Clay and I took Ellery to San Antonio for a few days a couple of weeks ago. We met up with his three sisters and their families (his brother lives in Europe, and his parents we visiting them, so they couldn't make it).
Here's how the trip went:
Wednesday: We drove up. It took us 5.5 hours because of traffic and construction. E did great on the drive though! She just played with her doll and read books for the first couple of hours (seriously, hours with no complaints! amazing), and then watched almost two movies (no problems there either. what a good girl!). It was raining when we got there (and a little later than we planned), so our plans for the river walk fell through. We had dinner at Bun and Barrel (it was on Guy's Dives, Drive Ins, Diners, or whatever it's called. Normally I trust Guy for a good restaurant review, but this place was just alright). Then we went to the house. We decided to rent a home instead of staying in a hotel. This way we saved money on food by cooking our meals, and we got to all stay together. It was great and really kid friendly with a play structure in the backyard, children's books, a train set, and play kitchen in the house. It was not sound proof though...ha. But being in the house together meant staying up late and playing games, which we love.
Thursday: We went to Sea World. E loved the aquarium parts, the dolphin show, and especially Shamu. She kept yelling "wow! wow! wow!" She loved the carousal and liked the ferris wheel ride okay. We took turns watching the kids so the adults could go on rides. Although, we were already outnumbered kids to adults, so it was a little crazy. But it worked. The only problem is that it was very difficult to get pictures when you are in charge of multiple littles. I got to ride three big rides (well, two but one of them twice. There were no lines, which was awesome.). Thankfully this was right before I heard about the lady who died on the TX giant roller coaster...yikes.). Ellery did amazingly well, and especially because we were there ALL day with no naps.
Friday: We went to Aquatica (the water park inside of Sea World). E loved the wave pool. It was really fun to jump the waves with her. Again, we took turns with the kids. At one point I had 4 babies all by myself. That was stressful! But fortunately, that was only for a few minutes. E had a few big tantrums towards the end of the day. Two LONG, stimulating days with no naps = tantrums. Oh and too much sun too. We almost all got burned, even with multiple sun screen applications.
Saturday: We floated the San Marcos river on tubes. E did pretty well on my lap on my tube with me. She liked the river. There were some fun rapids at the end too, which we took turns going down and watching the kids (the older kids went down the rapids, but not the littles). We left at lunch time to go home, and after two days of no naps, E slept most of the way home!
Aunt Lindsey taking Ellery and Gavin on the climbing nets.
E wanted to be carried. ha.
E's expression on the left! haha.
Getting ready for a show (with Uncle Matt and Bryson).
E really liked the characters from a distance, but was really scared when we got too close!
Scared of Shamu.
Wrestling with Dad and cousins.
They love Uncle Clayton.
I knew this would end badly, but it's so hard to say no when they're all having the time of their lives! Of course, after a little while, E fell between the two beds and smacked her head on the headboard. Ouch.
The three littlest cousins. Now all on the move (Lily isn't crawling yet, but she sure gets around by scooting!).
This was Ellery's first time experiencing sand. At first she didn't know how to or want to walk on it, and she was leery of it. She quickly warmed up to it though and ended up loving it. Her and Gavin spent a bit of time playing in it.
And then she ate a lot of sand during lunch time : / gross.
