Tales from the Hill's Country

Quips, stories and observations from our adventures in marriage and parenting (as told by Katie).

Monday, November 18, 2013

Bradley's 2013 Pumpkin Adventures

Back in early October, Bradley and his two BFFs checked out the St. Luke's Pumpkin Patch after brunch.
I came too.
Later in October the Baton Rouge cousins got together for their (now annual) Pumpkin Patch photos!
Lucy was not feeling it:
Bradley and Maria talked about how they could cheer her up:
They headed over to the photo backdrop:
Yep. That cheered Lucy right up!
Lastly, a spin on the wheelbarrow:
That was a successful adventure.

Unlike the third (and last) time I tried a pumpkin photo with Bradley this year...

Have you seen those adorable photos of babies in pumpkins? If not, check these out here.

After seeing my facebook and pinterest pages full of amazing photos of babies in pumpkins... I was determined to get an adorable photo of my little pumpkin, too! How hard could that be, right?

Ask me in person about how I even got this pumpkin (it involves pouring rain; Bradley in a Baby Bjorn dressed in full rain gear; me trouncing through the mud, pushing a huge pumpkin in a wheelbarrow with Bradly attached to me; a closed pumpkin patch and more tears than I'd like to admit to... all mine). Long story short? I worked hard for this pumpkin!!

 Bradley was happy to watch Chris take out the pumpkin guts:
In fact, he was in a great mood!
I just knew that this was going to be a great picture of my smiling little pumpkin inside the huge pumpkin I had worked so hard to get.
Things did not go well.
At all.

We tried to bribe him with a cookie:
But then all I had was a screaming baby in a pumpkin with cookie crumbs in his mouth.
This wraps up Bradley's 2013 Pumpkin Adventures. I think it's safe to say he's glad it's over. Bradley, you're free!
Until next year...



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Remember the Alamo!

Bradley, Chris and I took a quick trip to San Antonio a few weekends ago. We enjoyed dinner on the River Walk and put Bradley to bed at our hotel. Around 4:30am... he woke up. After about an hour of trying to get him back to sleep, we cut our losses and got ready to be the first ones at breakfast!

We just googled "good place for breakfast in San Antonio" and found the Guenther House! It wasn't until I got there that I realized-- I'd been there before! We used to visit my Aunt and Uncle in San Antonio and the Guenther House was always our breakfast spot!
After breakfast we headed back to our hotel, then walked over to the Alamo. Where we found...
Protesters!

At first we didn't think much of it. Then we got closer... it was a gun rally! All of these people had some sort of gun (most of them large and scary) and here we were, strolling our one year old child through the masses.

I felt much safer once we were inside. Apparently, so did Bradley:
He quickly fell asleep:
I guess he won't remember the Alamo!

Actually, he did wake up eventually, so we could get some adorable photos with his awesome new hat:
Later we visited the Children's Museum of San Antonio. Bradley was drawn to the light board-- just like in Houston!
And found some new things to play with, too:
On our way out of town we stopped at a local brewery:
And visited my pal, Adrienne and her adorable baby girl, Caroline (I can't believe we didn't take any photos!!)

It was a quick trip from Houston and we really enjoyed just a taste of what San Antonio has to offer... we look forward to going back!









Friday, October 18, 2013

Riding Rides and Meeting New Friends

Bradley's first ever Walt Disney World attraction?

Peter Pan! Despite the blurry photo, I think he liked it.

We used a stroller to walk around Magic Kingdom, then I put him in the Baby Bjorn for the lines and rides-- that way he couldn't somehow squirrel out of my arms! It worked well.

Bradley was pretty serious on all of the rides:
Even when I tried to get him excited:
 (Although, after Dumbo I put him in the "fake Dumbo" for some photos. There was a line, so Bradley had a bit of an audiance... and wow, did that little guy perform!)

Peek-a...
 Boo!
On the rides, though he was very observant. Wasn't scared of anything, but didn't really clap and laugh, either.
Until... the TIKI ROOM!
This kid LOVED those animatronic birds!
Really, really loved them.
It took him 15 minutes to calm down after we saw the show!
It was, by far, the highlight attraction for Bradley.
He also met a princess, which he didn't mind:
And the big cheese himself, which didn't go quite as expected:
It almost looks like he's smiling in that photo, but trust me... that's a squirm and a whimper.


All in all, Bradley was a TROOPER and his first visit to the Magic Kingdom was a success! He was there for the opening (9am) and stayed through until it closed (7pm)-- with two snoozes in the stroller. No major meltdowns lots of rides! Now there's only one thing to do... plan our next trip!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village

For Bradley's first hair cut trip, we decided to stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge-- Kidani Village. We chose the Kidani side because it's the "vacation club home" side. That means we had a mini-kitchen which is so nice to have when traveling with a toddler!

But, the real reason we wanted to stay there was the balcony:
It overlooks the Savannah... meaning you get to see...
Animals! Lots and lots of animals!
I was pleasantly surprised with how many animals there were (and how close)! Bradley made a noise while we were on the balcony and a zebra stopped eating and looked up at us.

Another perk of the resort? A great pool!
Bradley loved walking into the pool himself and kept going until he'd plunge face-first into the water. I'd panic, but he always came up laughing!
Then we checked out the splash pad:
Which he also loved, of course:
A short walk to the other side of the resort gave us access to a great playground:
Bradley has just discovered the joys of slides... and this one had FIVE different ones for him to run to, point at, then grunt until Daddy agreed to pick him up and let him fly!
This was a great resort that I'd recommend anyone-- but we especially found it convenient for traveling with our little guy.