My Joy

06/19/25

Family Vacation Day Eight (Thursday): Our last day in San Antonio, TX. We are ready to walk to the Alamo!

There were sunflowers along the way:

And other pretty flowers:

A glimpse at River Walk (we’ll do that later):

On the way to th Alamo we happened upon a Juneteenth celebration in a park where actors were portraying the experiences of the enslaved people at the time of their emancipation.

The birds were very interactive here!

After the performance we went to the Alamo which was right behind the park stage:

There were several different buildings with artifacts and informative materials to keep us engaged for 3 hours!

The sacristy in the main church building:

A bible on display:

The Alamo was well worth the visit!

After the Alamo we did a little shopping:

We then stopped for lunch and treats and headed to the beautiful River Walk:

River Walk!

So pretty!

Lots of arches:

Lizzy still loves pigeons (her favorite bird):

Our next stop was the San Fernando Cathedral, one of the oldest active cathedrals in the United States.

It’s so nice to be able to go into the Cathedrals:

Beautiful stained glass!

The organ!!

Outside the cathedral:

The Founders Monument:

Deciding which crown they would want:

After the Cathedral area we walked to the Historic Market Square (think Flea Market):

And we stopped at a bakery:

On our way “home” we took the River Walk again.

This tunnel was cool:

Historic River walk is so nice:

Best Friend Sisters relaxing:

Almost to our bridge exit:

The Spanish architecture was nice too:

There were some interesting things along the streets:

Finally this evening we walked to a restaurant for dinner. It was an action-packed last day in San Antonio!

06/20/25

Today we drove back home. That was a wonderful vacation and we are so happy we could take Luna Dog with us:

We Love You Luna!

06/18/25

Family Vacation Day Seven (Wednesday): Today we drove back to San Antonio. Rachel specifically asked to visit the Holocaust Museum:

Located in a Jewish center it was on the second floor:

Thought provoking. . .

After the museum we went to a park across the street from our next destination, the Japanese Tea Garden & Chinese Gardens. This was Mom’s destination of choice and we all found beauty to enjoy! It was advertised as a Japanese Tea Garden online.

This little sign was off to the side of the main entrance:

It was beautiful:

Lots of water, pathways and greenery and Luna Dog was allowed to join us:

Papaya!!

We all enjoyed the gardens:

There even was a waterfall:

We all had our favorite spots:

Peaceful!

Mom and Dad really enjoyed it too:

In the front outside the gardens was an old “Mexican Village”:

Not much more to see and you could not go inside:

Our next stop is the AirBnB.

In the evening we walked to a Belgian Bistro for dinner:

We were having a great day!

Then we walked to Hemisfair Park, a local free park. It was amazing! There were outside games, gardens, playgrounds, sculptures, and , art, music and a plethora of water features.

We tried to play ping pong. We had so much fun!

There were lots of sculptures:

This park contains a life-size cow sculptures that are transformed by local artists and auctioned off for charity:

The Tower of the Americas:

There were lots of water features by the tower:

It’s easy to relax here!

Apparently a bee was chasing them:

A relaxing end of the day:

Best of friends sisters:

Lizzy’s favorite:

Until she saw. . .

Fabulous day!

06/17/25

Family Vacation Day Six (Tuesday). Today Rachel drove us to Garner State Park in Concan, TX. We hiked the Old Baldy, Foshee, Bridges, and Crystal Cave Trails. First we took the trail up Mount Ol’ Baldy, a 500 foot steep and rocky climb. The views were awesome!

We’re ready!

Which way? It’s a loop:

This plant literally has little saws on each blade!

Our view up the mountain!

Halfway there!

Having so much fun!

Enjoying the views. . .almost at the top:

Taking it all in:

Ripe fruit to sample. It was actually not bad tasting but the texture is slimy:

We made it to the top!

Amazing views:

We went back down the mountain and headed uphill again and saw where we had climbed. . .

Mount Ol’ Baldy!

Another beautiful view further up the trail:

We are all having a great time:

Dad’s favorite type of hiking is rocky and with bouldering and a bonus with caves (still to come)! He sure got that today!

This is how we kept track of the trail. The trail blazes were yellow footprints on the rocks along the way:

Crystal Cave!

Not a huge cave but it was cool:

Lizzy is almost always the first one inside when we find a cave!

She explored a little tunnel only to discover a huge nest of spiders!

We found White Rock Cave:

Rachel relaxed in the cool air (around 70 degrees) at the front of the cave:

We explored the cave:

Look what was directly over our heads in the cave! Mind you this is with a flash, the cave is very dark.

They are all spiders!

End of hike pic, but the adventure is not over. . .

Peddle Boating on the Frio River!

We took turns peddling the boat. Mom and Dad peddled first:

Turtles joined us:

We peddled Mom and Dad now:

Rope swing!! Dad went first:

Lizzy’s turn!

The view from our boating and swimming spot:

A fun-filled family adventure!

06/16/25

Family Vacation Day Five (Monday). Today we went for a hike in the Lost Maples State Natural Area in Vanderpool, Texas.

Family trailhead pic. We are ready to go!

Sister twinseys:

We were excited to have some nice climbing boulders along the trail!

Dancin’ to her music and having a good time:

Luna prefers us to all stay together. The look is “Let’s go mom!!”

Rachel spotted a Texas brown tarantula on the trail!!

We made it to the famous Monkey Rock!!

Of course Lizzy wanted to climb up Monkey Rock and Dad joined her:

It was a more difficult climb than it looked because the rock was slippery:

Coming down is always harder!

We liked Monkey Rock!

Luna is having a great time too:

We got back on the main trail and found some more places to climb:

Just like old times, climbing trees on our hikes:

Lizzy was exploring the Sabinal River and found a crayfish:

Lizzy got brave and held it too:

We got to the “steep and rugged” portion of the trail!:

This is fun!

Halfway to the top!

Lizzy ends up regretting picking up that cactus. She eventually got all the needles out of her fingers. . . lesson learned:

We made it to the top! The Happy Family:

Best of friend sisters enjoying the view and a little rest after the climb:

A beautiful view on a beautiful day!

We found a trail cam and we hammed it up for the camera:

A steep decline!

We made it to the water:

Lizzy jumped in for a swim!:

We were surprised there were picnic tables way out here! Dad relaxed:

Lizzy swam across and under the ledge. She’s brave!

We took a nice long break here:

We got Mom’s phone for some whacky .5 pics:

We even got one of Mom:

This water crossing was not as easy as it looked!

I took an adjacent trail and looked over to see this! Lizzy is definitely having a good time!

Another water crossing. Successful!

We had a wonderful action-packed adventure!

Luna Dog did awesome too!

6/15/25

Vacation Day Four (Sunday): today we had breakfast at the hotel (Waffles Texas style):

Another funny card!

Special chocolate covered cherries:

We went to Church in San Antonio, TX.:

After church we drove to Utopia, TX (Rachel drove my car for the first time for part of the way) to our Airbnb for the next 3 nights.

Finally some hills to climb!

We made it to our Airbnb in Utopia, TX:

It was out in the country with a tree house and trails in the back:

Nope, not a sturdy ladder:

Tomorrow we hike!

Luna as ready to relax inside:

So were we:

After dinner we went for a country walk/run and enjoyed the Texas wildlife!

Lots of cacti:

The sunset was so nice:

Lots of flowers:

More cacti:

And horses!

And a rabbit:

We thought this was an outhouse:

Mom saw this deer before we did:

We are so happy with this Airbnb!

06/14/25

Vacation Day Three (Saturday). Today we were on the road by 7:30am heading to San Antonio,TX 8.5hrs! We were having a great time:

Dad was enjoying double stacked double stuff Oreos:

The real party was with us!

We stopped in Houston, TX at a nice park. It had a cool bridge:

And a nice walking path:

It was a beautiful day outside!

After the rest break in the park we drove to our previously booked hotel for the night in San Antonio, TX.

06/13/25

Vacation Day Two (Friday). Today we planned a fun day in New Orleans! Luna is not too excited about staying home without us, but she’ll be okay…

We took a bus downtown and then walked through the city:

There were some interesting buildings:

Rachel was especially excited about The National WWII Museum, but we all ended up really being impressed by it!

It was educational and interactive We were each given a name of someone who actually served in the war. Throughout the museum there were stations where you could scan your card to gain more information about the individual. It was very impactful:

Our great-grandfather on Mom’s side, Gorden McCarty, died in this war just days before the war ended:

A very diverse experience:

After this museum we got a bite to eat and then surprised the girls with this!:

The Titanic Immersive Voyage Experience. Everyone gets a passenger to follow:

At the end of the “experience” you find out if they lived or died:

Nice optical allusion!:

First class status!

We sit in boats to watch the museums movie portrayal of the highlighted events.

After the Titanic Experience we went to the famous Bourbon Street:

We stopped for some gelato:

We came upon a fun street band:

Men dressed as statues and did not move at all!

There was a pretty horse with a buggy:

And a beautiful Cathedral:

With Gorgeous stained glass!!

Later that evening we went out to dinner a short walk from the Airbnb:

Pretty ladies:

We had a nice dinner at Neyow’s Crele Cafe:

That was a great day in New Orleans!

06/12/25

This year we are going to New Orleans and Texas. Why? We wanted to have a driving vacation so we could bring Luna Dog with us! We use to have a driving vacation every other year but it has been many years since we did that so Luna has been left out. We got on the road at 7:30 am and drove up Florida to Alabama and then to Mississippi.

Mom did the first three hours of driving now it’s Dad’s turn:

We love car rides with the napping, movie watching, music and singing our hearts out!

Our first stop along the way. . .

Ocean Springs Beach, Biloxi, Mississippi. Luna lovin’ life with the family all together. 

We are way out in the water but it’s not over waist deep! The Biloxi Bay water was warm and the sand was soft. Luna likes to keep an eye on us but is not interested in going in the water at all!

Off to New Orleans!

Our Airbnb in New Orleans for the next two nights:

06/01/25

College fund $:

05/31/25

The Graduation was at the O’Conell Center Arena:

Dad was called into work for an emergency but Rachel and Mom were able to attend:

Here he comes!

Her best friend Yara was in the row right behind her!

High Five:

They had fun seeing all there friends:

She didn’t know that Dad got called away. “Where’s Dad!?”

The Graduating Class of 2025

Time to get here diploma!

Congratulations Lizzy!!

Iconic Mr. Turner!:

Turn your tassels!

Joy was at the graduation too!

We are so proud of you Lizzy!

Paul came to show his love and support!

Mr. Turner too:

Best friends:

Best Friend Sister:

Off to the graduation party at Yara’s house. Dad made a cake and Rachel decorated it!

Yara’s family made a huge spread of food!

Congratulations Lizzy! We Love You!