convinced me that I wouldn't feel out of place in my shorts and t-shirt because it is Austin, citing that it would be in Dallas or Houston that I would feel out of place. Yeah right. He had worked with the furniture store through the Austin Home magazine (with which he's working) and wanted to show me some things. As soon as we pulled up, two ladies in their "Casual Wear" were outside the store discussing the qualities of a chair in the sunlight. Needless to say, the furniture was ornate but ridiculously out of budget so we left fairly quickly.


We visited a local pond/park, to which I had taken the kids over Spring Break. We saw some adolescent ducks (is that term applicable??) which may have been the baby ducks we saw in March. I don't know how fast ducks grow, but Evelyn was convinced it was them. It was the first time Rod had been to the pond and he thinks it will be a good place to bring the kayak with the kids. It is so conveniently located near our house.

At home later that day, we had some yard work to do and Kenneth (who is almost 9 now) mowed the entire back yard by himself. I couldn't believe it--he turns the mower and everything. He has no idea the level of work he's gotten himself into. Evelyn picked some weeds and helped me clean up inside while Rod was edging the grass. Highly productive!

Visit to Kerrville & Mom's Visit to Taiwan

I left Sunday (6/10) afternoon for the long trip to Taiwan, so Rod took the kids to visit Grandma Linda and Grandpa in Kerrville. They're working on their land and have set up a campsite that they've been living on for awhile now. According to Kenneth, they found neat rocks, saw cool scenery and hiked. According to Evelyn, they roasted marshmallows and used a potty that was open in the woods. Rod kept them busy while I was working overseas.

It was pretty busy, without too much downtime, but I did manage to finally see Snake Alley on my last night there, which is probably the most infamous of the several night markets in Taipei. Last time I was in Taiwan, I was with a colleague who speaks the language, so we went to a night market, but it was nothing like this one. (This time, another colleague and I went--neither one of us speaks the language, but we figured with some cash and directions back to the hotel, we'd be able to catch a taxi pretty easily.) Think crowded, flea-market-like environment, but with "attractions" such as snake handlers, the ability to purchase snake venom and blood (to drink for virility and fertility, not kidding), and the observation of snakes being skinned alive and hung up. So awful. That's mixed in with clothing, shoes, food carts with steamed squid, and other delicacies, and the regular moped sighting with a toddler standing on the platform, holding the handlebars, without a helmet.






The last picture is of headless turtles. I swear it's amazing how culturally different it is from Central Texas.

Off to Taiwan

Although I knew I'd be travelling to Taiwan this summer, the travel dates had been changed again and again, and it was finally somewhat settled that my travel would be in mid-July. Well, at the end of the day today I found out that I had to be in Taiwan on Monday! So...no more blog posts till after I get back on 6/16.

I picked the kids up early today so they could do some early Father's Day preparation at the ceramics place. If I'm not falling asleep on Sunday (6/17) in a post-trip stupor, I'll take pics of Rod opening all of his goodies.