This past week was one of settling back in, celebrating New Years Eve, tucking away the Christmas decorations, going back to school and work, and just easing back into life in general. Paul was still not feeling 100%, so yesterday he went to urgent care and they said he has bronchitis. They gave him a whole host of new meds to take and suggested he take off work tomorrow so that he can give his body a chance to rest and fully recuperate. I eased back into teaching with one day for staff and then a three-day workweek (that was rather nice, actually). I got a new student, which was fun (especially since I knew way ahead of time that she was going to be starting, so I had plenty of time to prepare). Having a three-day week was nice for the kids, too. We were all still on California time, so trying to get back on Texas time was a bit challenging. It’s hard going to bed when it doesn’t feel as late as it is and then getting up when it feels way earlier than it actually is. I think we’re all fully adjusted now, though, so onto the rest of January!
She had an image in her mind of this tube being a soprano saxophone (like a character in one of the Trolls movies, I guess), so she managed to shape the end of it to look more like a mouthpiece. Her imagination has mine beat for sure!New Year’s Eve was on a Sunday and we had just gotten back from California the day before, so we didn’t really have any big plans. I decided I would wait and see if either kid made it to midnight (which was rather easy, actually, since they were still on California time, so it only felt like ten). They made it, so we tossed on sweatshirts and went out to watch the chaos that is NYE outside of city limits in San Antonio. It was so worth it! There’s a video at the bottom of this post of the show that our street and the streets around us put on. Our next door neighbors even shared some sparklers with the kids, which was super nice.January 1, 2024…61 degrees, warm sun…beautiful back yard…I love where we live!While it can be a bit of a downer to tuck away Christmas decorations, I do love my “any time there isn’t a major holiday” decorations. 🙂Yesterday she wanted to go out, but it was a bit on the chilly side (45ish degrees), so I told her to put on an extra layer. So, yup. Of course I needed to take a picture.We had a much smaller board up here that was a bulletin board and a white board combined. It fell off the wall and instead of putting it back up, we decided to upgrade to a whiteboard in a different area and this larger bulletin board. It works much better since the other one was really too small for our needs. Abigail was excited to see it go up (she likes to hang up pictures that she draws).Paul also got more bins for Abigail’s storage shelf and an actual bookcase for her books (before, we were storing the books on her storage shelf, but she needed the room to store her toys, stuffed animals, and other things). I like how organized her room feels now!
Here is the video of fireworks from NYE. The popping started in earnest about 8:30ish, but this is the “finale” which people saved for midnight…y’know, even if I had sent the kids to bed, they probably would not have been able to sleep through this chaos. It was fun to watch, though!
Our last theme park is one the kids love and I loved as a kid. Castle Park is a small amusement park with a mini golf attached that is local to Riverside. It’s almost never crowded when we go, so the kids love it. Paul and I switched back and forth with the kids. After Castle Park, it was just one last day where we squeezed in some visits with the Hustons (who Paul stayed with after his mission) and Aaron and his kids (who aren’t really kids anymore). What an awesome vacation!!
She loves this ride.So does he!Paul managed to get both kids in one shot. Good job, babe!She loves going on rides with her daddy!I love that she’s rockin’ the shirt she got when the singing zoologist came to visit the school.So much awesome in one picture.She loves these cut-outs!They were happy enough to go on this ride together and leave their old parents to watch. Thank goodness. It did whip around pretty fast, so Joseph ended up needing to hold onto Abigail so she wouldn’t slide across and whack her head on the side of the ride.The incentive to leave Castle Park: ice cream!When did he turn into…not a kid? Hard to believe he’ll be thirteen in September.Trying to wake up a sleeping Abigail at the hotel (after the first leg of our trip) proved to be…difficult.When one loves Minnie Mouse as much as Hulk…interesting things happen. 🙂
After we felt we had sufficiently recovered from Disney, we decided to hit up Sea World. It was kinda crowded but not too bad. We divided and conquered for the first bit (rides) and then got back together to see a few attractions and shows. It was a fun day!
Abigail wanted to do this first thing. She calls these the tickle fish. They come and nibble bits of dry skin off of your hands, but it doesn’t hurt. She was there for probably ten minutes. We also had to stop by on our way out of the park so she could do it again.Sitting in the sleigh with her new octopus…whom she named Egbert but then ultimately decided to rename him…Octopus. 😀Checking out reindeer.Meanwhile, daredevil Joseph was on this ride.I told you this kid could find a playground everywhere!Yet another crazy Joseph ride.I was ecstatic when I realized she could go on this by herself, ha. She loves the spinny rides. Me? Not so much!Sharks!The orca show.Family selfie!I was happy to get this shot.These sea lions were hilarious begging for fish.Those egrets in the back were cheeky. They would swoop in and steal the fish as people were dropping them for the sea lions.This guy finally decided to get closer to keep the egrets from stealing his fish.She loves big chairs!She also loved being able to sit next to Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Oscar.Mom’s backyard is an interesting place at night. Paul spotted several chubby raccoons and even a gray fox. We could also smell skunks, but luckily didn’t see any, ha.
