Remember the Alamo!

Well, I meant to post pictures earlier but time got away from me. It's been awhile since I posted anything so I guess I better play catch-up this week to make up for missed posts.

Papa Jim and Jessica left to go back home on Saturday (September 2) much to Cassidy's dismay. She had gotten used to laying in Papa Jim's arms!





Papa Jim wanted to take Jessica to San Antonio to see the River Walk and the Alamo while they were here. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to go since I have never seen the Alamo before and I wanted to spend as much time with my Dad as possible while they were here.

It was a family outing with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew there too!

We started to walk along the River Walk first but it was getting a little too hot for Cassidy so Michael and I went inside the Rivercenter Mall which is right alongside the River Walk and wandered around there while everyone else went on to see the Alamo. It was great because I had never been to that mall before so we got to wander all around and look at shops in there. Malls are always fun!

They met up with us in the mall after going to see the Alamo (it's a short walk away from the mall) and then it was Michael and I's turn to go and see it. Cassidy stayed in the mall with everyone else and it's a good thing too because a rogue bee was after me!!!

As Michael and I were reading the bronze plaque in front of the Shrine with William B. Travis' letter, I just happened to look down at my capris and on the cuff was a bee furiously trying to sting me. Luckily the cuff was thick enough to where the bee didn't actually sting me but in my mad dance to get the bee off me (I looked crazed, by the way) I ended up brushing my left ankle up against the bee so the venom got on that ankle. Michael brushed the bee off me and squooshed it and then pulled the venom-covered stinger out of my cuff.

Well, I now know that if a bee gets crushed, it incites other bees into a frenzied attack. Evidently the venom contains a chemical "alarm pheromone," released into the air, signaling guard wasps to come and sting whomever and whatever gets in their way. Because of this, our sight-seeing got cut short. After that first bee died I ended up having more bees come after me. Michael was trying to take my picture but I kept doing the crazy dance because another bee would start buzzing around my head. I hurried into the Shrine away from the bees. We looked around in there, got to listen to the narrative about the Alamo and then rather than strolling around outside to look at everything else we hurried back to the mall. One bee followed me all the way to the mall too. Those darn bees!

Here's a picture of Michael and I in front of the Shrine:





A picture of Papa Jim and Jessica on the River Walk:





And a picture of Michael and Cassidy showing off her bib: