Natalie and Me Post #1

This is not a flattering photo of me with my mother and daughter, but I still love it. I decided I wanted a photo of us together, but my dad was the only other one there, and I didn't think his taking the photo would be a good idea for two reasons. He would have had to use two hands and therefore would be standing without assistance, which is not a good idea, and because he likely would not have steady hands and therefore the photo would be blurrier than it already is. I myself was having a hard time holding the iPhone steady. That was partly because I am right handed, and I couldn't hold my huge iPhone 6 Plus with one hand and reach the shutter release button, so Natalie had to press the screen to take the picture. That's why we all look like we're laughing. Fun times. :)

I picked Natalie up from school on Friday and drove straight to my parents house in Houston. Mom made our favorite soups. Natalie had arroz caldo and I had Hot and Sour soup. We then drove to my sister Cynthia's house to spend the night. Natalie got to see her cousins, and I got to chat with my sisters. On Saturday, Melissa drove me to the airport, and Natalie and I are now in the Boston area staying at my sister-in-law Lisa's house. We're here to see her and her family, and also, of course, to see Anthony.

Natalie sent this photo to Anthony on Friday via Snapchat. She purposely likes to say, "I loves you" instead of "I love you". I just think it's cute that she communicates with her big brother directly to say things like that. Her siblings are a little jealous that she gets to see Anthony today.

I was on Face Time with Patrick and Eric when Patrick said that they were about to go to Starbucks. Natalie starts waving her hands frantically, saying, "No fair! You get to go to Starbucks!" Alex responded from the background saying, "Don't say 'Not fair', you get to see Anthony today!" She didn't have a reply to that because she knows she's lucky.

Except for our plane getting delayed from 3:50pm to 4:30pm (which I got a text alert about, so I was prepared), our flight was uneventful. Because of the delay, Melissa had time to take us to lunch at PF Chang's before taking us to the airport. Natalie didn't want any photos at first--her cousins both posed in front of the restaurant with the big horse painted pink, but she wouldn't go out there with them. Once inside, the girls wouldn't pose for a traditional photo for me, but they did let me take this picture. I still love it because it's real. That and I'll take what I can get. I also love photos with the three of them in it. They're all getting so grown up.

When we got to Boston, I was a little anxious because I've never taken a trip on my own like this where I had to rent a car and drive somewhere. Someone usually picks me up or Patrick is there to drive me around. I walked around the car like he always does, and I totally missed two scrapes on the front and rear ends. Luckily, the lady that was checking the car out found them and recorded them.

Google Maps took me on a very windy route to get to my sister-in-law's house. I should have followed my brother-in-law's directions instead, but I needed Google Maps to audibly read me the directions since Natalie was lost in her own world, listening to music with her earphones on. In the end, I needed Derek and his son Griffin to come outside so I could find their house in the dark. I couldn't see the house numbers or anything, and their neighborhood looks way different in the dark. I got there without any other problems, though. Yay me!

Today, Alex is off to an adventure too. He is going on a school trip to visit Texas Tech. Anthony took this trip a couple of times when he was in high school. It's probably mostly social, but it'll still be good for him to see what a college campus looks like. I asked him to take pictures for me, but I don't really expect that he'll do that.

I'll try to post something daily on Natalie's and my adventures, to keep my family up to date. Last night I texted Anthony to ask him when he wanted us to come by to see him. He is studying for finals, so I don't want to interfere with that. He responded, saying that lunchtime would be good, but that he might not be awake, though. Of course I told him to just let me know when he's awake, so we can come over then. We'll see how that works out.