Category: Texas Trip

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On Wednesday the “mom’s” and Michelle took the kids to Sea World.  Tim stayed back with Josiah, since he wouldn’t have cared too much, and Tim wasn’t itching to go either.  🙂

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Adorable matching outfits from Grandma! It was very sunny and we had just piled out of the cars...

Even the boys had matching outfits!

Fountain right inside the entrance. This fountain was filled from all the condensation produced from the air conditioning units across the park.

We pulled in mid morning and after a rough start (bathroom run, slather the suntan lotion on all the kids, buy tickets to get in, call Tim quick to figure out why our credit card was suspended…) we made it in the doors.  I don’t remember going to Sea World before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I have to say, I was beyond thrilled with everything!  I think Chloe and I had the best day of our trip there.  It was a treat to have a whole day with just her!  We watched three shows (a ski show, beluga whales, dolphin & bird show & then a Shamu show) which I thought were all spectacular.  For the final two shows, we sat in the “soak zone” which meant we could get wet, but somehow I managed to stay dry the whole time.  (Although it was a toasty day, so I wouldn’t have minded getting a little wet… )  Some others in our group were not so lucky and walked out a bit soggy!

It's a lot of work to get 6 kids lotioned up for the day!

Part of the Beluga whale show

The first show was a bit loud for Chloe so she plugged her ears the whole time. She still enjoyed it though!

I know this is a "classic" shot, but it was just so cool to see it in person!

This was also part of the beluga whale show--it also featured exotic birds, divers & synchronized swimmers. Oh, and I take it back--I DID get wet at this show... a bird peed on my legs. Eeeeeeeeewwwwww!

There was a kiddie water park that we all enjoyed cooling off in during the day.  It definitely made the heat bearable–and the kids had such a great time running from water spout to water spout!

The water park area!

Water pouring from everywhere!

Allison enjoying the water!

Chloe and Allison running from the water

"I'm Singing in the rain"

Abby running through the waterfall and Chloe enjoying the splash

More water spouts. The bucket one was fun--it filled with water and then poured on the kids.

As a side note, there was also a mini roller coaster that we went on that Chloe did NOT like, although I thought it was great fun!

Before we came home I let Chloe pick one thing from the gift shop and she chose a stuffed Shamu.  It’s so adorable.  And she was really excited to show it to Josiah when we got back to our condo, which was equally adorable.

It was also Pasty & Peggy’s birthday so we celebrated with cake & gifts & a pinata!  It was a fun way to top off a great day.

I had originally added Big Lou’s this in the post about our downtown visit, but after looking at how long the post was already, I decided it deserved it’s own “moment of glory” on my site.

Bring on the Pizza!

We planned a trip to Big Lou’s in San Antonio as one of our full group meals.  Let’s face it–group meals with 23 people are a bit chaotic and LOUD, so we didn’t have too many.  But this one was by far the highlight of the meals on our Texas Trip.  Big Lou’s is a pizza joint and Ryan & Stephanie first discovered it when they were watching “Man vs. Food” on t.v. one night.  If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s awesome.  He travels all around the country to noteworthy/interesting restaurants trying to beat records.  It’s so interesting to watch.  Anyway, in this one there was a VERY big pizza.  I mean V.E.R.Y. big.

42 inches big.

Description of what was to come!

The plates were HUGE--this should have been an indication of what was to come!

Here it comes! We had to clear the table and scoot our plates to the very edge!

Wow--now THAT'S a pizza!!!! And it was very tasty!

We ordered two 42 inch pizza's for the group and we finished all but a couple slices!!!

See, the plates and slices of pizza were almost as big as Josiah!

We were talking to one of the guys that worked there (he must have been someone important but I didn’t catch his title) and he showed us a picture of the biggest pizza he had ever made.  It was–are you ready for this?–62 inches big.  Wowsa!  He showed us a picture of it on his phone and Michelle (Tim’s Cousin) took a picture of his picture…

He said he helped make it and put on 500 pepperoni's! It's like a sea of pizza...

Then he even agreed to bring out the pan to show Michelle, so she asked if she could have a picture with it.  Can you believe how big it is?  That’s a lot of pizza!

Michelle posing with the 62 inch pan. We're not sure how they get it in the room becuase he was rolling it around...

Overall it was a fantastic experience.  I think Tim even said it was his favorite memory from the whole trip!

On Tuesday and Thursday we made our way to downtown San Antonio.  There were a couple of things we wanted to check out:  The Alamo, River Walk, Market Square, etc.  So we went first on Tuesday and then went again to finish sightseeing on Thursday.  Tim and I skipped going to the Alamo but everyone else went so I’m going to share a picture from Kristen’s camera (thanks Kristen!).  It wasn’t a very kid-friendly stop and, even though I know it’s a big historical deal, we decided that Josiah getting nap was more important at the time.  🙂

The Alamo

On the day everyone went to the Alamo we met up with them for lunch at “Whataburger” and then headed down to the river walk.  It was beautiful–and delightfully cool compared to the sidewalk up on the main street.  We walked along the river passing mostly restaurants and a few shops enjoying the beauty of it all.  Some of the group had come down to the walk on a night earlier and said it was just gorgeous and I could definitely see why.  I could see strings of white lights hanging up in the trees that they would light up at night.  So combining the light with the water and peaceful setting, I could see how it would make it a really pleasant place to visit at night.

You would never know we were right in the middle of downtown!

A little photo stop on our river walk

I just loved these little stone bridges across the river. Chloe and I posed at the top and waited for a river boat to glide by...

Behind us is a little ice cream and fudge shoppe. We stopped in and then enjoyed our snack on the patio next to the river!

After enjoying the river walk for a bit we decided to head up to the main street again and make a short (or what I thought was going to be short) jaunt down to the Market Square.  It’s a collection of Mexican shops selling a huge conglomeration of items, most of which were pretty cheap.  I thought it was going to be a hop and a skip down the street… I was wrong.  It was WAY down the street past a more “questionable” part of town in the sweltering 102* heat.  And thus, it became Tim’s least favorite part of the whole trip.  But we persevered and made it to the market!

There were mini "streets" through the shops--see all the colorful items?!

We found giraffe's! Of course, our favorite part of getting to the market was that it was air conditioned!!!!!

This was the hat we bought for Josiah at the market. He liked it a lot and fell asleep on the walk back holding it. How cute!

Here's a picture of Josiah in his new hat (and Tim borrowing Jen's)

This was on our way walking back from the Market. I liked the clock up above them and thought it was a sweet picture with them holding hands...

We arrived in Texas on Sunday evening.  After happily joining the entire group we all quickly unloaded and made our way into our perspective condos and then met up for group pictures (which I posted yesterday).   We each had a two bedroom / two bathroom condo with a laundry room, spacious living room and a loft area.  Plenty of room to get comfortable:

View of our living room looking into our kitchen and loft area above

A view of our living room--nice windows, huh?

Fully stocked kitchen (with a dishwasher even!) looking into our laundry room

On Sunday we started off with breakfast together in Baker’s condo where we were able to make a game plan for the rest of the week.  We planned out the big events (like Schlitterbahn & Sea World) and then mapped out other small things people wanted to fit in.  The rest of the day we enjoyed hanging out, unpacking, swimming in the pool, and then a nice BBQ supper in town.

Monday was the big day:  Schlitterbahn.  This was the big event we planned our trip around.  It was located in New Braunfels, an hour and a half drive, so we left early to arrive as they were opening at 10:00.   And it was worth it to leave so early!  Tim and I were about 30 behind the rest of the group and by the time we pulled in at 10:30 the place was just buzzing with activity.  The rest of the group had secured a spot for all of our stuff as well as found life jackets for the kids and inner tubes for the rides.  The best way I can describe the park was like an amusement park but covered in water.  Everyone was either in water shoes or barefoot everywhere we went.  There were pools and slides and things squirting water and rides everywhere.  At first I was a little self-conscious about wearing my suit all day, but I quickly realized there was no way anyone would notice me.  Let’s just say after a while you can get desensitized to seeing a lot of skin on people that shouldn’t be showing that much skin!  🙂

Chloe and Josiah had a blast playing in the smaller kiddie pool right next to our things and everyone was definitely pooped by the time we made our way home.  We were sporting a few good sunburns the next day!  Here are a few pictures (although it was hard to take many pictures because I was worried about my camera getting wet!):

Part of the park

The frog was very exciting!

He wasn't too thrilled to wear the life jacket...

Chloe, on the other hand, didn't mind wearing hers!

Kristen got Josiah to finally fall asleep in his stroller! Yippie!

After his nap he was MUCH happier!

We're ready to go home after a long day in the sun!

I was impressed with how green the hills were in Texas.  I had always imagined all of Texas being flat and brown with a lone cactus and tumbleweed blowing across a dirt road.  😀  So I was surprised to find curvy, hilly roads!

Look at those hills!

There was a very unusual plant right next to our parking lot that Chloe enjoyed.

I don't know what it was, but it was VERY tall!