A trip to San Antonio

Before the summer is actually over, I thought I should probably do some catching up and document a few of the fun things we've done in Texas this summer.

A few weeks ago (ok, maybe it's been more than a month already) we drove down to San Antonio to visit some of Rob's best friends from Houston. Russell (light blue shirt) and Taylor (green shirt) go to school in San Antonio, and Gavin (dark blue shirt) drove in from Houston for the weekend.

We drove in late Friday night, then the next morning Taylor made breakfast and introduced me to the wonderful world of the Kolache...I don't know why they are so much better than pigs in a blanket...but they are. Trust me.

Then we met up with Russell's really nice friends with a really nice boat who took us out on a lake for the day. We had fun but were blown away by the temperature of the water... has anyone ever been on a lake where the water is 97 degrees?? It was like skiing in a hot tub! Gotta love TX in the summer.

The guy who owned the boat had an air chair that you sit in and float above the water as you ski. We saw some other people on the lake who were doing crazy stunts on these things.

We also toured the Alamo so I could begin my Texas History education...it was pretty cool! Rob was my guide and did such a great job that the actual tour guides who overheard him explaining everything to me were very impressed.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend. It's great to have so many friends in driving distance!

A Memorial Day to Memorialize

The Jones' invited the Ellis crew over on Memorial Day for lunch and an afternoon of boating on Lake Lavon.

Connie and Jay Jones

Jeremy and Amanda Jones

Natalie, Sam, Matt, and Ethan Ellis
We spent hours tubing

And skiing

Then when Brother Jones finally got a turn to get on the water and show us all his slalom skills...

the boat broke.

Luckily, after a few unsuccessful hours of trying to fix the boat ourselves, we only had to push/pull/paddle the boat for about 10 minutes before another boat figured out we needed help and came and towed us in.

We had a great time! It's definitely not the worst thing in the world to be stuck on a boat in the middle of a lake on a beautiful evening with some very fun friends.

Patriots' Day @ the Old North Bridge

Patriots' Day is one of the biggest holidays in MA (closely rivalled by opening day for the Red Sox and St. Patty's Day). If you're wondering why you've never heard of such an important day, it's probably b/c Patriot's Day is only a holiday in Massachussetts!
In commemoration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolution, the towns of Lexington and Concord put on historical reenactments of the events leading up to the revolution. If you were really into this era of history you could experience Paul Revere's midnight ride, the battle at the Old North Bridge, the early-morning skirmish on Lexington Green, and participate in chasing the British back to Boston following the Minute Man Trail.

We decided to limit ourselves to the battle at the Old North Bridge in Concord. We shared a blanket with some friends...and some very young soldiers (pictured above)
...to watch 400 ill-equipped colonists defeat 100 high trained British soldiers charged with seizing all colonial ammunition.
The battle was intense...
...with a lot of loud musket fire, smoke and shouting...
...but eventually...
...the British turned tail and ran.
Huzzah!

A little bit of "Ooo-la-la!" for Mama KK...

Rob's mom, KK, is an amazing woman; she has a talent for finding joy in day-to-day events and places. For example, she absolutely loves flowers of all kinds and proclaims their beauty to whoever she is with.

So, now that spring has sprung here in New England, I keep hearing the voice of my beautiful mother-in-law exclaiming, "Ooo-la-la! Look at those colors!" These pictures of spring in Cambridge are for her....we love you Mama KK!

Question:

Hypothetically, if we met up somewhere to go for a walk and I was wearing these, would you: A: Give me a high-five for my awesome shoes and tell me you've always wanted to try them

B: Wonder what cocktail of drugs I had taken that altered my mental state sufficiently to spend money on something so ugly...but just smile, say hello, and walk with me anyway

C: Make me walk either 10 feet ahead of or behind you so nobody could possibly think we know eachother

This exercise is purely hypothetical of course.....I mean, it's not like I actually want to know if it's possible for me to still have friends (who will be seen with me in public) and wear crazy toe-shoes.

Interesting Statistic...

Good Ol' Ironsides

Earlier this spring, Rob and I met up with Amanda and Jeremy to tour the USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides). Named after the Constitution of the United States by President George Washington in 1797, she is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world. She earned her nickname of "Old Ironsides" during the War of 1812 when she captured many British merchant vessels and 5 British warships. (see Wikipedia for more info).

Rob and Jeremy have a long history of causing trouble when they are together. Somehow, they think rules don't apply to them...

Luckily our navy tourguide was busy sharing interesting factoids with the rest of the group while Jeremy and Rob were snooping around all of the little exhibits otherwise they probably would have had to walk the plank....or something.
Interesting piece of trivia about Old Ironsides: The special effects production crew from the movie Master and Commander used the Constitution as a model for the ship in the movie. We also got to tour a retired battleship that is in the same area as the Constitution. It's a WWII gunboat with anti-aircraft guns and 4 torpedos. It was cool to see their mess hall/operating room, the tiny sleeping bunks, the command center (like something from an old war movie), as well as the intense kitchen with 3 industrial-sized kitchen mixers.

Rob said that when we have 12 boys I can have 3 industrial-sized kitchen mixers too...I can hardly wait!