Ferguson Family: March 2023

I've been told by several people that Grant and Hudson look so much alike but I never really understood that because they look so different to me. They've been mistaken as twins which always makes us laugh because Hudson is so much taller than Grant and they look like they're at least two years apart instead of only a year and a half, but today I saw a picture that popped up in my memories and I totally did a double take because I thought the boy next to Addie was Grant and it was actually Hudson. I even showed the same picture to Danny when he got home from work and he also immediately thought Grant until he took a closer look. I guess maybe these two brothers do look pretty similar after all.

3/29/2020

To be fair. I will add that it was just a brief moment of us thinking it was Grant before we corrected ourselves that it's definitely Hudson but even having a brief moment was what shocked us.

It's now Monday but I'm still so happy with the weekend we did have. My birthday was Saturday and we spent it exactly how I wanted to - exploring San Antonio as tourists do. We've been here seven months now and hadn't really explored San Antonio at all outside of Sea World and the Olsen's house. It was over due and amazing. Our day first started out though with Addie's first soccer game. She had a game first thing in the morning and I was so excited for it. I remember taking her to the soccer fields near our home in Orem when she was just a toddler looking forward to the day where she would be out on a soccer field and now here we are. My heart was giddy. We realized the other team was going to be super good as soon as we saw them. They had these nice fancy looking jerseys with their names on the back and they looked so in sync. Addie looked at them and said "Mom I think they've been playing together all their lives" she might have been right. They looked intimating as well as so much older looking than our team even though they were the same age. By the first half Addie's team was losing zero to six. I was talking to the other team moms and tried to be optimistic by saying "hey this is just like any classic sports movie where the first game is against the best team in the league and we're the worst but then we get better through the season and when we play them again in the end we'll win! Or at least score one goal" haha. I'm not going to hold my breath though. Turns out that they truly were the best team in the league because they recruit all the best players from the teams that they do play creating this mega ultimate team. Kind of not fair but it was still a good time. Addie was a goalie in the second half and let three more goals in but she did block one! I cheered so loud. I felt bad for cheering so loud when I realized she was a little hurt. The ball had jammed her thumb but she saved that ball! Haha. Another goalie came in after her little injury and let in several more. We stopped counting after the other team kept scoring on us but I believe they had a minimum of 11 points on us. Could be more to be honest. Addie has soccer practice tonight so we'll see how their team is feeling after their first game but at least they got the hardest game out of the way! Plus they learned a lot. Like the fact that the ball goes to the middle of the field for a kickoff after each point. Our team barely knew the basics of the sport and they were creamed but I'm still so proud of Addie and her teammates. I still had so much fun watching those little girls figure it out. I'm excited to watch them grow this season. Way to go Addie! And go Panthers!

We had to drop something off at the post office after the game and it was supposed to be a quick errand but our plans changed when I saw a huge sign that said puppies. Danny had just ran into the post office and by the time he got back to the van he saw that it was empty. All five kids and myself were no longer in the van and when he called me he could hear at least thirty puppies barking in the background. He was about to ask where we were until he heard the noise then he said "oh never mind I'll come to you guys" haha. Turns out there's a place called Puppyland right next door where you can go and play with so many puppies! They had huskies, pugs, basset hounds, retrievers, golden doodles, samoyeds, corgis, cocker spaniels plus so many more. The kids and myself were in puppy heaven. We played with this cute little mini golden doodle and Addie tried to get us to buy it but the price tag was $5,000! That's definitely not happening. I did like this cute little mutt puppy and even that pup was $3,000. Sorry kids if these are the prices for puppies these days we may never get a dog. I did tell them that once the twins are potty trained and we have our own house then we will one day look into getting a dog. One day.

After the little puppy detour we went home, had lunch and then headed out to San Antonio. All three girls fell asleep on the way there. Addie must have been exhausted from her first game and the twins nap time was planned for the drive.

For my birthday I really wanted to finally check off two places on my Texas bucketlist. The Alamo and the Riverwalk. I'm so glad we did it. I had heard that it's not as fun with kids and that it can be stressful especially near the river because there are no rails and when crowded it can get nerve-wracking trying to prevent your kids from falling into the water. It was a Saturday so I knew that wouldn't help out the crowd situation but I guess I just don't give my kids enough credit because they did amazing! I'm not just saying that because I'm bias as their mom because I can totally admit if they were all over the place but really they were not. They all did so well! It made me enjoy the day even more because it just felt so perfect to me. I will say I probably would have appreciated the Alamo more if I was a history buff and knew the real significance of it but it was still cool to see. We walked around the fort and then headed to the river.

Danny and I had decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. One of our friends from our neighborhood and church who also has her daughter on Addie's soccer team suggested that place for my birthday dinner. We didn't even know they had one in San Antonio but as soon as she said it we wanted to do it. Years ago when we went to Disneyland that was one of our regrets was not eating there. We had tried but the wait time for a reservation was so long we just couldn't get in. This was our chance to get in and we decided to splurge as a birthday treat. I'm glad we did. They told us the wait time would be an hour and a half but within thirty minutes they had a table for us. The atmosphere is as cool as you'd imagine it to be. The kids all really loved it. Even the twins. They had robotic animals and we were seated with a good view of their gorillas which left all the kids in awe. The rainstorms were also really cool to experience. It was pricey but the experience was great. They also sang happy birthday to me with a cupcake that we all shared and then we headed home for baths and bedtime. I have been playing volleyball on Saturday nights the last couple of months and at first it was my plan to still do that but instead mom guilt got to me and I stayed home. I don't regret that. The kids all drew me pictures and wrote me notes. Danny had presents for me (a new hair straightener and expensive Apple EarPods). He really spoiled me this year. After the kids were in bed we finished a movie together.

Yesterday on Sunday we continued my birthday wishes with pictures in the bluebonnets. It's bluebonnet season in Texas right now and they are sprouting up everywhere. They're really pretty. Also we learned that it's illegal to pull any out. Only one of our kids broke the law during the pictures (Rylee). We finished the night with ice cream and my favorite kind of cake. It's now Monday as I mentioned earlier but the gratitude that I feel for the weekend we had and for the family I have is still so great. It was a really good birthday. Here's to 34. 😁