Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Here We Go Again...

Our time of goodbyes came yet again tonight. The kids and I had to see Kevin off for another deployment to Iraq. In many ways, I really think this one was harder than the last one! We are more aware of what we are about to go through for the next 12-18 months. Yet, we also know how strong we all are and that we will tackle this one just as we did the last one! It's a long road, but one that we are so proud of Kevin for. Busy days and long nights back here on the homefront are about to begin. The hardest part was having to drive away knowing the amount of time before we are back in his arms again.










***Stay safe Kevin and know that we are here waiting on you! We love you so much!***

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Fishing & Camping

We took the kids to Hideaway Lake about 25 miles outside of east El Paso for the weekend. We left home Saturday around noon and headed to the lake. Took us a little longer than planned to get the tent up due to the winds. We spent all afternoon and evening fishing and letting the kids play. That night we set up a campfire, grilled hotdogs for dinner and made smores after that! The girls loved it! Once we got the kids settled in, the two of us were able to sit by the fire and fish, finally giving us some time together. It got pretty windy and cold that night, but it was fun! The next morning we loaded up and took our time getting home!














Monday, April 13, 2009

Weekend Away...

aaaaaWe finally did it! We took an extended weekend break away from El Paso! Easter Weekend was spent in San Antonio and it was fabulous! We left our house on Friday morning around 4AM. The worst part was trying to get out of El Paso! We loaded our SUV the night before so all we had to do was wake the kids, change, and get going. Sounds easy, right? Well, we made it about 40 miles within the first (almost) two hours! I have never seen a family that had to stop so many times in such a short distance. One of the tires was low on air, so it took three gas stations to find one that had air that worked. Then Kevin had to find one with cigarettes. We then got on the interstate only to hear the girls arguing. Kevin pulled over to break that one up. We started to driving again to hear Caitlin yell out she needs to potty. Of all the gas stations, why she did not tell us then is beyond us! Once we got going Kevin realized he needed to smoke. So we made one more stop before getting out of El Paso! We did not stop again until breakfast. Our 7.5 hour drive turned into more like 12 hours! We did however, stop at a couple of stores before finding our hotel. So, not quite 12 hours. Thankfully the drive back was a lot easier on Monday! Once we got to our hotel and unloaded we took a walk to the River Walk, which was only a little more than a block from our room. We took Nic's stroller and realized once we got down there that it would not work for us. We headed back to the hotel for our car and went to Target. We finally broke down and bought a jogging stroller. It was the best money spent on the whole trip! It made all of our lives so much easier! That evening we went back to the river and noticed it was not very kid friendly at night so we decided to turn in at that point!

On Saturday morning we got up and ready and took the girls to the room next to ours and had them knock on the door. They thought we had lost our minds! They were more than surprised when before they could even knock the door opened and there stood Grannie! Granpa and Grannie met us in SA for the weekend! The girls were more than thrilled and we were excited to spend time with them before Kevin deploys! We all went to Sea World during the day and the River Walk that evening for dinner right on the river. We ate at Laundry's, which was actually pretty good.

Sunday morning and early afternoon was spent at the Zoo. Following that and lunch we headed back to our rooms to let all the guys get in a nap. Yes, Granpa, Kevin, and Nicholas all needed one! While they were napping all the girls headed to the river. We took a ride on the river cruise, which was pretty cool, shopped around at River Walk, and got on the carriage ride through downtown before meeting up with the guys for dinner! Of course, during this, we all forgot our cameras! No pictures of our girls afternoon out. We met the guys by the river and ate dinner at some Mexican Restraunt. Mom and Brittney decided to have a Daquiri after a crazy afternoon with the kids! Once we were done there and walked around it was late and time to retire for the night!

On Monday we all spent more time at the River Walk, touring shops and a small villiage. We ate lunch at a BBQ place, once again sitting right on the river. It was so relaxing right there! We then headed back to the hotel to say the goodbyes that none of us wanted to say! It was definitely a nonstop weekend that we all needed to relax from, but it was such a wonderful one! A great way to spend the weekend before Kevin leaves again for awhile! It was great to spend so much time with Dad and Mom!

Thanks for a wonderful weekend full of memories! We cannot wait to do it again!














Sunday, April 12, 2009

San Antonio Zoo

Happy Easter
from the
Biddle Family
at the
San Antonio Zoo

When we first arrived at the San Antonio Zoo we were not too sure what to think of it from the outside. Once in, we realized we were all way too quick to judge! The zoo was a lot bigger than we thought full of some great animals! Just too many birds and empty bear exhibits! We were even able to watch an Alligator Feeding at one point. The set up there is great! They are working on new exhibits now, ones that we look forward to seeing one day! The weather was great and our day was wonderful at the zoo! A different way to spend Easter this year!


The Eagle below only had one wing due to being shot.























Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sea World San Antonio

We finally made the trip to Sea World in San Antonio! The kids had a blast seeing all the animals and shows! The weather was cool and a little rainy, but nonetheless, we all had fun! The dolphin pool was pretty neat since the girls all got to feed and touch the dolphins. There were so many exhibits to see and not enough time to see all the shows! Breanna rode on her first roller coaster with Brittney. This took us all by surprise that she actually got on! She loved it. Caitlin was upset because she was not tall enough to ride (which made Kevin's day) so the the we took the kids on the log ride. Granpa and Grannie stayed with Nicholas beside the ride since he is still too small and we all got wet. That was not the day to walk around wet! At the end, we took the girls to the kids play area. Breanna loved it and Caitlin made it half way up before coming back down. Kevin then tried to take here and had no such luck!