First car accident. Not a fan.

The kids and I spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the zoo with some friends.  It was a beautiful day and we saw all of our favorite animals before heading home.

My GPS was on the fritz, but I managed to make it back without getting lost.  I was pretty proud of myself, and since BG had fallen asleep, Kiddo and I decided to keep driving to Trader Joe's.

We stopped at a red light.  And the car behind us didn't.

Ambulance, fire truck, sheriff, yada yada, drivers license, insurance, are you hurt? yada yada, gas station junk food, answer questions, paperwork, entertain the kids, yada yada yada.

Two hours after our car was sandwiched between two other cars, we finally got the go-ahead to leave.  The kids were amazingly patient throughout (thank goodness for all those road trip activities we had in the car) and, gratefully, none of us were hurt.

Although, there were a lot of extra hugs going around when we got home.

"This is Better Than Television"

We put up a birdfeeder in the backyard and it was definitely money well spent.  Within an hour we had sparrows and red and gold finches by the dozen, and even a few cardinals.  (Kiddo is hoping to spot a peregrine falcon, but I don't think we bought that kind of bird food.)  The kids pulled up some chairs, Kiddo grabbed his bird book (and BG grabbed a book of her own so she could be like Kiddo), and they were content to watch the birds indefinitely.

*10 points if you caught the "Here Comes the Groom" reference.

Mullet! the BG edition

BG is a year behind Kiddo when it comes to hair.  Kiddo had a healthy mullet when he was just over one year old.  BG is a few months over two years old and has finally gotten a little mullet of her own.  It's not quite as epic as Kiddo's was, but I'm sure it will get there.  I am taking it as a sign that she has inherited my curls, since I also had very little hair when I was her age.  Just think what we have to look forward to!

San Antonio

In order to get to know this new state of ours, we wanted to go on at least one Texas road trip over the holidays.  So the day after Christmas, we headed to San Antonio, but stopped at Brenham, TX--the birthplace of Blue Bell Ice Cream--on the way.  The tour was fun, and the ample sample at the end did not disappoint.  (Now that we've been there, I can stop incessantly mentioning their ice cream on our blog posts.)

Then it was on to San Antonio!  Our friends, Amy and Jason, et al., are new to Texas as well, and made the drive to explore the city with us.  We all stopped for lunch at a restaurant/car wash/laundromat, and then headed to the Alamo.

The Alamo was interesting, but crowded; it was probably our least favorite part of the trip.  After visiting the Alamo we walked to the river and had a boat tour; it was definitely our kids' favorite part of the trip.  The River Walk was all lit up for Christmas, the architecture and walkways were beautiful, and it was a relaxing way to see it all.  It's not called "The Vienna of Texas" for nothing.

The next day, we went to the Mission San Jose, one of several old missions in the area; it was my favorite part of the trip.  The park ranger gave a tour, and despite being underdressed for the cold and rain, it was really great.  Next time we go to San Antonio, we'll be sure to head to the other missions, as well!