last few days in texas.

we've been home from texas for a few weeks now, but i still want to write about the last couple days there. we had such a fine time, i don't want to forget any of it. 

of course, we spent more time riding Lace. he is an off the track (OTT) thoroughbred. he is really pretty and fun (challenging for me) to ride!

it was so awesome having the arena just yards from the house. it made riding very convenient. 

later that day, the whole family went to the natural bridge caverns. i had no idea what to expect, but it was really cool! there were two caverns that a tour guide took us through. the pictures really don't capture the beauty. the rooms were HUGE down there!

we thought those things hanging down looked like jelly fish. the stalactite's and stalagmite's and other formations looked so different from each other. it reminded me of being under water with coral reef, plants and creatures.

that's a scary mask, bro...

here is a picture from the entrance of one of the caverns. you can see the railing going all the way down there, that gives you an idea of how big the caverns were. my butt was sore the next day from walking up and down so many stairs! in the second cave, when we got to the very bottom, we all sat down on benches. then our tour guide informed us that we were about to experience total darkness. we all turned off our cell phones and he turned off his flash light. it was complete and utter darkness. darkness that you can't experience in many other places. it weirded me out so bad! my eyes were playing tricks on me, making me think that i could see the ceiling, or see jon's knee next to mine. he told us that if we were in utter darkness for 6 hours or more, our eyes would not continue to work and we'd be permanently blinded!! my father in law was very doubtful of this statement, but who knows...i just know that i don't want to find out from experience.

this is the natural bridge. that's where the caverns get their name.

i took a picture of this fern and sent it to my sister, katie, saying "one day!"
she and i have both been paying extra close attention to our ferns...we are hoping that one day they will look as happy and healthy and this one does!...they just need some time.

jon, katilyn and i went to the mall that night. it was called the shops at la cantera and it was really nice! it reminded me a lot of fashion valley mall here, or a fuse between the gateway and city creek. we got there at dusk, which is my favorite time of day. it was fun to be out and about in san antonio with jon's little sister.

thursday was lake day!!! i love boating so much, so i was really looking forward to this trip. the dogs were moping around all morning. they knew that we were packing up the boat and that they weren't invited. right before we left, we decided that it would be alright if they came. kathy looked at them and asked if they wanted to come to the lake and got their leashes-THEY WERE SO EXCITED. i could not believe how receptive they were. they jumped in the car and sat so still. when we were two turns away from the lake (the lake was literally not in view) they both started whining. they knew that we were almost there. it was the cutest and weirdest thing! 

jon told me to do something funny, so i did a really cute (...) dance and he took a picture. i thought for sure it was a video, but nope. not sure what my thumbs are up to.

we got there bright and early, and the water was perfect for wake boarding. john, kathy and i were the only ones who attempted it. jonathan and kaitlyn just watched...and slept. 

i can't get enough of this! this dog loves the water so much. 

see how much fun we are having, doing tricks and things? it was a blast! at first...
let me make this clear. most of the time we were tubing, we were doing tricks. however, toward the end of the day, we got back on the tube and stopped rough housing. it was really choppy. jon was laying on his stomach holding on, and i was sitting next to him with my legs off the side of the tube. we were not doing tricks! we were simply unprepared for what the waves had to offer us. we flew up.....and came back down and when we did, the front of my head went slamming into the back of jon's head. the next thing i knew, i was in the water talking to myself to keep myself from passing out. i don't know if i was about to pass out, but i was encouraging myself not to. it was the weirdest thing. we went home soon after that, it put such a damper in the day. we just stayed home and hung out for the rest of the night.

i text my father about the mishap, and he was very obviously not worried.

(annoyed face)

 i love texting him. his choice of punctuation (or no punctuation) is so hilarious.

the next morning, my neck....oh my goodness, i was in so much pain. it was mix of wake boarding, tubing and crashing heads. it made for a really nice plane ride home.

we left on friday. it is always so hard saying goodbye to everyone! we love spending time there whether its working on the house and horseback riding, or touring texas and going boating!

part II video to come...

corpus christi!

ever heard of it??

it's right on the coast of the gulf of mexico!

it was a two and a half hour drive from john's house in san antonio. we made the trip last monday with john and kathy. we actually went to port aransas, which is a little town right outside of corpus christi. we checked into our hotel and immediately went to the beach! i have never been anywhere in the gulf of mexico and let me tell you...it was heavenly. 

it literally felt like i was in bath water. the weather mixed with the water temperature was absolutely perfect! we all spent a couple hours boogie boarding and just playing in the water. 

after the beach, we hurried to get ready and ran down to the boat dock where we had plans for a sunset cruise! so fun!

the view was so beautiful. there were probably only ten other people on the boat, it was really private. there were lots of places to sit and we could talk with the captain if we wanted. we even got to see a few dolphins! i love dolphins so much simply because they all have the cutest constant smile on their faces. 

(example a., example b. and example c.)

it was so beautiful and relaxing. it was nice to just sit and watch the sunset with no other distractions. the fresh air was nice and i really enjoyed just being able to talk to jon while surrounded by such pure beauty. 

i kept telling my FIL that i wanted to buy a cheap cowboy hat from a gas station or grocery store. these hats almost made the cut....almost. 

this was part of our continental breakfast at the hotel.

texas loves texas.

we woke up bright and early the next day (8:30 am...) and headed out on the town. we made a stop at this funny shark statue for pictures. there were more than one of these! i'm just glad he wasn't real!!!!!

then we drove to corpus christi for some site seeing. we toured through the uss lexington aircraft carrier. these things intrigue me so much, i love seeing the tiny beds the service members sleep in while on board and also love seeing where they visit the dentist. it seems like a very large doll house!! 

after the museum, we went to the texas state aquarium. jon was the most excited about this because he loves seeing the creepy underwater creatures which i am not a fan of. there were a lot of cool things to see though, including this real life alligator! i don't think i've ever seen one before! he wasn't that great...he just sat there.  

look at this scary picture of jon. so unflattering, but look at that little sea horse scooting by. those things are the cutest ever!!!! i love them! 

we headed home after a few hours at the aquarium. it was such a fun little staycation! i kept being amazed by my surroundings because port aransas and corpus christi were both unlike anywhere i have ever been before. it was a good experience, and i would definitely go back. 

this should put a big texas smile on your face.

this is only the beginning of our trip.

August'12: Texas from Alexandra Robinson on Vimeo.

the lonestar state.

here we are! we flew to san antonio, tx last week to visit jon's side of the family. we've been here for a week and we leave today. it's gone by way too fast. 

we are currently trying to figure out where we are going to go when jon gets out of the marine corps. utah?? texas?? it is a very difficult decision, there are so many pros to both places. 

anyway, jon has applied for schools both in texas and salt lake to help with our decision. 

john, my FIL, took us directly to the university of texas san antonio campus to check it out when he picked us up from the airport last thursday. it was a nice school and we're glad we got to see it. i'm not sure if jon's obssed with it...we're still waiting to see if he's been approved or denied. 

here he is on campus!

(my dad went to GW, he got that shirt for jon when we were all visiting DC)

(fun sidenote: the UTSA mascot is a roadrunner. i'd never seen one before...until a few days later when i saw TWO! they are pretty cute!) 

jon's step mom, kathy, made him one of his favorite cakes: dirt cake! he was so happy. and so was i, since i've never had one so perfected. 

my in-laws got a horse last november. since then, kathy has started taking horse lessons and they decided to put an arena in their backyard for both her and kaitlyn. the arena was just recently finished and it is so nice! we've been spending lots of time out there on Lace. 

lace is an ex-race horse. he's never jumped before. kaitlyn has started teaching him first by going over poles. kathy painted those poles! 

they put their trailer down by the arena as a tack room. John made those jump stands from scratch. and there is one of their dogs, jaz. she is the happiest dog i've ever seen in my whole life! she never stops smiling, it is so adorable.

remember when i wrote about this staircase? well, here is the human staircase that takes you up to the attic above the garage. no handrail. so hilarious! it doesn't look high, but it's actually really scary to walk up there and not have the comfort and security of a handrail. 

i helped kathy a little bit with the weeds. we piled them into the 4-wheeler trailer and hauled them to the front of the house where kathy has a burn pile. their house and property is really nice, they have a pretty good set up! you can see the pool, trampoline, 4 wheeler and a little bit of the arena here. and the big puffy clouds. 5 pro's in one picture! 

on friday, we went to the Beethoven Maennerchor "promoting german music, language, and culture in San Antonio" for a german fest! jon's parents lived in germany with the air force for three years, that is where he was born!! so it has a soft spot in their hearts. they love the culture and the food and it turns out that i do too! we ate potato salad, bratwurst with sauerkraut, a ruben sandwich, etc. jon and his dad ate until there was literally room for no more. 

while we ate, we listened to the most adorable german family band play. i was swooning over the guitarist who must have been at least 12. their mother was the biggest fan in the audience.

after the germanfest, we went directly to PBR!! (i obviously didn't wear pants and cowboy boots to germany...i changed in the car) i have wanted to go to a rodeo or something so bad lately, and what better place to enjoy something like this than texas! 

here they are-pregaming and getting the audience riled up. it was such a fun experience! it was kind of stressful to watch their frail bodies on the backs of the bulls, but really cool at the same time-they are seasoned. we even sat behind a mother of one of the riders! she was so nervous to see her son come out and ride, he did good and moved on to the next round where he didn't do as good. i wanted him to win. i felt like i knew him because for some reason the mom was reading all of her texts to/from him from the past four months and i read them all over her shoulder. nice guy. 

jon took some cute pictures of me after PBR wearing my sister-in-laws cowboy boots. he says i look like a southern belle.
that man! 

saturday morning, kathy and i woke up early to ride. it gets so hot here that you have to either ride bright and early, or at night right before the sun goes down. here is the finished arena! it's surrounded by trees, so it's actually relatively cool.  

that night, we went to the point truck park and ate. kaitlyn works at stout's pizza, and their truck was parked there. it was really cute! they had live music and a little art museum. as we were leaving, it started to lightening. it rained pretty steadily throughout the night which was good for them since it's been so dry.   

lace enjoyed rolling in the mud...

jon's grandparents live right next door! john built their house and they've been living there for about 5 years or so. they are the cutest and funniest old couple. jon and i like going over there to hear the old stories they tell us. grandma used to help her step-dad (i think) herd cattle on the back of the horse. i asked her if she liked it and she said she didn't like it, but she didn't hate it either. it was like waking up the morning, you just did it. grandpa bob found a mustang out in the wild and tamed her (he grew up in fillmore, utah). i asked him what her name was and he said he just called her 'old gal'. he would herd cattle with her, but they'd also ride up the mountains and camp and things like that. they have such interesting stories, its nice to just sit and chat and get to know them a little bit better. grandma is a spitfire, and bob is literally the sweetest man you've ever met. they compliment each other nicely. 

we've been having a blast here in SA! i'm excited to see my little kitty and plants, but it's always sad to leave here. 

miss you, gran.

i am really missing my granny today. really, really missing her. 

i was trying to find this one winnie the pooh quote that makes me think of her and stumbled upon lots of winnie the pooh quotes that make me think of her. turns out winnie the pooh reminds me a lot of my gran! nonchalant, funny, and so very kind. 

i thought i'd post a few of them here. 

"Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave."

"If there is tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you."

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever."

"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."

"When late morning rolls around and you're feeling a bit out of sorts, don't worry; you're probably just a little eleven o'clockish."

"It took their minds off everything...and it was good for me, too."

""I wonder what Piglet is doing," thought Pooh.

"I wish I were there to be doing it, too."" 

"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

-Winnie the Pooh