Tower of the Americas

After the zoo we went for a visit to Tower of the Americas.  This was, without a doubt, the most terrifying part of our trip!  I don't know what I was thinking when I suggested it.  The fun part was the 4D movie.  It was the best 4D show we have seen.... the kids really loved it.  After the movie we headed up.  And then up some more.  It was crazy high!!  I get a little bit stressed to go to the top of the slides at the park, so you can imagine how I felt up there!  It was actually much worse than I thought it would be.  Check out the view from the top...

Of course there had to be a picture of the Drury Plaza!!  I think what was so bad about it was that it felt like the floor was not level... like it was leaning towards the glass.  It was awful.  I would not even go outside... Josh and my dad had to take the boys.  They LOVED how the wind was blowing their hair.

I will not be doing that again.  The boys said it was their favorite part of our trip to San Antonio.  I am at least proud that I made it up there.  My mom stayed down below to watch Annie.  She was happy to volunteer!  Not that I'm calling her a scaredy cat or anything.  :)

San Antonio Zoo!

The next morning we started out bright and early for the zoo.  And of course all zoo trips MUST begin with a ride on the train!  Annie began this by finding out what the train tasted like....

And you wonder why she is always sick!!  :)  She was super tickled when the men started talking on the intercom and she started making all kinds of cute sounds.

After the train we made our way inside where I was promptly pooped on by a bird.  Then a strange man told me it was good luck.  Only time will tell!  Overall it was not my favorite zoo, but the kiddos had lots of fun.  It was kind of hard to get around with the stroller and there was not much shade.

Annie was excited to touch some animals.  They had this super cute pig!  Houston only has goats so I was pretty pumped about the pig.

Josh got some really nice pictures while we were there, so I must share them!

We were hot and tired, so we took off in the afternoon for our second stop of the day, Tower of the Americas!

A special dinner out! Maybe not so much!

So we hadn't really planned where we were going to eat that night.  I asked lots of people for advice but didn't get any real answers.  So we had read about Mi Tierra on a lot of sites so we thought the kids would like it.  So we loaded up into the van and drove a few blocks over.  And that's where things got crazy.  We waited, and waited, and waited.   And then waited some more.  Children were crying.  My mom was considering hurting somebody.  It was seriously ridiculous.  It had been a crazy long day and we were all starving and tired.  While waiting we ran into this little Mexican souvenir store and saw some crazy stuff....

and the kids got to pick out a cheap toy to entertain themselves with while we waited.  It got so ridiculous that we decided to leave and just take our chances with what we could find.

This is when one of the four of us having a smart phone would have been really handy.  We only had our printed directions form the hotel to the restaurant, so we basically just drove straight down one of the main freeways till we saw something.  And we drove and drove and drove.  And the only thing we passed was a Denny's, and after two months of no carbs we were not going to waste carbs on Denny's.

The next two places were IHOP and Red Lobster.  Obviously, the choice here is Red Lobster.  But it was SO late and we wanted it to be quick so we ran into a scary IHOP.  And it took FOREVER!!!  We were one of a handful of tables in the place and it took over  45 minutes to get our food.  The kids were crying, Annie was ready to crash and it was just a mess.

Annie zonked out on the way back to the hotel and didn't even wake up when we got her out.  She slept with her head on Josh's hand like this all the way back to our room.  So cute!!

Needless to say, Mi Tierra is off the list!!!   AND we had a crazy long and exhausting first day of vacation.  In the morning we got up bright and early and headed to the San Antonio Zoo!

The Drury Plaza!!

If I had a penny for every time I have head Wyatt say "the Drury Plaza!!!" in the last two months I would be a rich lady!  The boys are officially obsessed with the Drury Plaza Hotel.  When planning the trip we narrowed it down to two hotels and then let the boys pick after looking on the internet.  And the Drury Plaza won!  I really am not exaggerating when I say that Wyatt speaks of the Drury Plaza at least three times a week.  They loved it!

It was actually really pretty inside, and our room was nice and big.  Two big beds, room for the crib, and a couch and chairs.  AND it was directly on the River Walk so we just had to take the elevator down and we were there.   They have free breakfast, which the kids thought was the coolest thing ever.  AND free popcorn and sodas in the evenings, so of course we sampled that as well.  Basically everything that a kid would think is awesome.  Like a rooftop pool!  A rooftop pool that mom and dad were crazy enough to get into even though it was crazy cold up there!  Somehow we didn't get pictures of that.  It was actually so cold that we left the rooftop pool and went down to the warm indoor pool.

After swimming we set out to explore the River Walk and take a boat tour.  This was my favorite part of the trip!  I was surprised at how beautiful it was.  We started the tour right as the sun was setting and by the time we docked to go home it was dark.  It was really beautiful!!  The buildings and trees were just gorgeous.  After this we headed out to eat dinner.  And this is where things went wrong.....

Bracken Store Cafe

So after our strenuous hike we headed off to the Bracken Store Cafe for lunch.  Do you watch The Daytripper?  I kind of have an obsession with it.  I love it!  And so do the kids.  So when they did an episode about Natural Bridge Caverns we all sat down to watch it at my parents house.  And they went to lunch at the Bracken Store, so the kiddos insisted we do too.  And we weren't sad about it!  From the outside it looks a little unassuming...

But the inside was fun and the food was so yummy!  It was our first carbs in months too, so I guess that didn't hurt!  :)  Josh snapped a few pics inside cause the boys wanted him to take a pic of every single thing....

Annie loved it too....

That is until we took something away.....

I tell you this girl has the worst temper of all my kids!  I never thought any baby could get as angry as Noah did when he was this age, but Annie definitely takes the cake!

And on the way out my dad was being nosy and got jealous of this guys "exterior illumination" he had in the back of his truck!  My dad is so funny we had to take a pic of it so I don't ever forget my dad's craziness!!

After eating we headed into town to find our hotel on the River Walk!