To the Alamo

We decided to take a little trip to San Antonio, since our So Cal trip fell through. Friday morning, everything went smoothly and we were on the road by 9 am (the time I had designated to myself that I wanted to leave). We decided to grab breakfast at Panera Bread and it was good thing because that’s when Dennis realized he took the keys to the other car…which would have meant my mom would have been stranded at home with no car. So we had to head home and drop off the keys, which totally threw us off track. To make up for lost time, Dennis sped down the Beltway where he scored a speeding ticket from Officer D. Dickerson. YAY!

We finally made our way to our first destination, Natural Caverns Wildlife Ranch (an African Safari Texas style). If you haven’t been, it’s something worth checking out. You get to drive though the ranch and feed all kinds of animals (caribou, ostriches, zebras, buffalos, even some longhorns (I think that was the Texas part)).

In the first round, we decided to break from the pack of cars ahead of us and went to the right side of the fork; it was well worth it because we got to the zebras and were able to enjoy them since no one was behind us. They just stuck their heads right into the car to get the food. No shame there! I think Dennis and I were more entertained with those not-so-shy zebras than the kids. The ostriches kinda freaked us out because the peck at you with those crazy becks. This one would have stuck his head all the way in but luckily we rolled it up while approaching. We ended up feeding this guy through the sunroof.

Emmie was content feeding the smaller deer type animals that couldn’t reach their heads into the window. Drew was content on holding onto one food pellet which he proceeded to eat when we got out after the first round…YUM!

Also on the ranch are some animal exhibits and a petting zoo, so we checked those out after grabbing a quick lunch. We decided we needed to go one more round through the safari since we missed a portion at the beginning. The second time through was a little more crowded but we were able to capture this goat in the tree. We tried to stick around to see how he was getting down but traffic was building up. The babies passed out during the ride to San Antonio. Dennis booked a room at the Hyatt Regency, when I checked us in while Dennis parked, they gave us a first floor room with one king bed and a view of the street. Dennis called the front desk and they moved us to the top floor with double beds and an awesome view of the Alamo.

The kids love going to hotels, so once we were in the room there was no hope of getting them to finish up their naps. So we decided to hit up the pool for a quick swim before dinner. They both love being in the water…Emmie has finally gotten over her hate of having water on her face. And she loves using her new floaty swimsuit. She even floated on her back for a bit. It took a while for Drew to warm up to being in the water, half the time we were out there he was walking around the pool trying to throw people’s belongings into the water.

We attempted a family picture in front of the Alamo before dinner. Dinner was anything but peaceful. By that time they were a little grumpy given their short nap and wanted nothing to do with food. So we tried to eat as quickly as possible and then headed back to the room. Where you’d think if kids were grumpy and tired they’d go to bed. It took some time to settle those little ones down.

Bright and early the next morning, we got up and were off to the zoo for some more animal fun. The San Antonio zoo is a top rate zoo, especially for children under 5. I think it has to do with the Tiny Tot Nature Spot and the Discovery House. It’s an area just for kids and there’s an air conditioned building. We wrapped up our zoo time in this area, while Drew napped in his stroller and Emmie played endlessly with the exhibits and toys.
I don’t know which animals were the kids’ favorites, because if you ask Emmie, she’ll talk about the elephant…even though we only got to see the elephant’s butt because he wouldn’t turn around…and Drew well for obvious reasons can’t tell ya. I personally liked watching the hippos lounge in the water: 1) because we were able to watch them in the comfort of A/C and 2) they were just so cute! Before leaving we had to hit up the souvenir shop. Ems picked out a cool butterfly mask and Drew picked up a stuffed monkey. After the zoo, we hit up the pool for a bit then went down to do the Riverwalk boat tour. It was a nice little leisurely trip down the river and we learned a little bit about San Antonio. I wouldn’t be able to recap any of it though. Drew passed out after 10 minutes and towards the end, Emmie got really tired and laid down in my lap. It was HOT!!!

We knew dinner was going to be rough. Thought about just picking something up and bringing it back to the room but decided just to stop at a place that had some appetizing (at least to Dennis) looking ahi tuna. Dinner was quick because the kids wouldn’t stay still, but of course after we left the restaurant and they were able to run free they loved it. We hung out in front of the Alamo where there were multiple sno-cone stands…the only way we could convince Emmie to finish her dinner was the promise of the sno-cone.

It was a nice way to end the evening and our last night in San Antonio! It was a fun but tiring trip and I can’t wait to take more like these. Emmie tells us daily that she's ready to pack and go stay at the hotel.