San Antonio 2010

One thing I love about my father is his love for the family vacation.  Growing up, around the end of the school year, he would either tell Mom and me to start thinking of somewhere to go, or he would simply tell us his vision.  I don't ever remember being disappointed with his vision.   I guess because he and I are so alike in what we consider fun.  As I got older, he would just hand me the Mobile Travel Guide and say, "Plan our route."

You see, we Pedens don't fly.

Not that we're afraid of flying or that we've never gone far enough to justify flying.  We just didn't.  The only vacation that required a jet was a trip to Cancun when I was 5 (still to this day my very very favorite childhood vacation).  We traveled to both coasts in a car.  More than once.  And I don't remember thinking that it was strange.  It was the way we did things.

So when my parents came to our house one June afternoon and in the course of conversation my father told Jackson, "You know what I want to do?  I want to take you and Sadie to see the glass bottom boats.  And then, I want to take you to the San Antonio Zoo,"  I can't say I was all that surprised.  As he left that day, he looked at me and said, "Check into that and let me know what you find out."  I felt the same twinge of excitement as I did when I was in high school.  I get to plan the route! (Don't judge me.)

The glass bottom boats Dad referred to were in San Marcos, also known as Stop #1 on our trip.  Anyone remember Aquarina Springs?  You know, the place with the flying pig?  Mermaids drinking Dr. Peppers under water? (This is where I should probably tell you that as a child I was easily sucked into any sort of roadside oddity that involved caves, reptiles, and/or mermaids drinking DP under water.  I'm pretty sure I got this genetic quirk from my dad too, although he acts like he made a huge sacrifice to stop there. Whatever.)  Well, don't expect to see any of that now.  The park is owned/managed by Texas State University now, and while structural elements remain, the park itself is  no more.  Except the boats.  For a small fee, students/tour guides will ferry you around the springs and give you little nuggets of geological info about what you're seeing.  The kids really thought it was cool.  Plus the ride is just long enough to hold their attention.

The next stop on Dad's agenda was the San Antonio Zoo.  The kids love zoos.  The kids just aren't big fans of zoos where the animals are hiding inside because it's so stinking hot outside. They did have a great time looking at the Gila monster (the real one), venturing into the butterfly pavilion, and riding the train.  But let's face it.  San Antonio is the hottest place on Earth.

Actually, that's not right.  San Antonio isn't the hottest place on Earth.  Sea World actually holds that title.  We went there too. I love this picture below because it was the kids' first experience with Shamu, and they were literally in awe.  We loved all the shows we saw, and we loved watching people feed dolphins and sharks and alligators.  Jackson even got to ride a roller coaster, but it wasn't a big one and he still wants to ride the big roller coaster.  Sadie was too short to ride just about everything, and that didn't sit well with her either...my kids are going to be coaster riders, and I am a happy, happy girl.

We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort.  I have no pictures of this place because we literally spent every spare moment in their amazing pool/beach/lazy river.   The kids LOVED it.  This place ranks in my top 5 favorite places to stay.  If you want family friendly old-school resort with every modern convenience and ammenity, this is it.  It is beautiful, it is comfortable, it has wonderful activities for the whole family (Movie night on the lawn?  Check.  S'mores around the campfire with a singing cowboy? Check.).  Kevin and I both talked about how we could come back there for a week and never leave the resort and be perfectly happy. 

On our way home we made what would be my very first ever stop in Gruene, Texas to visit the Grist Mill. I am now officially in love with Gruene and hinted strongly to my husband that it would be a lovely anniversary destination next spring.  It was a great vacation overall. The kids were ready to go back as soon as we got home.  Who am I kidding?  They didn't want to leave in the first place!