A Trip to Texas

We just returned from our whirlwind trip to San Antonio, Texas. I have piles of laundry calling to me from the other room, but I had to take a moment to post about the wonderful time we had. We arrived on Saturday and took advantage of the great time difference. We never got off our normal schedule, so Carter went to bed at 9:30 and slept in until 9:00 in the morning. It was great!

Our first night there, we went to the River Walk, which was steps from our hotel. It was so beautiful. Green canopies of trees and vines shrouded a lazy, winding path along a canal, which was puncuated with stone and wrought iron bridges. Along the shore were glowing lanterns and candles blinking from the patios of the various restaurants and hotels. Colorful boats, decorated in Texan red, white and blue, would carry visitors down the river on tours. Though it was extremely crowded and busy, it was paradoxically peaceful and lovely. We spent three of our nights at restaurants along the river, including one night watching the "Fiesta week boat parade" that just happened to fall during the week we were visiting.

The first full day we were in Texas, we drove to the outskirts of San Antonio and enjoyed a day at Sea World. I found it eerily enjoyable that an amusement park didn't have hour lines and crowds at every turn. The weather was actually nice--a little humid and warm, but some clouds kept the intense heat at bay. The day was wonderful, though it was nothing like the Sea World in San Diego. This Sea World had roller coasters, a water slide park and fewer animal exhibits. Carter enjoyed the playground area and the water park fun (picture the Ladera water park in Sea World). Ryan and I took turns on the roller coasters during Carter's nap in his stroller. Of course, we also enjoyed seeing dolphins, "Shamu", penguins, crocodiles, seals, sea lions, fish and sharks.

The second day we toured San Antonio. We visited the Mexican themed Market Square (much like the artisans mercado in Rosarito), the governor's Spanish house, the Tower of Americas (identical to the Space Needle in Seattle), a crazy wooden fort playground, the Alamo (we saw Isaac Millsaps name, Robby and Rebecca), the famous cathedral and many plazas with music and fountains.

The third full day we went to the San Antonio Children's Museum in the morning. Carter liked all the pretend play. Driving a bulldozer was probably Carter's favorite activity, though they had a star and cloud room that he liked immensely, pretending it was naptime and lying down to watch the stars. (Mommy and daddy appreciated this break too). In the afternoon, we drove to the Texas capital, Austin. We swam in the city's main park swimming hole, rode on the park miniature train, ate snow cones on a playground with Carter, saw the Capital Building, drove through the University of Texas, ate at an authentic Texas bbq place and ate the richest, yummiest ice cream at Amy's--a famous ice cream store found only in Austin.

It was such a fun trip. This might, God willing, be the last big trip with just the three of us. That made me wistful as we got on our plane to return home. We have so many fun trip memories with Carter. He is such a big ball of energy and fun. Though I got a "Ya'll have your hands full, don't cha?" in the elevator (as Carter was trying to scale the elevator wall), I wouldn't trade our adventures for anything. Thank you for all your prayers on behalf of the weather and our safety. Texas was terrific!