Viva San Antonio

Early Friday morning, we headed over to San Antonio so that we could eat an insane amount of Mexican food Jeff could attend a real estate conference. The kids and I were pretty much just there for the Mexican food along for the ride, so we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. We were living it up on the club level of the San Antonio Gunter Hotel, so we felt like royalty all weekend. Since it was supposed to be hotter than blue blazes on Friday, we opted to spend the better part of the day in the air conditioned children's museum, which was just about a block from the hotel. This is one children's museum we had not been to previously, but we had so much fun, I suspect we will be back again the next time we are in town. The kids' favorite activities were the ball factory and the mini HEB. And, it was extra fun because Nana was able to be there with us. At the end of the day on Friday, we met up with Jeff and Papa for dinner at Iron Cactus on the river and a night viewing of The Alamo, at the special request of Weston.

Having a ball at the children's museum

Job training

Remember The Alamo!

On Saturday, we took a short time-out from San Antonio to attend Weston's first football game in Wimberley. It was such a fun game, and we were so proud of Weston for playing with all his heart. And, as a special surprise, my sister and nephew were able to add their clapping hands to ours in the stands. After the game, we got back to the Mexican food, with lunch at Cascabel. After lunch, the kids voted for another round at the children's museum. Nana showed up about an hour before they closed and suggested a river boat ride, which is probably the only possible thing which could have pulled the kids away. And since it was snack time, we had some gelato to fortify us for the trip. Jeff met us at the end of the ride, and off we went for more Mexican food. Still full from our gelato, we opted for just drinks and appetizers at Casa Rio.

Number One on your program, and Number One in your hearts

Fans

The kids voted for swimming at the hotel on Sunday morning. After dousing everyone in sunscreen and getting five people into their swimsuits, we spent no more than thirty minutes at the pool. The hot tub was cold. The pool was freezing. And there wasn't the slightest glint of sunlight in which to warm ourselves. But we still made memories filled with laughter and chattering teeth. Plan B consisted of watching PBS in our room for a while and then wandering down to The Alamo and mall to kill a little time before Jeff was out of his conference for the day. We had lunch at La Paloma, and then divided up for some fun at River Center Mall. Jeff and the big boys went to an IMAX movie and the dinosaur exhibit, while Ruth and I (and a sleeping Clay) flexed our shopping muscles. We reunited in the middle of the afternoon for Orange Julius and Andean Fusion on the river. From there, we headed to The Buckhorn Museum, which was another first for us in San Antonio, and another hit. The kids loved all the stuffed critters, the shooting game and getting to order drinks at the bar in the saloon. But their favorite part, by far, were the funhouse mirrors. They laughed until they couldn't even catch their breath, which was worth the entire admission price! From there, we headed back to the river for one last Mexican food hurrah at Rita's on the River.

Chillin'

Relaxing at The Alamo

What'll it be, pal?

Big-headed baby

After  getting everything loaded up into the van on Monday morning and collecting my mom and a family friend, we embraced our final San Antonio adventure (for this trip; there will certainly be others in the future): the zoo. Let me recommend that any time you want to go to any zoo, you pick a relatively cool school day! No crowds, no lines, no embarrassing sweat rings. It was perfect. We were able to stay most of the day, wearing the kids out completely, before picking Jeff up and heading home. This was a different kind of San Antonio experience for us (except for the ridiculous gorging on Mexican food), but it was absolutely wonderful.

Hippo Max

How do you measure up?

A piggy pal

Oink!

All aboard!