Asher's dollar toys

I was at the dollar store buying some last minute things for Halloween.  Asher chose a toy to buy. When he got home and opened them up he was very disappointed.  He said they were not real because they didn't really work.

Asher's dental appointment

3/2/16 First dental appointment Asher did really well.  

10/18/16 - Include picture
Asher did great at his 2nd dental appointment.  We were there for a long time, so he even had to go potty at the dentist office.  He was super mello and cooperated pretty well while they took x-rays.  Dr. Taylor said that he has really deep groves in his molars so they want to do sealants on 8 teeth.  They normally would not do that many on a 3 year old, but since he was soo good with his appointment they feel that he can be still while they do it.  Our appointment went really long.  We had to wait for at least a half hour after they had cleaned his teeth.  Our appointment was at 1:50 and we didn't leave until 3:15.  I was late getting home for Blake and Julia.

Kristel's Birthday

I have a calling in Young Women's at church, so Kylee made me a cake with the symbol. She did a great job.  We had camo Blue Bell ice cream in honor of Matt since he was deployed. (Matt left a gift for me to open)
Matt posted this really sweet Instagram Post for my birthday.

Chain Mail

Brayden saw chain mail online and decided to research how to make it.  He bought tools he needed and heavy gauge wire from Amazon and got to work.  He would wind up the wire on a pipe and then cut them in circles.  Then, he would connect the wires together.  It was a little tricky to connect the circles the right direction.  His goal is to make a chain mail shirt.

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.