All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

We tagged along with Jon this past week to a conference in San Antonio.  Mission:  To ensure Jon didn't become a dull boy.  I'd say it was a success.



Packed and ready!  Just the essentials, mom.  Just the essentials. 

 

The Hyatt!

We stayed at a fun hotel that was right on the Riverwalk.  Jon's conference was in the same hotel, so most days we got to spend breakfast and lunch with him, not to mention him coming "home" from work earlier than usual.  Come Monday that will be a schedule we will all miss. 

 

The view!  Bear could be heard several times a day, "A twolley!  A twolley!  Come yook, come on, come!"

 

We all slept so good!  Jon and I actually got caught up on sleep, a side-effect from having lights out at 8:00ish every night.  And what vacation photo-montage would be complete with out pictures of our sleeping kids?

Note Bear and his baby's matching jammies.  Cute, cute.

 Warning to all potential friends/family who want to vacation with us:  we only budget to eat out once a day.  ;)

 

Swimming!  

Our hotel had a pool!  This was the first time we've ever seen Superman confident and having fun in the water.  This is not to say that he can swim, but he definitely spent more time in the water than out of it and finally learned to trust his floaties.  It was fun to see him have so much fun. 

 

Bear has always loved the water and was in his element, aside from having 0% body fat.  He pretty much starts shivering immediately upon touching any water.

 

So good to see that smile!

Bear's first trick. 

 

 

And his second. "Yook at me mama!  Yook at me!"

 

The Children's Museum!

On day two we went to the Children's Museum.  Highlights included playing in a trolley and trying out several different occupations, plus there was a play store that was way bigger than the one in our Science Spectrum at home.

 

0llie on Molly the Trolley.

 

Superman running the till in his old-timey store

 

Bear the banker.

 

 Withdraw, please. 

 

My boys, the air traffic controllers.

 

My boys, the pilots. 

 

My boys, the grocers.

 

This part of the play store really gave me insight into the brain of my two-year old and what he thinks of me.  Bear must have spent 10 minutes taking out a cart, pushing it a few steps, telling me that it wasn't a good one, getting out a new one, and putting the original back.  Twice he loaded up groceries in his cart and then went back, placing everything on the floor one-by-one, got himself a new cart and meticulously placed everything back into the new cart.  I told you that this child cracks me up daily.

 

The San Antonio Zoo!

The next day we headed to the zoo.  Not nearly as much fun without Ababa, but we still managed to have a good time. 

 



ROAR!

 

Hanging on some Hippos with our new friend Mae.

Note Superman's "zoo clothes".  Shorts stripped like a zebra, alligator shirt.

 

Botanical Gardens and Shakespeare in the park!

 

We lasted all of 20 minutes during A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

A caterpillar!

Cheese!

Checking out the water.

 

The Japanese Tea Gardens!

There are no pictures of our morning adventures on this particular day, but I'll give you a quick run down.  It started with some crocodile tears, included a spanking in a city-park, progressed to  stopping up a toilet at a senior citizen center (don't ask), and fire ant bites.  (Bonus points for readers if you guess correctly which boy participated in which activity.)  I realized the morning was probably shot, so in an attempt to salvage the day I asked, "who wants to go get ice cream?"  Both boys immediately started sobbing.  More bonus points if you can guess who said, "I don't like ice cream!  It's too cold!" and who said, "I want it now!!  NOW!!!"

 

Then we got into the van, where one kiddo immediately conked out, and the other enjoyed a veggie tale, compliments of one Honda Odyssey.  Just the restart we needed.  On to the Tea Gardens!  

 

So beautiful!

Handsome boys and beautiful scenery, our day is starting to take shape!

Another caterpillar!

 

The Rainforest Café!

The last night we went to the Rainforst Café.  This was something we looked forward to all week and was a highlight for a few reasons.  Superman was so excited to go inside and see all the animals and was beside himself with excitement.  Bear, pretty much the opposite, was afraid of all of the loud noises and his reaction was comical.  The animals came to life every 10 minutes or so and they had a thunderstorm every 20 or 30 minutes.  I think the anticipation of loud sounds coming was worse than actually hearing the sounds.  He kept saying, "almos, almos coming!" 

 

This was pretty much the look on his face through out the entire meal.

And Bear alternated between my arms and his daddy's saying, "I'm scawey, I'm scawey" for most of the meal.  He's such a sweetheart.



 Love those big eyes.

 

 

SARA!

The last day we visited one of Jon's sites that they grow trees for, the San Antonio River Authority. 

 

We couldn't actually find any of his trees.... the grass was pretty tall, but I'm sure they were there thriving under all those wildflowers!

 

This kid has got the right idea.  The perfect way to end a vacation.