Spring Break

Spring Break takes on a whole new meaning after you have kids.  It certainly is not anything like the carefree week of fun you had in college.  This was the first trip I have taken for Spring Break in, hmmmmm,  a very long time.  If it weren't for my parents willingness to help out and my mom's idea to go to San Antonio, we would have just spent the week at home.

I was a little worried about the 7 hour drive, but the kids did really well.

Maisey won the award for "Best Traveller".  She had her babies and she was happy.  She slept and was quiet and content when she was awake.

Gardner won the award for "Most Talkative".  This kid did not shut his mouth.  He loves construction vehicles, and fortunately for him, there was a lot of roadwork along the way.  Exclamations such as "Look at the digger!"  "Oh, I see a cement truck!" were commonly heard coming from the back seat.

Malloy was mostly in her own word with her fingers, blanket and seasons 1 and 2 of Full House on DVD.

As soon as we got to San Antonio, we put on our swim suits and hit the pool.  It was about 85 degrees on Saturday afternoon and we knew the forecast showed much, much colder temperatures for the rest of the week.

The water was COLD, but the kids were excited to swim for the first time since our trip to Great Wolf Lodge back in November.

On Sunday, it was much cooler and very WINDY.  We went to Morgan's Wonderland.  It was a large park with a few rides and lots of playground areas.  It was designed so that children with disabilities can participate in all of the activities.  Maisey's favorite activity was "driving" the Jeep.

Gardner loved digging in the sand.

Malloy was the meteorologist.

And the cashier at the kid sized grocery store.

Look at that face.

After Morgan's Wonderland, we headed downtown.  No trip to San Antonio would be complete without a trip to THE ALAMO.  The twins fell asleep in the car, so my mom stayed with them while Malloy, Papa and I made a quick visit to the Alamo.  

On Monday morning, we went the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels (20 miles from S.A.).  The museum is very new and had lots of activities for toddlers.  Gardner loved driving the ambulance.  

On our way back to San Antonio, we went to a drive through wildlife safari.  You definitely got up close and personal with the animals.  Gardner sat on Grandma's lap in the front seat (the speed limit was 5 mph).  Each kid had a bag of animal feed to drop out the window as animals approached.  One of the funniest moments was when Gardner tried to throw a handful of food out while the window was rolled up!

A reindeer right outside my window.

At the end of the safari, you could brush, pet, and feed some baby goats and also see some giraffes.

Gardner was beside himself with excitement over the goats.  He was galloping around, frantically brushing as many goats as he could and even laid down on top of a goat and hugged it!

Maisey liked feeding the goats, and if they were not interested in her food, she followed them around and tried to shove the food in their mouths.

Attempt at a group photo at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch.

The forecast for Tuesday was for warmer afternoon temperatures, so we stayed home in the morning and went to the zoo after naps.  The zoo was nice and pretty small so we only needed a couple of hours to see everything.  After going on the safari, the animals at the zoo seemed kind of far away! 

We took the Zoo Train through Brackenridge Park.  

After the zoo, we headed over to the Witte Science Museum (also in Brackenridge Park).  Malloy rode the Sky Cycle.

We checked out the giant tree house and some dinosaurs.  

Next, we headed downtown to the River Walk.  It was a little challenging getting down to the River Walk with two strollers. Once we got down there, it was a tight squeeze to maneuver a double stroller along the narrow path next to the water.  Fortunately, no one fell in and we managed to eat at a Mexican restaurant - a risky activity considering we rarely go out to eat with all 3 kids and it was after the twins' usual bedtime.   

We all enjoyed the mariachi band...except for Maisey.

The finale to our trip to San Antonio was Sea World.  We saved it for the day that was supposed to be the warmest.  The kids loved the Sesame Street Bay of Play.  They got to meet all of their favorite characters and see a little performance.

Gardner LOVED Elmo

Maisey was not as excited to be sitting next to Zoe.

They had some cute little rides

We saw three aquatic shows.  Here you can see the dolphins flipping in the air.

Maisey was hesitant to hug Cookie Monster.  

We had to pose with Kyle' favorite character, The Count.  Gardner tried to rip his beard off.

As you can see from his face, Gardner enjoyed the rides.

I am pretty sure my dad held his breath the entire time the kids were on this ride.  It went up about 20 feet in the air and there were no seat belts.  Fortunately, all of the kiddos made it safely back to the ground.

All in all, it was a fun trip.  Warmer weather would have been nice, but we made the best of it.  The one who had the nice, relaxing Spring Break was Kyle.  He had 6 days at home with no kids!