Stacer Days: Mini-Vacation to San Antonio

At the end of June my parents went out of town for a week. Alan had a shift off, so we went down to stay in their house for a few days and do some of the San Antonio things we haven't been able to do since we lived down there. The boys were able to practice their new swimming skills quite a bit in a controlled environment, which was nice and we also got to see Aunt Jenny and Braelynn a lot, which is always fun.

Giant sweet baby girl wearing the onsie I gave her. :)

Adam, safely planted in the lap of luxury.

Aaron soaking up some Braelynn time.

Then Aaron decided to read to her. It was so sweet that we had to document it. I have no idea what the pounding noise in the background is all about. Watch how midway through or so he rubs her head. Oh, he is such a precious boy.

When we lived in Boerne, Alan really enjoyed fishing at Kiehl Park, just outside of Comfort. Back before the county upgraded the park and made it official, he used to park on the side of the bridge and walk down to the Guadeloupe River to fly fish. Since those days they've added a restroom and parking area, rebuilt the bridge, and put the park on the map, so to speak, so it sees a little more traffic. But it is still out of the way and the few people you see rarely venture up river, so it has maintained its secluded beauty.

Down this hill...

Through this field.

I got distracted...

This is the old bridge road. The new one is up above and behind us. The boys ran around for a bit while he threw his line in a few times.

Adam looks like trouble and Aaron is on a serious mission.

So then we crossed under the new bridge and continued down the middle of the river. It was only about one and a half feet deep at the deepest points we went to. The boys loved jumping and splashing around in the natural wade pool.

Alan caught lots of fish, most were about this size.

The next day was our 10th wedding anniversary. There was no formal celebration, other than spending time together as a family, but I thought it was worth mentioning. That morning we went to the Witte Museum. Alan remembers going there frequently as a kid. I've been a handful of times, but this was the first for the boys. It was right up their alley... science, history, things to look at, touch, etc.

The entrance hall hasn't changed, still has the triceratops skeleton, which they found fascinating.

Since the last time Alan and I were there, they added a new building... very sleek and modern.

"Hello... is anyone home?"

He was convinced this was a treasure chest.

While milling around in the courtyard area, Alan spotted this guy. He was right about our heads. In order to prove he was real, I've included a video too :) (see below).

The photos are a bit out of order, sorry... the website is being fickle right now.

In front of the Coast display. They were discussing whether or not this really did look like PINS (Padre Island National Seashore).

Back to the new building. This was a snazzy game to try to balance the load for the burro, ...

... which Adam continued to play long after we had moved on.

Until he found his next obsession in front of this general store. It was a touch screen game to purchase actual items that might have been in a general store in these days.

I had already gone to the next room and come back. There was no one around, so we just let him keep going.

The new building has neat interactive exhibits that still give the same facts, but in a more interesting way.

Then it poured. I'm talking raining-cats-and-dogs, poured. We ran from the new building back to the main building and hung out under the back porch area for a few minutes thinking the rain would let up. It did not. In the few minutes we stood there the nearby road flooded and the San Antonio river, that runs just behind the museum, was quickly rising. Alan decided that we needed to move on, despite the rain. So, Alan went first, carrying Adam and once they made it, I followed tightly clutching Aaron so that he wouldn't slip in the water. The distance between the two buildings was only forty feet or so, but in that time we got drenched... all part of the experience I suppose. Our destination was the HEB Tree house, which, sadly has changed since the last time we were there. Now it is a "body adventure," which was more or less a kid gym in disguise... using fun, flashy methods to get kids to exercise, while they think they are playing a variety of video games.

These pulley seats were their favorite indoor thing.

Thankfully this tree house is still there. It is awesome. From the top you can see the river and look out into Brackenridge Park. It also provided a little cover from the still pouring rain.

The boys weren't scared of the rain... they had to go check out these water tools.

Despite its shotty design, they managed to get the water wheel up and running (see video below).

The next day my parents were back and able to come play with us. We wanted to check out Joshua Creek Park, a park that just started development about the time that we moved to Georgetown. The weather was unbelievably nice that morning, perfect for hiking around and wearing out a couple little boys before driving home.