I love summer. Schedules loosen a bit, which is nice (and can be a bit maddening for my Type A), but in the end, I like the change in pace. I knew we would be limited on vacation options this summer for a number of reasons. The obvious reason is my growing belly. I can't go more than 2 hours away starting on July 1, which leaves a short window for travel. Not to mention, we're trying to save a bunch of money right now, so flying four people somewhere (even with points and miles) just isn't the best decision.
So, when a work trip to San Antonio came up, we decided to make a trip out of it. Since we aren't super keen on taking the kids to Sea World (see
Blackfish) and they are too young for Fiesta Texas, we thought meeting a bit north of San Antonio in Austin would be fun. Lots of outdoor activities and a place that Chris and I generally just love.
Everything about the trip was great except three things:
1) It went from spring to dead of summer exactly during this week. Holy hot.
2) The fascination of sleeping together was a little too much for the boys to handle
3) Our hotel was under major construction
More of this told in pictures:
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| The first afternoon we were there, we ate at Gueros Taco Bar on South Congress followed by Amy's Ice Cream. It was HOT. Too hot for Walt (who was way more fascinated by our hotel room). So, Oscar and I took a sunset walk down the Congress bridge |
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| He's plugging his ears because cars were whizzing by us! |
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| After a really rough night in the hotel room (they weren't quite ready to share a bed), we took an early morning trip to Zilker Park. This little train ride was so perfect. |
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| For $10 for the whole family, we got a nice little 25 minute tour of the park and the boys LOVED it. |
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| We also were ahead of the major heat of the day. |
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| After lunch and a nap (for Walt), we went hunting for a pool (our pool at our hotel was under construction. Bad planning, mom). The Deep Eddy Pool was perfect, but just before we arrived, someone puked in the shallow end and they had to drain it. So we found a nearby splash pad. |
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| For the boys, this was just as good. They loved it. |
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| After the splash pad, we put on dry clothes and drove out to The Oasis. It's always scary to go out to eat with the boys, especially considering Oscar fell asleep as we were pulling into the parking lot. They could not have been better this night. We enjoyed our dinner then enjoyed the views! |
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| Walt loved looking for boats! After dinner we also enjoyed some live music on the patio and danced around. It was a very special night. PS we gave the boys a chance to sleep together again this night. After 20 minutes, we separated them (which meant Chris and I would be separated), but we all got a MUCH better night's sleep! |
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| On Friday morning, we headed out. On our way north, we stopped in Georgetown to visit the Inner Space Caverns.This was a huge hit with everyone. The above pic is Oscar goofing off. |
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| The cave tour is about 75 minutes and it's about 75 degrees in the cave. SO much better than the blazing 100-degree heat. |
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| We learned about stalagtites and stalagmtes... |
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| And tones of cool rock formations that happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago. These rocks used to be part of the ocean! |
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| The formation was found in the 1960s when construction workers were drilling to build I-35. They kept losing their drill bits, so they lowered a brave soul into the hole and this is what he saw... |
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Seriously, so stunning.
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Other than the sleeping stresses, the trip was really good. We found a lot of "cool" activities and I think the boys learned a lot. As an added bonus, Walt at Chick Fil A chicken not once but twice! (He normally refuses this chicken). We can't wait to go back when it's cooler and the boys are a little older.
