Thin Air

Even though there was still a lot to get done before he had to leave the next morning, Matt felt that it would be good to have one last hurrah as a family.  The kids had mentioned Thin Air a few days before and that sounded like a great place of fun for everyone.  The $35 per family Monday special made it even more appealing.  The kids had a lot of fun.  A few new obstacles had been added which made it a little more exciting.  When we were checking in Asher saw some legs sticking out of the wall.  He was very concerned about how they got there.  He said that the person jumped into the wall and his head was stuck in the wall.  Throughout the night he kept pointing it out and said that he didn't want to go in the wall.  Asher enjoyed being in the foam pit with the "blocks".  He was moving them from one section to another when an employee came up and told him it wasn't allowed.  He wasn't too happy and came and told us they told him not to dig.  Brayden liked doing the American Ninja Warrior obstacles and the trampoline basketball because he could dunk.  Kylee really liked doing the aerial silks.

Biking the greenway

One of the things Matt and I wanted to do before he left was bike the Leon Creek Greenway with Asher.  I was nervous because this section of greenway, closer to our home than the Mission Trails Greenway, can be busier with more walkers and bikers zooming by.  We ended up going on Friday, September 23rd.  Matt lead the way and I tried to keep up.  Asher hung out in the trailer eating snacks and enjoying the scenery.  Luckily it wasn't too hot with an overcast sky and intermittent breeze that kept it bearable.  We started at the Mainland Trailhead planning to go all the way to the Valero Park Trailhead and then turn around, but we didn't come close.  I was worried about having the energy to make it back, so we stopped at the Fox Park Trailhead on Hausman.  We ended up going a total of 11 miles in an hour and 45 minutes.  We stopped a couple of times to let Asher get out and to take a break.

Matt has great expectations of using his time in Afghanistan to get in better shape.  He has enjoyed tracking his runs with his iPhone, but realized it wouldn't be able to track treadmill runs while deployed, so he decided to get a Fitbit.  This bike ride was it's inaugural use.  He got one for me too so we can motivate each other long distance.

Downtown Date

Matt and I were looking for something to do on our date while Asher was at MDO.  Since I love exploring houses, I asked Matt if we could explore some old houses downtown.  Online I found a couple of interesting places.  We started off going to the Villa Finale Museum and Gardens.  It is a home in the King Williams district that was purchased and restored by Walter Mathis who was the primary catalyst in revitalizing the King William district area.  The house was 5000 square feet filled with many thousands of his collectible items.  It was a very impressive collection though not a child friendly home.

The King William District is right next to the San Antonio River that runs through downtown.  We walked down the path of the river to the restaurants and ate at Boudros, one of our favorite places.  

From our lunch on the Riverwalk we walked to the Spanish Governor's Palace.  It was fun to explore and it reminded me of the Hacienda.  I had no idea this building was in the middle of downtown.  It was interesting to see this piece of history surrounded by modern downtown buildings. We had so much fun playing tourist in San Antonio.   

Krispy Pirates

Kylee read on pinterest about priate day at Krispy Kreme in a past year.  On a designated day you could dress up as a pirate and Krispy Kreme would give a free dozen glazed donuts.  Each pirate needed to have at least 3 pirate items to their costume to get their dozen.  Kylee figured out the 2016 pirate day was coming up on Monday, September 19th.  With Matt's approaching deployment he had a little more flexibility with his schedule and not as many commitments at work.  Thinking it would be our last Monday together, we decided it would fun to get pirate donuts with the kids for family home evening.  The kids scavenged the house for pirate paraphernalia Sunday evening and set it out.  There were even some creative homemade items like Brayden's cut up T-shirt and Julia's paper eye patch.  Krispy Kreme was filled with pirates of all ages.  As you got up to the front of the line, they asked your name and wrote it on a box.  When Asher got up there he told them he wanted a red donut.  As the free donuts were only glazed, and also feeling like we ought to buy something in return for the five dozen free donuts, we also bought an assorted dozen including 7 pirate donuts with red frosting.  Everyone got to eat a cream filled pirate donut while we waited for the boxes of free donuts.  After a stop for dinner at Taco Cabana, we made some deliveries.  Yes, we had dessert before dinner.  Our deliveries were a box to the Moore family and a box to the Herrera family.  The next morning Brayden took a dozen to his bus stop and Kylee took a dozen and a half to seminary.  

Kylee's Golden Birthday

Kylee's 16th birthday landed on September 16, 2016.  It made for an extra special golden birthday. 

Grandma Mindy came into town the morning of Kylee's birthday.  For her birthday she received some rain boots and boot clips, a fancy swimming suit she had been wanting, a wireless speaker, chocolates, and the Bean Boozled jelly bean game. She didn't want to celebrate with her friends at our house on her birthday because she wanted to go to the new Stake youth game night.                         

We played a round of Bean Boozled before she headed out to the activity.  Brayden got tooth paste, Julia got coconut, Blake got barf, Asher got Booger, and I got lawn clippings.  Blake said the barf was really bad and Asher spit his booger flavored jelly bean out.  Blake tried again and got tooth paste, which for him is especially bad because he doesn't like anything mint. Nobody was gutsy enough to go again.   

We celebrated as a family at one of Kylee's favorite places to eat, Freddy's.  

We had breakfast Cinnamon rolls on Saturday because Matt took donuts and Kolaches to her seminary class on the morning of her birthday.  One of her friends also brought breakfast Taco's, so there was a lot of food.  

Matt made her cake to represent her 16th birthday on the 16th day in the the year 2016.

Favorite food...chicken pot pie, and country cabbage soup
Least favorite food...meatloaf
Favorite thing about school...going home
I am really good at..."nothing"
Hobbies...reading, sleeping
Favorite movie...Favorite TV show...Stranger Things, and Sherlock
Favorite memory...Disneyland at Spring Break
Least favorite chore...all of them
Favorite restaurant...Freddy's
Favorite music or group...

Hondo Corn Maize

Our family went to the Hondo Corn Maize on the first day of the season  which was military appreciation day.  It seemed liked they were still finishing setting up things for the season.  There weren't very many people there.  Grandma Mindy was in town to see Matt because he was going to be leaving for Afghanistan soon.   It was a really warm day and the corn maize hadn't really grown too much.  You could see all the people that were in the corn maize it was so low.  The path was pretty dusty and it was hard to tell were to go since the corn wasn't very high.  We only did the first maze.  Nobody wanted to go on the second half. They raised the prices, so everything was included.  In years past you paid for the cow ride, the apple launch,   The kids rode the cow train several times.  Matt and I also got in on it.  We didn't feel too bad about not staying too long since we didn't have to pay.  It was a pretty warm day.

What's the word, Officer Bird?

As long as I can remember Matt has said, "What's the word, Officer Bird?"  I just thought it was a phrase he made up.  Brayden asked what it was from and Matt told him it was from a public service announcement commercial from his childhood.  Brayden looked up Officer Bird on YouTube and found a whole series of PSA commercials with officer bird riding a bike, a scooter, or police car to respond to different emergencies and give a tip about the right way to respond.  Everyone had a fun time sitting around the computer watching and laughing.

Paint ball fun

Brayden received a set of paint guns and gear for Christmas.  He had been anxious to go to paintballing with Matt.  So, one Saturday they went out behind our house and went and shot some paintballs.