Our great summer: San Antonio

What would summer be without a trip to San Antonio to see all our family? Evenings spent swimming in Nan’s pool, the buzz of cicadas, the tinkling of wind chimes, the dry heat.

Josh high-fives Ludi after they completed a freestyle race

My Nan cares for a number of feral street cats. This cat is not one of those. It is a mean cat. So mean, that a mockingbird daily attacks it and drives it away from my Nan’s yard.

A plant holder on the fence in Nan’s garden

The kids got their first taste of Whataburger on this trip.

This year was a little different. For one thing, my parents agreed to watch our kids for a week so that Yoli and I could travel to Bolivia. It was a new experience for everyone involved! The kids spent their week helping Nanny in the garden; watching butterflies, birds and longhorns; and they even managed to get Nanny into a swimsuit and into the pool!

Nanny takes us on a tour of her garden

Grandpa and Joseph hold down the fort at the Mexican restaurant

Angel stands guard while Nanny takes us on a tour of her garden

Yoli and Josh get ready to travel to Bolivia

My Grandma Renaud has moved out to Kendalia to live on the ranch with Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ted. They built her an impressive apartment with bedroom, kitchen, and living room.

Grandma Renaud shows me her new apartment.

My dad, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Joyce, and Grandma Renaud

Uncle Ted cooked up a pretty awesome lunch at the ranch.

Dion, my dad, and Uncle Jerry relax at the ranch.

Uncle Jerry was in town from Saudi, so I played a round of golf with him and my dad. I hadn’t played any golf since my dad’s 50th birthday, six years earlier. I was rusty, but we still had a good time.

Josh with Uncle Jerry at the Fort Sam Houston golf course. (Photo by Joe Renaud)

My dad tees of at the Fort Sam Houston golf course

Thanks to the Science Center membership my parents gave us for Christmas, we were able to visit San Antonio’s children’s museum (recently rechristened the “DoSeum”) for free. There was tons of new stuff to see and explore there.

Jadzia holds a bubble at the San Antonio DoSeum

Ludi blows bubbles at the San Antonio DoSeum

Finally, at the end of the trip, Nan had a new shower installed. We had hoped it would be finished by the time we returned from Bolivia, but alas they didn’t get done until after we had begun our return journey to St. Louis. Thankfully, my mom and dad let us shower at their place.