Fun in San Antonio!

The girls and I are on holiday in San Antonio. The girls have spring break from their school, and I decided a few weeks ago that taking them to San Antonio to visit my sister would be vastly superior to sticking around home with the famously variable April weather. If the weather was good, we could do lots of fun, spring-y things. But if the weather was bad, we were doomed to a week of driving each other crazy in the house -- no thanks!

I have never been to visit my sister in San Antonio, and I can't even say how long she's lived here... at least two years in her new house and maybe a year before that? Not quite. We came to visit San Antonio with her a few years back, and I think the twins were maybe 6 months old or so? So close to three years.

Anyway, we cashed in a couple of freebie Southwest tickets and bought two more and it's turning into quite the economical vacation. We also lucked out in that the weather here is sunny and warm (ok, isolated t-showers, but they hardly even count!) and the weather at home is, well, SNOWING!

Needless to say, I'm glad we came! It is so much easier traveling with the girls now that they are fairly reliably potty trained and pretty good (and flexible, finally!) sleepers. They will pretty much bed down anywhere when the time comes. They are definitely enjoying spending time with their cousins... mostly Miss D and McKinley are having a great time together... none of the crazy outrageous fights they had three years ago when my sister blessedly came and watched the girls while Daddy J and I went to Portugal.

All four girls seem to be getting along well and hanging out together. We took them to the pool in my sister's neighborhood today. It's an unheated pool, so a little chilly, but the kids still had a great time. They all got wet (eventually!) and we stayed for close to three hours and hardly noticed the time passing.

I can't believe how grown up my sister's kids are getting. Austin will be 13 in September, and he's quite the surly teenager. I think he must be a lot like I was at that age -- hence he drives my sister absolutely batty! Ethan is a big sweetheart, helping out with the girls whenever they will let him. He really will make a terrific dad and husband someday. And Evan is just all personality and movement. He reminds me of my friend's son, Ian... sparkle and hustle!

Uncle Dave is out of town on business for a few days, so my sister and I have even been sharing a bed like we did when we were kids. (Daddy-J... Nina says I was a bed hog even when we were little!). It's been fun to catch up with each other's lives and gossip about people we know. We never had a close relationship as sisters growing up, so it's always kinda fun now that we're adults with families of our own to talk and really be sisters... more than we ever were growing up. I love my sister, despite or maybe because of our differences. She is one of the most tolerant, forgiving, understanding people I know, which is a rare quality, indeed.

We don't have anything planned for the rest of the week, maybe a little hike tomorrow. I'm just enjoying relaxing and warm weather.