Rejoice! The Lord is King!

 Belated Easter greetings. 

San Antone

A few weeks ago we did some genuine Texas sightseeing (of which we do far too little) and took a little drive to San Antonio. It combined some of Kenny's favorite things to do while sightseeing--history, old things, and learning--with some of my favorite things to do while sightseeing--food, new experiences, outdoor things, and all of the other fun stuff that normal people like. 

See? Food. 

Highlights included:

Our hotel! 

Which is the oldest hotel west of the Mississippi and is situated on the old Alamo battle grounds, has hosted at least a dozen American presidents, and from where Teddy Roosevelt recruited his rough riders. They also made a mean bread pudding and mango ice cream (both original recipes from way back when!). 

The Alamo! 

Of which the boys' favorite part was the koi that they found in the little stream on the grounds and the custom-made Alamo army men that they bought at the gift shop.

The Riverwalk! 

Where no less than two of our boys tried to jump in and which was the recipient of at least two baskets of tortilla chips thrown by Wes and Derek while we ate dinner one night. 

The San Jacinto Mission:

Where Derek tried to destroy an old wall by chucking a giant rock at it. 

The horse carriage ride!

Enough said. 

I'm assuming family vacations when I was younger also had their fair share of stress, but all I remember is nice, enjoyable, relaxing experiences. Hopefully our boys also have selective memories. 

Big Boy Wessers

 Wes is such a big boy now! So noisy, so adorable, so excited and earnest and happy. 

Wesley loves to play! With "guys" and balls and cars and stuffed animals and whatever else he can find. He loves animals, especially dogs, and discovered a new love of the aquarium on his birthday (and has been asking to go back to the "ishes" and "(sh)arks" every day since). He also loves other "babies",  which includes anyone smaller than Derek, and loves to go up and give them big hugs and kisses whether they like it or not. 

Wes is, if you couldn't tell, very talkative. All day, every day, when it's quiet, when everyone else is talking, when he's watching shows, when he's reading, to strangers and animals and himself. Always talking. Sometimes you can tell he's trying to get an actual point across, sometimes he just seems to be jabbering on as fast as he can (usually ending in a big giggle like he just told a great joke), but he always likes you to respond somehow. He still mostly uses vowels, although some consonants are starting to sneak in ("Ahm" is mostly "mom" now, sadly). Most of his words have at least some similarity to their real counterpart, but a few are just totally out of left field. For example: "ya-ya" (Derek), "nano" (popcorn), “Nun-*tongue click*” (milk), and "I.O." (lightsaber and/or stormtrooper). Some words have multiple meanings (like "bips", which can mean either chips or ships depending on the context) and some have to be accompanied by music to get their  meanings across (like Star Wars songs and tunes to whatever lullaby he wants to hear). 

Speaking of, Wes is a little song bird. He only has to hear a tune once and he can mimic it pretty perfectly right back to you, and he has yet to meet a song he doesn't like. He already has very strong opinions about what songs should be played in the car and regularly asks for specific ones. 

Wes is super active, super smily and giggly and happy, super opinionated and hilarious. He plays well with both Luke and Derek, even though they have completely opposite interests, and is able to charm anybody into practically anything. 

Just look at that face!