I woke up at 4:30 am on Sat. morning to get dressed and wake the girls for the start of our 14 hour road trip. We got up, hugged and kissed Daddy goodbye, then headed towards Nana's to pick up her and Hunter for our trip. Nana and Hunter had everything by the door and were ready to go.
We hit the road at about 6am. We made it three hours before we stopped for gas and breakfast. We loaded back into the car and headed out. It was so funny....if Goose was sleeping the older two were wide awake, and vice versa. I am pretty sure that we never had a complete moment of silence the whole way down there! We made it to Gainesville TX before the rain hit. This slowed our travels a bit and made the natives restless!! So finally in Austin we decided to stop at Target and get out and walk around a bit. We bought little Man a new life jacket and Puss in Boots for the remainder of the ride. We got to the hotel at about 8:15 pm. We stayed at Holiday Inn (the 1st Green Hotel in TX). We got all checked in and loaded up the baggage dolly to take everything to the room. The older two loved the fact that we had to ride an elevator to our floor! I had them bring a crib in for Goose....but she preferred to sleep in bed with me! :)
We woke up Sun. Morn and went down for breakfast before heading out to the river walk! It was a beautiful day. We were about 20 minutes from downtown. Once we got there we unloaded and put Goose in the stroller. Let me just tell you....the River walk is beautiful...however...it is NOT child friendly or really wheelchair friendly either for that matter. There are no rails dividing the river and you...I was nervous wreck...I just knew one of them was going to fall in and I was going to follow. They did really well though considering the circumstances, and we all stayed dry.
I actually ran into a friend from here in KC down there. It's funny...I NEVER see her around town and we live 15 min from one another....but I travel hundreds of miles away and see her! We ended up spotting each other through out the day, we even rode the river boat together! I am so glad we rode the boat. We got to see all of the river walk that we might not have had we continued to walk the whole thing. The kids loved it. Once we got off the boat we went and got ice cream....once again seeing my friend!
After ice cream we headed up to the streets to find the Alamo. It was only about 5 blocks away from where we were. It was really crowded. We didnt' take the tour inside, we just walked around the outside grounds, and snapped a few pics. We made it back to the car, and decided to see what else was around town. The kids were all pretty worn out and falling asleep one by one. So we decided to just go back to the hotel.
Once we got back we got our suits on and went swimming. The pools are heated inside and out...supposedly. However we felt the pool outside and it was so cold! We decided to just hang out in the Hot tub which felt amazing! The kids however did not let the cold stop them! Little Man did jump in the pool though and came flying to the surface looking so shocked! Nana jumped out of the hot tub to grab him and well Goose was standing on the ledge of the hot tub next to her, and tried to follow her....yep, she went under...right off the ledge. I swooped her up and she wasn't even panicked! I was....but not her, she wanted out to run with the big kids through the freezing cold water! I ended up walking through it some with her, but it really was freezing. Maybe I'm just a wuss because there was a dad that jumped in and stayed in for a bit with his two boys! We went inside to the indoor pool. I got in and wiped my face...only to find out that it was salt water we were swimming in. Remember we were staying at an "green" hotel. It's the new green way I guess! After we swam for a bit, we all headed back to the room. The kids and I got dressed and went downstairs for dinner. When we got back to the room for the night, we called Daddy and told him all about our day. You could tell he missed us already. Bedtime and Goose felt warm. I took her temp and sure enough she was 101.2!! WHAT!! Ughhh. So I gave her Tylenol and seriously had to hold her in the bathroom until finally the fever broke and she fell asleep. I woke up 4 hours later to redose her. She was sound asleep and not warm at all. So I gave her another dose just in case and we went back to sleep.
When we woke up, she was perfectly fine. I was so glad, because we had a full day of Sea World ahead of us. We all got dressed and headed to Sea World. It was only 5 min from our hotel. It was super crowded! We already had our tickets so we didn't have to wait in line for that. We got into the park, rented two strollers, and off we went. We stopped at the Beluga Whale show first. AZUL it was called. It was just as I remembered. I love this show. The kids faces lit up. Goose was soooo intrigued. She couldn't get enough. Every time they would swim out of the performance pool she would put her hands up and say, "where'd they go"? It was so cute! The kids wanted to go to Bay of Play Sesame Street next. HOLY CROWDED!! We waited in line so they could ride the roller coaster. I couldn't believe they were going to ride it by themselves. They did...and they loved it! It was so cute! Goose loved getting to watch the Sesame characters perform! She was dancin everywhere!! We were going to play in the water next, however it was closed for "cleaning" for the next 20 min. So off to lunch we went. Poor Nana had to stand in line for an hour just to get 2 small pizzas and drinks!! It really was a bit ridiculous! After lunch we went to see Shamu. My favorite! Those killer whales are just amazingly beautiful. Once again the kids loved it. Bird kept calling him "Shampoo"! Too cute!
The penguins were next. Whew did they stink! I wasn't sad that the exhibit wasn't huge and only took a few minutes to look at! Next stop was a nice big playground area that the kids got to run and play at. It was good to get some of that energy out. After we played for about 30 min, we decided to go try the water park again. The bad part about the water park is that there are numerous ways in and out. Bird and Hunter were right together when the next thing I notice is that Bird wasn't with him anymore. My heart went into straight panic mode! She is not one to wonder off, and so I was sure that she must have went into one of the tunnels of the playground that the water park attaches too. Sure enough after Nana and I are at the point of sure madness....I see her high up in the cargo nets. I had to follow her on the ground until she got to a spot where she could hear me. She came down and I just hugged her. I was so scared! Needless to say...we were done with the water park. We went and changed clothes and headed for the dolphins and shark tanks.
Sad story the dolphin tank was closed for the night. I was sooo upset. I had told them all day that we would try and feed the dolphins. Bad Mom of the year! We went to check out the sharks. Man they were huge! After the sharks it was about 7pm. We went to the gift shop and Nana of course let the kiddos pick out one thing! They each picked out a stuffed animal. Little Man got a sting ray....Bird got "shampoo", and Goose picked a dolphin. We were headed to the street party when the two older kids wanted to go see the last Beluga show again. So we did. We got cotton candy and relaxed watching the show. We left just a bit before it was over to avoid the crowd. It was about 8:30 and we were pretty much done for the day. So we headed home.
Once back at the hotel we decided we were just plum tuckered out. So we ordered room service. Well long story short...we got it for free an hour later! Fine with us! Once I hit the pillow though...I don't remember anything!
Tuesday Morning we got us and decided that we were going to go back to Sea world for a few hours before hitting the road for home. I must say....I am SOOO very glad we did! First thing we did....headed for the dolphins. YEAH it was feeding time! I loved this part so much! So did the kiddos! The way their faces lit up was amazing! Goose even fed them! She was so cute. She didn't want to leave them! I do believe this was her favorite part. We then headed over to the Sea lions. We had lunch first since the lines weren't long. The Sea Lions were hungry too, so we fed them as well. Their fish sure was wayyy more stinky then the dolphins!! :) The kids didn't mind! They loved when they would talk for their food! Bird does a great impression of this!! :) We stayed around there and watch the Sea lion show. The kids thought it was hilarious!! :) The walrus at the end was HUGE...like 3000 lbs huge!! WOW!! It was now almost 2:45pm so we decided that since we had gotten to see everything now, we could head out.
We hit the road without any expectations. However when I got behind that wheel...I knew I just wanted to be home. The ride home was a little more restless then the one coming down. Midnight stuck and everyone wished me a Happy Birthday! Finally the kids quieted down and we ended up driving straight threw. I didn't even stop for dinner, we just grabbed a few things from the gas station and kept going. We pulled into the garage at about 5am Wed. morning! We were so glad to be home and so happy to see Daddy!! He even called into work to stay home and hang out with us all day!!
It was a great trip, but I honestly don't think I will ever do a road trip like that again! It was too long. So unless we have an RV to travel in....I'm a short road tripper, or a plane ride away from our next adventure.
We hit the road at about 6am. We made it three hours before we stopped for gas and breakfast. We loaded back into the car and headed out. It was so funny....if Goose was sleeping the older two were wide awake, and vice versa. I am pretty sure that we never had a complete moment of silence the whole way down there! We made it to Gainesville TX before the rain hit. This slowed our travels a bit and made the natives restless!! So finally in Austin we decided to stop at Target and get out and walk around a bit. We bought little Man a new life jacket and Puss in Boots for the remainder of the ride. We got to the hotel at about 8:15 pm. We stayed at Holiday Inn (the 1st Green Hotel in TX). We got all checked in and loaded up the baggage dolly to take everything to the room. The older two loved the fact that we had to ride an elevator to our floor! I had them bring a crib in for Goose....but she preferred to sleep in bed with me! :)
We woke up Sun. Morn and went down for breakfast before heading out to the river walk! It was a beautiful day. We were about 20 minutes from downtown. Once we got there we unloaded and put Goose in the stroller. Let me just tell you....the River walk is beautiful...however...it is NOT child friendly or really wheelchair friendly either for that matter. There are no rails dividing the river and you...I was nervous wreck...I just knew one of them was going to fall in and I was going to follow. They did really well though considering the circumstances, and we all stayed dry.
Once back at the hotel we decided we were just plum tuckered out. So we ordered room service. Well long story short...we got it for free an hour later! Fine with us! Once I hit the pillow though...I don't remember anything!
Tuesday Morning we got us and decided that we were going to go back to Sea world for a few hours before hitting the road for home. I must say....I am SOOO very glad we did! First thing we did....headed for the dolphins. YEAH it was feeding time! I loved this part so much! So did the kiddos! The way their faces lit up was amazing! Goose even fed them! She was so cute. She didn't want to leave them! I do believe this was her favorite part. We then headed over to the Sea lions. We had lunch first since the lines weren't long. The Sea Lions were hungry too, so we fed them as well. Their fish sure was wayyy more stinky then the dolphins!! :) The kids didn't mind! They loved when they would talk for their food! Bird does a great impression of this!! :) We stayed around there and watch the Sea lion show. The kids thought it was hilarious!! :) The walrus at the end was HUGE...like 3000 lbs huge!! WOW!! It was now almost 2:45pm so we decided that since we had gotten to see everything now, we could head out.
It was a great trip, but I honestly don't think I will ever do a road trip like that again! It was too long. So unless we have an RV to travel in....I'm a short road tripper, or a plane ride away from our next adventure.
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