Fun with Nieces

I have ten nieces and nephews. They were born in pairs. My oldest brother and my sister had children the same years and my middle brothers had children the same year ... except the last year, but still close. We don't live close to my family, so I haven't really had much time to spend with them. Several  years ago, when the oldest were entering senior year in high school, the Musician and I decided to have them come visit. Then, each of the next few years, we had the next pair out. We skipped a few years because there was a little gap, and then we moved or thought we were moving. The plan was that we could get to know them. Maybe show them a few new experiences. I thought we might show them colleges, but they had other plans. 

This year was the last pair. Kristen has already graduated and Kymbr is starting her senior year. This was Kymbr's first flight and Kristen's first without parents. The parents were pretty funny. Several texts with updates until they arrived. I texted them that they were safe and sound. Everyone can take a sigh of relief. I think the toughest thing for them was that they are typical midwestern girls from typical midwestern families ... that means meat and potatoes and dairy and eggs ... not in this house. They were scared and afraid. HEHEHE!!! 

After picking the girls up from the airport, we spent our first evening grilling meatless burgers and planning the next several days. They were unimpressed with the Vegan cheese, but didn't seem to hate the fries. Kymbr is artistic and Kristen is adventurous. We found a mix of both. 

High on the list of things the girls wanted to do was a Segway tour. Always fun and a good way to see the city. We booked with Segway Nation. Headed downtown first thing in the morning. Individual lessons and off we went. The Musician and I had done Segways before, so I was itching to go fast. We had a nice time getting used to the rides by zipping around a park and then for a tour of the city. We had a great guide, but I can't remember his name. Got a pretty good tour and had some nice photo ops. I learned a little more about the city, but I don't remember it all ... so much. 

Look Ma. No hands.

Remember the Alamo

After lunch at Senor Veggie, where we ran into some neighbors, we headed to the Witte Museum. At lunch, Kymbr was more adventurous, but not impressed with Lentil Chili. Kristen had pasta with red sauce. They liked corn fritters and chocolate chip cookies.

At the Witte, we went to the Grossology exhibit. We all thought it sounded cool. The Simmons clan is all about gross body stuff. It was OK, fun, but really geared towards a younger crowd. Some stinky stuff, and some games. I don't know what I expected. If they were 12 or younger,  I think it would have been awesome. We spent a fair amount of time playing games at the body exhibit ... all about your own body. I learned I have no upper body strength.Kristen made the rope pull look really easy. Our aura's were groovy. 
 We rode the sky bike and Kristen climbed a wall. She's quick like a monkey. The girls were not impressed with stuffed baked portabello mushrooms for dinner, but didn't mind the veggie chips. Also not high on their list of favorite foods is tofu scramble. But vegan pancakes ... not so bad.  Over the next few days, we did lots of little fun things. It was really HOT and we had no desire to be outdoors. We learned how to make beaded braided bracelets with a techniqee called Kumihimo. Kymbr is a master at braiding and does lots of friendhip bracelets. The beads added a new flavor for her and this was a new technique. We did some glass fusing. It's great for creative minds as well as those of us who prefer to follow directions. I really need to mail them their artwork.

We went miniature golfing at a glow in the dark indoor mini-golf. We played some air hockey. We tried a few vegan restaurants and meals. Cupcakes, yes. Veggie sushi yes. Edamame yes. Seaweed salad no. Kale salad no. Tacos with faux meat yes. We took the girls to family night at a western bar for a little drinking and country dancing ... the Musician took us each for a spin. Kymbr got to wear her boots.

Shirley Temples ... don't worry parents. I'm not corrupting them

It was hot, but not in the caverns, so we took a tour of the Natural Bridges Caverns. This was a lot of fun for me, because these two just feed off each other and did a lot of laughing and giggling. Funny, we don't drink sodas, but we offered sodas to the girls. Shocker!!! They thought vegan meant no junk food. What? One morning, at 10 AM, they were floored when we went through McDonald's for soda (them) and tea (me). OMIGOSH!!! Soda this early in the morning? Is that OK? And, how is it that these girls did not know that McDonald's sells cookies? They do now. Have I created monsters?

On the final day before the girls headed back to Kansas, we spent the day tubing. Classic San Antonio tradition. Sunburn patterns were splotchy. It was another really fun time for me watching the girls laugh and giggle the whole trip down the river. It was sad to see them go. I had fun. I hope they enjoyed the trip, too. When I took them to the airport, they were impressed with how quickly I maneuvered the kiosks and got their boarding passes and baggage claim. I am just going to harass my sibs because apparently my older brothers didn't make it seem so easy.