Family Vacation

The four of us traveled to San Antonio from May 13-20. Dan's parents live there, and we enjoyed the months we lived there before making St. George our home. The hot, humid weather hit me like a brick wall when we arrived. I like how it's so green there, and we looked forward to seeing "Grandma and Grandpa Rogers," as Nathan would say. Here's a look at what we did.

The Beach: South Padre Island

Dan is carrying Sophia while Nathan is getting doused by the waves.

It was overcast but in the high '80s.

Look at Sophie's sandy face!

Nate's proud of the sandcastle he made with Dan.

We drove for three hours to reach the beach. The kids ran right out to the water; Sophia slipped and fell as she chased after her Papa and Nathan who headed in the water. Nathan complained that his foot hurt, and I thought some seaweed bothered him, but then I noticed a red mark with white spots on his foot. He started howling, and Dan said we might have to pack it up (we had only been there for 15 minutes!). We poured some cool water on it, and after 15 minutes or so, Nathan said he was fine and wanted to join me and Sophia in making sandcastles. We figured he got stung by a jellyfish. He got over it, and we played in the water and gathered seashells. It's the greatest playgrounds for kids. I'm glad my parents took me to the beach often when I was little, and I wished we lived close to a beach. We do have red sand though. Nathan talks about the beach and says, "I lay down like a fish!"

The Hike: Enchanted Rock

Nathan on top of Enchanted Rock.

Dan's Mom introduced us to Enchanted Rock and Fredericksburg, which is a charming city comprised of German immigrants with quaint shops. We ate at "The Brewery" and then walked down the main street for a while. Then we went to hike the Enchanted Rock, which had no discernible magical powers. (The name came about because Native Americans attributed spiritual powers to the rock.) We did see a few snakes in the water and there were beautiful wildflowers. Nathan and Sophia wanted to climb to the top, which afforded a great view of the green valley below us. However, Sophia kept on trying to veer to the side instead of going straight up, so I carried her most of the way. The kids were troopers.

The Rides: Six Flags at Fiesta Texas

Nathan on his horse on the carousel; Sophia is with Grandma in the background.

Dan's Mom and I spent our time at Fiesta Texas taking the kids on many rides. Dan and his Dad went to do the crazy roller coasters. There were a few that Nathan wanted to do that Sophia had to sit out on. Nathan said his favorite ride was "the green airplane." He also liked the kid's roller coaster and Bugs Bunny's White Water Rapids ride. He said, "We went 'woooooohhh!' " as he raised his hands over his head. He gets his love for thrills from his Dad. I enjoyed spinning around and around with him on the mini teacups. Nate's a fun kid. He also liked riding the train that circles around the park. Dan, Nathan, and I went on the Crow's Nest Ferris wheel ride, and he got so excited as it moved: "We're going up! Now we go down!" Dan liked the coasters, and I thought about doing the old rickety wooden one (even though it looked like it could fall apart at any moment), but then it was time to head out to get dinner at Zio's (Italian). Yum!

The Animals: San Antonio Zoo

I thought Nathan would love seeing all of these exotic animals up close and personal. He did enjoy some of it, but this day was the hottest one yet, and he kept on wanting to sit down. He noticed there was a train before we got in the park, and so the whole time he kept on asking about the train. "How many animals before we go on the train?" He seemed so worn out too. It turned out he was sick. (We left when Sophia had a fever, and we returned with Nathan suffering from a fever.) The hippos were sleepy, the lion was lazy, and the bears were boring. One animal that did put on a good show was the Asiatic elephant. Nathan called her the "happy elephant." She took a bath, ate some food, threw sand over her body, and smiled -- at least Nathan thought so. After we took this photo, we headed to the train, and Nathan and Sophia enjoyed the ride.

We had a great time in San Antonio. It was fun to see Dan's parents' new home and to spend time with them. We'll go back for another family vacation in the future.

Nathan and Sophia have kept busy at their jobs of being cutie pies.
#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan plays Mario Kart at my parents' house every time we visit. It's hard playing against him, though, because he'll have a hissy fit or restart the game if he's not in first place. I told him he can't always win, and he said, "Yes, I can win all the time!" He had the most determined look on his face. He's so competitive! He did a great job on the flight, and he got excited about seeing the airplanes and going through the clouds. ("Look! It's an airplane!") Thank goodness he had his video game -- that made traveling so easy with him.
#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia is picking up words left and right. She has said goldfish, blanket, balloon, dirty (for dirty diaper), and my favorite: sorry. She dumped some Cheerios on the floor, and I put her in the crib, and she looked up and said, "Sorry!" So cute! Dan's favorite moment this week is when she came up to him and said, "Fruit snack? OK, fruit snack, one." She's already great at ordering food. She's also trying to ride little bicycles and climb inside baby doll buggies.

We Don't Need No Education

Nathan tried new tactics to get out of preschool on Tuesday. He said, "I'm afraid of school." He told me, "I don't want to go to school." So I've already started this line: "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do." He took it pretty well. He also tried to negotiate, though. I said, "You just have three hours of preschool, and then you get home and we'll leave for Texas." He replied, "How about one hours?" Nice try. He finally decided he really wanted three hours, so he still didn't lose the battle and could go out to the bus. He really is a Tom Sawyer.

Lucky Mom

Nathan digs for treasure at the Cotton Days Festival.

The little lamb likes Sophia.

Sophia came down with a fever last night, and it continued through today, so I spent Mother's Day taking care of and worrying about my little one. Nathan seems perfectly healthy, and he now tells me he needs a doctor when he gets hurt in any way. Sophie cried last night, and we gave her medicine and juice, and she went back to bed. She woke up crying, too, and didn't sleep in, which is unusual for her. She acted fussy a lot today because she was miserable, and I was so sad she didn't feel all right. (I also enjoyed a nice dinner at my parents' home on Mother's Day. Dan stayed home with Sophia, and Nathan and I went together. My Dad cooked the meal, and I enjoyed it with my younger sisters, my parents, my Dad's parents, and my Aunt Deanne.)

Even though Sophia didn't feel great, she helped me unload the dishwasher this morning, handing me the plates one at a time (I love this girl!). She's talking a lot more now; we'll ask a question, and she'll say, "OK" or "Yes" or give an emphatic "No!" Today I wanted to help ease her pain, so I asked after her bath, "Do you want to watch 'Curious George?' " She said, "OK, Curious George" (or something like it) in such a cute voice. I've decorated Sophie's room with my angel figurines, angel music boxes, and angel pictures. She pointed at the pictures on Tuesday and said, "A-gel." How sweet! She'll say "lo-shun" when I slather myself with lotion, and she likes me to put some on her hands and rub it in. This past week she said "bath" and "water." Nathan didn't get "water" down till he was three! She is very verbal. When Dan gets home from work, she'll say, "Get you?" to ask if he'll chase after her and get her. This week she told him, "I got you!" She likes to run up and hug us around the legs. I hope our sweetie pie gets better soon -- especially because we're flying to Texas in two days.
#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia said "Nay-tan" while looking at our family portrait on Monday. It's the first time we've heard her say her brother's name.

Nathan had some fun this week. We went to two water parks, and while Nathan liked playing in the water by the rocks, Sophia seemed to prefer the fountains shooting out from the ground. She got soaked, and she darted in more than her big brother. And I thought he was the adventurous one! We play hide-and-seek sometimes for family night, and Nathan LOVES to be found after he hides. He loves it so much he'll announce, "I'm in my bed!" It's like he thinks the object is to be the first one who's caught. It's way cute. He also gets a kick out of finding his parents in funny places. Nathan refused to get dressed on Tuesday, and Dan left early for a meeting, so he missed out that day. But I told him he could stay home, but he couldn't play his video games or watch television. He put up a fight on Thursday too; he said, "I'm not goin'." I told him we had to go outside to catch the bus, and he said, "The bus isn't comin'." He's a little Tom Sawyer! Dan used a magic trick to get him out the door -- Smarties candy.
Nathan really liked the games at the Cotton Days Festival in Washington on Saturday. He went down a huge inflatable slide and obstacle course. He went on a treasure hunt, searched in pails of cotton, and competed in a ring toss and bean bag toss. Even better, he won GREEN bubbles, a GREEN whistle, and a GREEN pinwheel. After he got the pinwheel, he exclaimed, "I got lots of GREEN! I won the Piston Cup!!!" (Yes, he likes the movie Cars.) What a cutie pie. He made all the girls at the booth laugh. We saw a few animals at a little petting zoo, but Nathan just wanted to go down the slide at the park. One lamb followed Sophia around, but she was afraid of it. We went to the tractor pull, but Nathan had a meltdown and we called it quits.
#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan said, "I said 'no' to white preschool!" the day after he stayed home from school. It was like he was celebrating beating the system. Oh boy, he already wants to ditch class; I'm in trouble.

I made an appointment for our Young Women's group to visit the humanitarian room at Deseret Industries on Tuesday. The missionary couple showed a moving video that showed countries around the world who benefit from LDS humanitarian services. I was especially touched by an elderly woman from Idaho who heard of newborn babies in Central America leaving the hospitals wrapped in newspaper because there weren't enough blankets to go around. This woman, who is legally blind, decided she could help and started to sew quilt after quilt. I was hoping to help assemble hygiene kits, but they hadn't arrived yet. The missionaries showed us around their center of operations and explained what they do. The young women really liked making homemade dolls to send in care packages; most of them took materials home to make more. I plan to volunteer there during the summer. On Mother's Day, it's a good time to reflect on the many mothers dotting the globe who desperately need help for their families from their more fortunate brothers and sisters. I think it's our responsibility as prosperous Americans to give others aid. It makes me feel good to think of how a small act I perform can make a huge difference in others' lives. If I can help restore hope, faith, and love in others' hearts, I will consider that a great reward.

Family photos

Here are a few of the results from our family shoot last Saturday on May 3, 2008. I'm happy with the results; we got some good ones with my busy little bees.

Rogers Family

A sweet hug

Nathan making a monkey face

Sophia acting silly

Say "cheese!" Please!

Iron Man

Now that Nathan has preschool just two times a week, I'm trying to come up with more activities for us to do. That means more trips to the library, water parks, and parks in general. Our fam took advantage of Baskin-Robbins' 31 cent scoop night on Wednesday. Nathan got two cones of mint chocolate chip ice cream, which combines two of his favorite things -- green and chocolate. I'm a fan of Love Potion #31. Dan tried out the York ice cream, and Sophia sampled Dan's and Nathan's flavors.

Dan and I went to see "Iron Man" Friday night, which is another-one-of-those-Super-Hero movies. I didn't know anything about this character, but Dan had read some of the comic books as a kid (or maybe even last year, who knows!). I really like Spider-Man, and Batman is a fun character too. Superman is just too perfect to interest me (plus he's an alien), but the ability to fly is really cool. Anyway, even if you don't know anything about "Iron Man," it's still pretty entertaining since Robert Downey Jr. did a great job, his assistant has a great name -- Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) -- and the bad guys are terrorists. I'd much rather be rescued by that web slinger though.
We also ate out at In-N-Out Burgers, which opened a few weeks ago for the first time in Utah (and conveniently just a few minutes from our home). The lines for the drive-through have wound all the way to Best Buy when it first opened. The line wasn't that bad when we pulled up, but I told Dan it would go faster if we went inside. I was right! They had 20 employees in there bustling around, and we didn't even have to wait to place the order! I have to say my burger, shake, and fries were good, but I like to eat healthy food, so I won't eat out there too often. I heard good rumors that our area will be getting a Babies R Us, a Toys R Us, and a Red Robin Restaurant. Right on! I'm for growth and development. Just leave those red cliffs alone though.

We decided to get family pictures last night. My kids are super active, so it was all we could do to get them to hold still for a photo shoot. I'm just going for a photo where we're all looking at the camera and MOST of us are smiling. Sophia was a tough customer yesterday. She didn't feel like smiling, so she didn't smile too much. Then today after church she was all smiles -- playing peek-a-boo, smiling at me and saying "cheese!" when I took a picture, and hamming it up. Nathan kind of did the "oversmile," where he was forcing a big smile until it looked like it might hurt. He was monkeying around and wanted to run over the bridge again and again at the Green Springs Golf Course. Taking pictures was definitely easier in the good ol' days when NOBODY smiled. Nobody was happy standing together for a group photo, and they were proud of it.

#1 cutie pie moment: I had to buy some new pants for Nathan for the family picture. ALL of his other jeans had holes in the knees. When we tried them on at the store, Nathan asked, "Is it working? Does it work, Mommy?" It was also cute when we went for ice cream and he said, "I love it! I love it!"

#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia saying umbrella like "uh-leh-lah" from My Very First Book of Colors by Eric Carle. She wants to draw on her doodle pad all the time; she's our little artist.