G is for Galaxies

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G: G is for Galaxies, 10/29/11

This past Saturday night, after putting Kate to bed, we ventured out for our G date. It was my turn to plan, and I went with G is for "galaxies," or "star-gazing." I found the Astronomical Society of East Texas online, and they happened to have a Star Party this past Saturday. Astronomy societies have star parties all over so that they can get the public involved in astronomy and allow them the opportunity to see what it's like to view the skies up-close and personal.

The great thing about this date is that it was free...or, at least it was intended to be free. After leaving our house with Kate all snug in her bed, we both decided we had the munchies, so we drove through McDonald's. Hey, that's what dates are for, right? We headed to Tyler, which is about 45 minutes away, and arrived at the Tyler Junior College about 9PM. We walked right up and the first thing we got to see was Jupiter. They had their telescopes already set up, and we could just walk up and take a look. Jupiter was very clear, and we could see the rings around the planet as well as its four moons in orbit. It looked something like this, except we no color.
We also got to see the Andromeda Galaxy, which was more like a little blur since it's so far away. So cool, though, to imagine what it must be like. And even cooler to know that my God created all this.

Unfortunately there was too much light pollution (yes, that's what it's really called) to be able to see much else, but we did get some lessons on the constellations and different stars. We also talked with the guys about coming to Canton sometime so we could invite our friends, and they are going to come! I absolutely cannot wait. I love astronomy, and it is really dark out here so we should be able to see a whole lot!

It was fun to take a little jaunt out and do something we've never done before together.

Happy Halloween!

2011 Family Vaca: San Antonio!

Well, we survived our first family vacation with a baby. And it was...a blast! We knew but didn't realize just how not relaxing vacation can be with a baby, but we still had a wonderful, refreshing time, and even managed to get some relaxation in here and there :)

Some highlights from our trip include Kate's first visit to the Alamo, the San Antonio Zoo, some really good Mexican food, and Sea World. Oh, and the hotel's hot tub, which we were fully able to enjoy thanks to the pack & play and all of Kate's toys that we lugged up and down the stairs each time. Here are some pics from our trip!

Getting ready to trek out for our first day!

 The following two pics are funny because Kate does not like her stroller. They are pics of 2 very rare occasions: when she is actually smiling and when she is actually sleeping in her stroller. Kate much prefers to be carried, which is what we had to do most of the trip!

 Our first family pic at the Alamo!

 The San Antonio Zoo!

 This picture cracks me up. Kate was so happy being carried around in her daddy's arms, and her little bottom lip stuck out immediately when she realized he was putting her down. I'm sure our Santa picture this year will be pretty similar to this one!

 Enjoying a moment of relaxation while Kate rested in her stroller. We were on a deck above some weird looking crocodile.

 At the end of our very tiring day at the zoo, we let Kate play in her pack & play and we soaked up the relaxation of the pool's hot tub. So nice! We also ordered Chinese takeout this night and watched a movie after we put Kate to bed.

Sea World! We had a coupon that gave us 2 days for the price of 1 kid's ticket, so we got a great deal.

 We fed the sea lions. They were our favorite animals. They have so much personality, plus they reminded us of our dogs :)

Kate watching Shamu swim around.

 Shamu!

 We took turns holding Kate so the other could ride the rides. Here Trey is on the log splash ride (whatever it's called). Those are my favorite rides. Trey enjoyed the roller coasters more.

We enjoyed all the shows we watched, but our absolute favorite was the Sea Lion show. It was so funny and entertaining!

We got to feed and pet the dolphins! That was one of my favorite experiences. They are really soft and slick. As you can tell by the pics, I was a little hesitant and Trey was a natural with the dolphins.

They had lots of cute Halloween mazes that were "haunted." Here we are as we walked through the family friendly maze...that was "not so family friendly" in the evening. I can tell you that I would have been terrified going through this maze in the dark with creepy characters jumping out at you. I'm glad we had a baby so we had an excuse to do the family friendly version :)

 Ok this picture has a funny story behind it. We did one of the "unhaunted" mazes, and this one was the Count's forest. We stood in line forever, only to come up to meet the Count and realize they take your picture with him and you can, of course, buy the picture from Sea World. Well after all that time, we didn't want to have to buy our picture, so we gave our camera to the lady in line behind us to snap our picture. Then we walked up to the Count and I said, "Look a the lady." Obviously I meant the lady with our camera, not the man with Sea World's camera. But my husband, in all his excitement meeting the Count, just thought "Who is the lady?" and didn't look at our camera once for a picture. Then when we walked away Trey realized what I meant and said "OH, I didn't look at our camera!" We had a good laugh at his listening skills!

 Anytime we eat out now we have to get a table big enough that Kate can lay down and play. She just does not like sitting in a bumbo or in her carseat...this baby girl is way too active for that! Here we are eating ice cream at Sea World.

Overall our trip was such a blast, and we look forward to many more family vacations with Kate and any other additions we might have in the future!