Tuesday, August 11, 2015

San Antonio Texas - back in the states

So Friday morning we left Germany to head back to the states.  Our first stop was San  Antonio to visit Porchea and family.  After over 20 hours of traveling we finally made it!!!  The kids were so excited to be there and mine were wide awake (not sure how) so the kids ended up staying up till almost 1 am.  It was so great hearing all of them playing and laughing again like no time had passes!!!

The next morning we were up early, dang jet lag, and then we were headed out to Enchanted Rock to do a little hiking.


I LOVE this picture!!!!  We get there and right away Michael wants to climb and needs a little boost so all of the kids helped Michael get started up the tree!!!


The kids ready to hike Enchanted Rock!!!  All smiles to start with!!!  Enchanted Rock is the largest pink granite monadnock in the United States.  It has an elevation of 1,825 feet.


Starting of the hike, we decided to just head straight up the rock instead of the winding one.


This looks like the rock is ready to slide right down the hill.  Maybe rock sliding a new sport?


Porchea specifically thought Enchanted Rock would be great for Michael because he loves to climb and she was totally right!!!  He was already off the beaten path climbing!


The hike was getting steeper and it is hot.  Luckily there was a wind blowing so that helped, but it was still hot.


I loved all the different rock formations on the way up.


 We were slowing down a little, but getting there one step at a time.


AJ almost at the top, giving me that smile!


Michael was done by this point, but he is a trooper and kept walking so we could get some photos.


Andre, AJ and Michael at the top!  You could see for miles around!


The boys and myself at the top!!


These five just crack me up and I LOVE their smiles!!!  They love being together!!!


Porchea and I!  The kids aren't the only ones who get back together like it hasn't been any time gone!!  So good to be back together!


I told the kids they could head down the mountain and they took off at a run!!!


I was walking with all five kids down while the others were still taking pictures.  It was a little steep and slick and I had two others on my hands, so AJ took Gracie and walked her down.  So sweet!!!!


We made it down quite a bit faster, so we stopped in some shade and these two monkeys decided it was a great time to do more climbing!!!  Gracie is such a little monkey as well!!


At the bottom, while we were waiting, AJ was a bit tired (remember we just flew in yesterday and we didn't have a ton of sleep) so he decided to take a rest.


Michael did too, except he did it on top of the 3D image of Enchanted Rock.  LOL


This helicopter was flying around while we were hiking down.  They had a person hanging from the bottom.  We weren't sure if it was a real rescue or a practice, but it was fascinating to watch.


When everybody made it down the mountain, we decided we all needed to cool off.  So we headed into the nearby town and found some yummy ice cream!!!  And as you can still see Michael is on a kick of no ice cream still.  Crazy kid!


So back in Germany when Krista came to visit, she talked about unicorn wine and it started into a whole thing.  So now our mascot for team Vandi-lo is the Unicorn.  When we were driving through the town we found out we were in Unicorn country and we just had to take this picture for David!


The kids were all hot and wanted to go swimming, so we headed to a lake/pool to cool off a little bit.  AJ was the only one who could touch here so he was holding up all four of the kids!!!  They were all smiles!!!


The kids splashing around.  It was actually a pretty neat place.  They had a rope swing that AJ was the only one tall enough to go off.  I forgot my camera and those pictures were on Victor's phone.  But he had a blast with it!!  There was also a huge slide they could go down that Michael was tall enough for, though he said the wait wasn't worth it.  LOL


The boys!!!  After that we headed back to the house.  It was a great day and so much fun!!!  I love being outside and doing things!!  We had to get home so we could pack because we were heading to Houston the next day to visit Krista.  We also thought the kids should get to bed at a decent hour.  LOL

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