San Antonio - Wedding

On Saturday night, we had the pleasure of joining in the marriage celebration of  Stephanie and Brandon - congrats to these two!  I also had the opportunity to get reacquainted with my soon-to-be new co-workers from Mark Twain Elementary in Richardson, where I'll work as the speech-language pathologist for 2012-2013 school year.  Stephanie was a beautiful bride!

Allen took this one!

San Antonio - Riverwalk

In San Antonio, we stayed at a Drury Inn on the Riverwalk.  It was perfect!  Free breakfast was served every morning, and happy hour had enough food to count for dinner several nights.  The best part was being able to walk out of our hotel and be on the Riverwalk.  Christian bought river taxi passes, so we rode the riverboats several different times.  The boats were one of Allen's favorite attractions in San Antonio, and he asked for them several times.  Just walking along the river proved fun too, especially when we stopped for gelato!  It rained a couple of times, which cooled off a Texas July enough for us to really enjoy being outside and gave Allen an opportunity to use his new Spiderman paraguas (umbrella).  We don't have any pictures, but we were also able to walk to the Alamo and ride a horse-drawn carriage around the area.  Christian is so good at finding and indulging in extra little treats like the horse and buggy to really make our vacation extra special!

San Antonio - Natural Bridge Caverns

As soon as we finished at the Wildlife Ranch, we headed next door to the Natural Bridge Caverns.  We weren't sure what to expect, but they were majestic and Allen was an angel.  He was very careful not to touch the formations as the guide had instructed us and even reminded others along the way.  It is amazing to think that we could walk right across a grass lawn and that the huge caverns could be underneath.  Our camera ran out of battery before we could capture the most wondrous rooms, but we got a few of the formations in these.  God created a beautiful world, even underground! 

San Antonio - Wildlife Ranch

We spent June 29-July 3 in San Antonio for our 1st family vacation and had a blast!  A friend's wedding was planned for the 30th, and I really wanted to go.  When she graciously offered to let Allen come too, a real vacation was born.  The only other time we've spent the night away from home has been at my parents for Christmas and for a family reunion about 18 months ago, so I was a little nervous how the long car ride, hotel stay, busy and different schedule, etc. would go.  Concerns were squelched on the way down when I told Allen he needed to take a nap in the car today, and he said ok, closed his eyes, and slept for 3 hours!  The rest of the trip was pretty much as ideal.  Our first stop was the drive-through Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch.  Allen, of course, loved the petting farm with the goats and sheep, and it got even more fun during the drive through part! 

Gentle Zoo

I've been working this summer but am starting a part-time schedule until the new school year begins in August. This means some summer fun on my days off for Allen and me! One of our first summer fun days on June 26th was a trip to The Gentle Zoo in Forney with the Carpenters. I had never heard of it before, but I had a Groupon and it looked fun. It was! We loved feeding the animals and enjoying the little farm. Allen thought the sand box was pretty cool too.  I think his favorite were the goats (just like the last time we went to the Dallas Zoo).  He went around to each goat and said, "Hi goat, are you ok?"  in his high-pitched voice he uses to talk to babies and sweet animals; then he'd hug them and try to feed them.  Allen and I stayed a little longer and enjoyed a stop at Sonic on the way home; it was like our own mini road trip.  I love spending time with my sweet boy!

Sophie Aileen Baez

Baby Sophie was born on 6/22/2012 to proud parents Uli and Vanessa, big brother Junior, and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. She is the first girl in the Baez family and certainly a celebration!  After 5 big Baez boys and 3 little Baez boys, Sophie is a welcome little bundle of pink!  We are all excited to welcome her into the world and our family.  We are grateful for a sweet, healthy baby and mommy. 

 

Sophie Aileen

All the Baez boys admiring Baby Sophie - cousin and sister