WARNING... THIS IS A VERY LONG, BUT ENTERTAINING BLOG READ!
This has already been a full week! We got back from our little Texas get away trip from over the weekend. Les had hotel points saved up so we (including the kids) decided to head south to San Antonio for a couple of nights on the riverwalk. We left on Friday afternoon and arrived in San Antonio just in time to do lots of sight seeing. I just love living in Texas! There are so many different cultures and landscapes to see. I have lived here all of my life and still love to vacation in different parts of the state. Our favorite culture is the Mexican American. We love the food, colors, and art. We stayed right on the riverwalk so we were able to park the car all weekend. Yee hoo! First we took a river boat tour since there was no line at the time. Those boats seem to run 24/7 and are always full of people! It must be the top tourist thing to do on the riverwalk. However it got really hot and sticky on the boat, but the kids liked it.
The view from our hotel room.
Les and Nolan on the boat.
Eating on the riverwalk!
Afterwards we walked to the restaurant row and ate a Mexican place of course. The kids loved seeing the Mariachi band play. They were quite loud but wonderful entertainment for the the kids. We headed back up to the hotel to swim at the pool on the fourth floor. How cool is that? Nolan and Leslie thought it was the best, especially seeing all of the tall buildings surrounding us. Their favorite was swimming under the glass wall that makes the pool indoor/outdoor. When we had enough of all of the other kids splashing us constantly we decided to get dressed for a night out on the town. We walked to the Tower of Americas, "the Needle" to see the city from up high. It was so very freaky going up 750 feet in an elevator with windows. Then once we were up there, our equilibrium was so off Les and I had a hard time walking. Weirdo, but super neat to see. The best part of the tower trip was the 4D video we got to see. It was a video about Texas and you wear 3-D glasses and sit in a movable seat. As we watched the screen the seats bounced and moved. Leslie and I screamed when we experienced seeing a rattlesnake, it hissed in our faces (a puff of air hit us in the face) and then it crawled away and something hit us on the back of our legs. Yowza!
Nolan and Les in front of the tower.
The next morning we visited the Alamo at the most perfect time on a Saturday. We got there right before a mile long line formed. Yippee.
The kids and I in front of the Alamo.
Nolan and Leslie in front of the trolley bus.
We have so far had great luck in timing. There really is not much to see at the Alamo, but the Alamo, so we did not spend much time there before we loaded a trolley bus and went to the Mexican market. There the kids touched every known breakable thing and drove us nuts!! So we put them on a bull to teach them a lesson. Just kidding. But we really let them ride a mechanical bull. Neither one of them would hold on with just one hand, I guess they did not want to get bumped off! Hee hee.
After this full morning we had to go back to the hotel to take a nap. Swimming the afternoon away was the only thing we could do in this Texas heat. Once it cooled off a tiny bit we walked back to the riverwalk to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. We waited for over an hour, but the food and experience was great. Leslie was afraid the entire time. Everywhere she looked she saw something bigger than her. First there was a crocodile that moved, then an enormous elephant and tiger. I thought the kids would love it not be afraid of it. The most hilarious part was the fake rain storm in the restaurant. I warned the kids that they will hear thunder and see lightning, but apparently that went in one ear and out the other. Leslie was terrified and crawled under the table. Everyone in the restaurant pointed and laughed. Poor thing!
Check her out under the table. Her poor face tells all.
The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Austin for some weird Austin fun. On our way we stopped and surprised my friend Brandy and her family. She was still in her PJs! Sorry Brandy! We visited for a short while and let the kids play. Before long it was time to hit the road to downtown Austin to check into our hotel. Barton Springs was the next stop on our list. I remember visiting the springs when I lived there but for some reason I forgot how COLD the water was. Man it was shocking but refreshing. Nolan and Leslie even thought it was very cold, and you know how kids don't think any water is cold.
We only stayed an hour before we met Cheri and her family at the famous most delicious snow cone stand we used to visit all of the time. Seriously, they are the very best in the state! Seeing the Thompson family was fun, the kids play so well together while Cheri and I catch up and reminisce.
We all decided to really go down memory lane and go to our favorite BBQ place called the County Line for some big daddy ribs. Oh boy were they delicious. The kids even turned their noses up at their kids plate and reached for our ribs on our plates. We had an awesome dinner.
Leslie and Nolan enjoying their ribs!
Afterwards we said our good byes and went back to the hotel. On our way we drove over the Congress bridge and remembered how cool seeing the bats would be. So we hurried and parked the car and walked down Town Lake to the bridge. Nolan and Leslie walked as fast as they possibly could so they could see the bats fly. You see, the bats fly by the trillions out from under this bridge every summer evening at sunset. It was amazing to see the trail of them fly through the sky. It looked like a black cloud in the dark sky.
Can you see the long line of bats above the tree line?
We had some fun Austin fun that day and Texas fun that entire weekend!
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