Texas Schleichers: Grammy and Papa!

We were so happy to have Kim's parents come visit us for spring break! Grammy jumped right in and started pushing Ian around in a box! Ian was happy to show Papa and Grammy all of his toys, including his fake broccoli and spatula.

Our family friend, Ellen, came over for lunch! It had been WAY too long since we'd seen her!

Aunt Chelsea spent part of her spring break from student teaching working on wedding invitations! Kim and Chelsea worked together a couple of nights while watching a girlie movie. The movie wasn't the best (chick flicks are supposed to be happy, right?? Eat, Pray, Love is NOT!), but we enjoyed the time together!

On Wednesday, Grammy, Papa, Matt, Kim, and Ian headed to San Antonio for a few days. Ian was quite the entertainer in the car ... decorating his face with bracelets,

and putting his foot in his mouth.

We stopped at McDonald's for lunch in San Antonio, and we were thrilled that they sold Shamrock Shakes (a family tradition for Kim while she was growing up). None of the McDonald's in the Houston area have ever seemed to hear of Shamrock Shakes! :(

Ian was an instant believer in the yummy, minty drink!

When we got to the hotel, Ian helped Papa with the luggage,

and then we headed down to the Riverwalk, which had been dyed green for St. Patty's Day!

We took a boat cruise along the Riverwalk and learned a lot about the cool sites in downtown San Antonio from our tour guide, Alejandro.

Ian enjoyed the boat ride, too!

a cool building downtown

Look at that green water! :)

We ate dinner at Rio! Rio! right along the Riverwalk. Ian was excited about the colored chips they served as appetizers.

We enjoyed watching all of the activity along the Riverwalk while dining outside. (There were LOTS of tourists in town for spring break!)

We also enjoyed some mariachi music during dinner.

Then we headed back across the Riverwalk to our hotel

so Ian could hear some bedtime stories!

The next morning, St. Patrick's Day, we headed to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch -- a definite must-see for anyone with toddlers or small children. Actually, the ranch turned out to be the highlight for all of us adults, too.

We started by seeing some deer that had just shed their antlers for the spring.

They had suggested not feeding the wildlife by hand, but who could resist?? (And hey, we weren't the only rule-benders!)

The zebras were some of our favorite animals to see so close-up!

Don't worry. Neither Matt nor Grammy lost any fingers. Unfortunately, Papa wasn't so lucky.

Kim totally chickened out on a hand-feeding opportunity the first time this ostrich came through the window looking for food.

But, in the end, all the adults in the car successfully fed an ostrich by hand. We stopped this video right before the ostrich grabbed hold of Papa's baseball cap. :)

We brushed and fed some goats at the petting zoo,

and were surprised to learn that goats climb trees!

a longhorn huddle

Ian pretending to be a zebra, going after the Fruit Loops in Grammy's hand.

Ian enjoyed the plants around our hotel.

On Thursday afternoon, we headed to the Alamo!

We brushed up on a little Texas history

before heading back to the hotel

for a wine and cheese reception and swimming in the pool.

The next morning, Ian showed us where the hotel's putting green was

and enjoyed playing with the flags most of all.

We headed to Market Square

where we did some shopping,

exercising,

and guitar playing.

Thanks for the cool guitar, Grammy and Papa!

We ended our trip with another visit to McDonald's. Ian made the surprising discovery that a McDonald's straw could fit over top of his sippy cup straw AND STILL WORK! Boy, was he excited!