Sojourn to San Antonio: March 2022

My wonderful parents came to Lubbock over the girls' spring break so that we could go down to San Antonio for a few days. Dan had school, surprise, so he didn't come with. They are truly the best to have driven so much in the past week! I am grateful every time they take the time and effort to come see us.

They got here on Friday, March 11th, in the evening. Saturday was my Mom's birthday so we celebrated by going to Whataburger for dinner (I think Hayley had some influence on Grandma's decision). On Sunday we left after breakfast to head down to San Antonio. The drive is six hours so it took us about seven between stopping for food and gas. I am grateful for how well my girls do in the car. It is like second nature to them now. They are the best road trippers! Once we made it to our hotel and took our stuff up to our rooms we got some dinner. After dinner I turned on a show for the little ladies and unpacked all our stuff. Then it was time for bed!
On Monday morning after we ate breakfast we walked to The Tower of the Americas, which was only a ten minute walk from our hotel. It was cool to be able to look out and see all of San Antonio. We tried finding a few different buildings and then made our way back down to watch a 4D movie. Paige did not last three minutes into it so we spent some time in the gift shop while the others watched it. We had some lunch after we were done there, the girls and I took a nap, and then it was off to The Alamo once we were awake. This was a longer walk, about twenty minutes, and even though the girlies had a nap they definitely complained more than they did this morning ha. It probably didn't help that The Alamo is not something they really care to see or know what it is. They enjoyed looking at the fish more ha. Once we made it back to the hotel it was time for dinner. We went to Taco Palenque. My parents were kind enough to go there so I could relive my missionary days. I'm happy to report that, after ten years, it was as good as I remember it being. The girls had pretty much been begging to go swimming since we got to the hotel so we finally did that after we got back from dinner. The water was cold so it took some getting used to but it did not phase them. They are my little fishies. It was bath and bed time after that and we all slept really well.

Tower of the Americas

Tuesday morning was the same story, breakfast at the hotel, and then once we were ready we headed to Sea World! This was definitely what I was most excited for and that the girls seemed to enjoy best. We started off by watching the Orca show, rode a few rides, then watched the Ocean Discovery show (dolphins and beluga whales), and finished with Sea Lion High (another show). While we were watching the whale show Evelyn turned to me and said, "Mom can I get a pet whale?" Ha she loved it and has not stopped talking about them. She also wanted to sit in the splash zone but it was not a hot enough day for that. My sweet Dad held Paiger while she took a nap while we did a couple rides and looked at alligators. We survived all day on popcorn and drink refills so afterwards we hit up Chick-Fil-A and then went back to the hotel to do more swimming. We all fell asleep pretty quick again since it was another busy day with lots of walking.

Wednesday morning after breakfast we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens that are apparently right by the zoo. It was quite the walk to get there and definitely underwhelming. The photos on the website made it look way prettier, but maybe that had to do with the time of year? We saw quite a few squirrels on our walk to and from the gardens and Hayley and Evelyn would run after them screaming any time they saw one. Crazy girls. We picked up some lunch from HEB, they have some good pre made sandwiches ha, ate it back at the hotel, and had nap time. After nap time we went on a boat ride on the river walk. The girls were not very amused by anything besides the ducks and it was hard to keep them quiet so we could all hear the river guide, but it was neat to learn about all the things that are a long the river walk. I would definitely go there often if I lived in San Antonio. On our walk back to the hotel we stopped at a little ice cream shop. The girls and my parents had cones and I got a Mangonada. I hadn't had one of those in ten years either and it was delicious! If you ever have the chance to try one, do it. We had dinner back at the hotel and were planning on doing one more night of swimming (despite my not really wanting to), but the pool was closed for maintenance. So my parents brought along some play-doh and the girls played with it for a while before bed time. Paige was my bed buddy this night and she woke me up just about every hour. It was a rought night but at least it was the last night.

My Mangonada.

After breakfast on Thursday we packed up all our stuff and hit the road. We stopped at Bucee's in New Braunfels because it was only half an hour out of San Antonio and my parents needed to experience it. That made our drive back closer to seven hours so we made it home in about eight. I was sneezing the whole way home and caught a little cold from somewhere. My dad did too. But it was worth it! We had a blast and I'm grateful we made the trip happen!