Hello, again!

It started with "out of town", then moved on to "out of time" and now, it's just plain "out of practice" that has kept me from posting here.

We spent the whole week of Thanksgiving in South Texas. We visited the missions that my girls began studying at the beginning of the semester. We are determined to make our own frescoes, now that we have seen the lovely examples beautifully preserved at Mission Concepcion!

This aquaduct was a fun surprise for The Professor who has been studying Ancient Rome. It's the only one in Texas!


He was also intrigued to find out the mystery surrounding this very Moorish looking arch on what should have been a very Roman arched doorway. (I won't share any spoilers here!)


The girls were treated to a weaving demonstration by a park ranger and just giggled with delight when she said, "This yarn is all hand spun, can you imagine how hard it was to make that?" Um... yes.

Thanks to this special friend and her daughter, they know precisely how difficult it is to hand spin yarn!

After searching for answers to all the question in his pamphlet, BigBoy was sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger and received a badge to go along with it. If you don't know about the Junior Park Ranger programs at the National Parks, you are missing out my friend!

But just in case you can't make it to a National Park, you can participate in their Webrangers program online!


I could bore you with 12, 002 other pictures of these beautiful churches, most of which are still being used as parishes today,

but you just need to see them for yourself to really appreciate the devotion of these faithful missionaries and native peoples.


Our other adventure last week was at Sea World! This is becoming a Thanksgiving tradition for us! There were some new shows sprinkled amongst the old favorites. There were also educational shows for each of the three major amphitheaters and my kids agreed that those were their favorites... after Azul!

Seriously, it's hard to beat a funny man who warms up the crowd with his zany antics,

beluga whales,

pacific white sided dolphins,

parrots and macaws in free flight,

and acrobats who flip, twist and dive from amazing heights!


I really appreciated the way their Christmas shows weren't afraid to incorporate the meaning of Christmas. They talked about the miracle of the Christ Child and showed images of the Wise Men during the Shamu show Miracle. There was Christmas music, not "Holiday" music, playing throughout the entire park. The Sesame Street show was typically secular, but it really was in stark contrast to the the Christmas theme everywhere else. There was so much to see and do! I could fill up this space with pictures galore. The kids really loved every minute. Thank you, Grammie for a wonderful visit!

Sea World 2008

So I was telling my MIL about our trip to Sea World and when I mentioned that they advertised "Holiday Shows" during the week of Thanksgiving she asked, "Which holiday would that be?" Really, who can blame her? In today's world where people refuse to sell Christmas trees or Christmas gifts, Christians feel like our holiday is the elephant in the living room. Everyone is celebrating it, but we're not allowed to talk about it. So, I was pleasantly pleased to be able to give my MIL a positive report regarding these holiday shows. They were Christmas shows! And they even said so!!!

While the sea lions were trying to help their trainer find her Christmas cheer, there was a Miracle being celebrated over at Shamu's stadium. They opened the show with Christmas caroling singing a mix of religious and secular songs. Then we turned our attention to the JumboTron to see the wise men seeking the newborn King and to listen to the announcer talk about the miracle of the child born to save us all. Wow. It really was a beautiful show.

But, the dolphin show was a particular favorite.

Due to the heavy acrobatics and diving skills in this show, it was the same one you can see year round. There is no way a Santa hat would survive a 30 foot drop! There is a man who performs a funny water skit before the show starts and then acts as a "silly master of ceremonies" throughout. BigBoy dubbed him the Chicken Man since he pretended to be too scared to dive into the pool at one point.BigBoy loved him! He wanted his picture taken with the Chicken Man afterwards so we made our way through the crowd in order to snap a shot. While they were smiling for the camera......this little baby beluga came up to the glass to say hello. BigBoy, when telling the story later says, "That's the baby beluga that wanted to be in my picture! I love him." We waved and signed "whale" at him (I am assuming "beluga" has to be fingerspelled) and even taught the Chicken Man how to sign whale (he asked).

Actually, thanks to Signing Time #9 The Zoo Train, we signed to the penguins, the dolphins, the star fish, the ducks and the sharks from a distance though (too scary for BigBoy and too far to walk for Mom and Grammie!) Hey, we're not wimps! We had just been walking since 9:30 that morning and thought 7 hours was plenty!

Thank you Grammie for a lovely Thanksgiving memory that is threatening to become a tradition!


P.S. That plug up above for Signing Time is my gentle reminder that awesome, educational Christmas gifts are just a click away!!! We have been so blessed by the two sets we own and I know they would benefit so many other families! I don't get a commission, I just really love their products!