Texas in June

The cousins live in Georgia and we live in Arizona so we thought we were pretty smart when we decided to hop in the car and meet in the middle. San Antonio, TX, home of the Alamo, Riverwalk, keep away from rattlesnake signs, and a very very hot sun. This would mark our 3rd annual summer trip.

It didn't take the kids long this year to remember each other and they started hanging out right away. Brynn & Carissa were super cute to watch together.

Our first outing was Sea World and we got there when the gates opened and left at 9:30 when the gates closed. One of the highlights of the park was the all you can eat food wristband we bought everyone. They thought it was so cool they could go into any restaurant and get however much they wanted, whenever they wanted. Here they are on the side of the dolphin pool. The pool actually has dolphins in the water but they were more interested in hanging over the edge - go figure.

We learned this trip that the only dare-devils are Justin, Audrey, and Aunt Cecelia. They thought it would actually be fun to go on this roller coaster ride called Steel Eel. The sane people just watched.

After the ride Audrey said it was super scary... I like this picture with Byrnn looking up contemplating the ride. I have a feeling when she is tall enough she will join them.

The Rio Loco ride was actually the best. The Dad's took the kids first and rumor has it the kids were bummed when they had to come back and go with the Moms. But we proved them wrong. The line was so short we took a short cut and rode the ride 2 more times - making us the cooler parents (at least for a few minutes anyways!).

SeaWorld was really fun and the shows (Azul and Shamu Rocks) were really neat. There was a terrifying few moments when we lost Brynn and Carissa. They decided they could ride the Shamu Express without any parents and the crazy thing was the teenagers running the rides would have let them! But we ended Day 1 on a good note!

Day Two brought us to the heart of Texas - San Antonio Riverwalk. Did I mention Texas in June is Hot? This was not my best day. I could post more pictures and dwell on how HOT it was, how Justin told all the kids to get in the fountain (and they had tennis shoes on!), how we watched the 4D Skies Over Texas movie and every kid cried, or how went to the top of the Tower of America and it made me nauseous. But instead I will show you highlight of the day - Icees in huge Vegas style cups in the shade - ahhh.

Day 3 was the Natural Caverns. Underground and cooler then above. I really love these places especially when they start saying things like "this straw formation was formed 6,000,000,000 years ago, all right?" (Our 15-year old tour guide said all right - ALOT!). That is a large number and my eyes start to glaze over because I just can't comprehend it. I think Audrey's did too because once our guide said we couldn't touch anything - that is all she thought about.

It was relaxing and enjoyable and a great way to spend part of our last day. I will have to just mention here that on the way to the caverns I squished an ant in the car. I thought it was kind of weird but let it go. A few minutes later I squished another ant and happened to investigate a little further. Come to find out our whole car was infested with ants. It is crazy and annoying to watch a million ants forage for every goldfish and graham cracker crumb in your car. Glad to report a Wal-mart was near by (imagine that?) and Justin sprayed enough ant killer to keep our car pest free for the next 18 years.

After saying our tearful good-bye to the cousins we headed to Padre Island, TX for some beach time. On the second day there we decided to explore a dock that had a posting for a bird lookout. The parking lot looked into a fenced yard marked Alligator Habitat. I casually commented that I wouldn't want to enter and was glad there was a fence.

Off we went down the dock passing a large marshy area. My mind was telling me that it looked a lot like a place an alligator would love to live. Wouldn't you know it but the alligators did not stay behind the fence! They did live there. And we had the lovely privilege of walking right over one... How Does That Happen?

We didn't stay long.

The rest of the time was spent lounging on the beach. Watching the girls when they knew we were looking...

And when they didn't....

On the last day we ended up driving from Padre Island, TX to Buckeye, AZ in one day. It was a 17 hour drive and we were ready to be home. At the end of crazy trips like this I wonder why we do it? But, I think Carissa summed it up well in the sand...