Mini Vacation

Since I'm trying to save for my rapidly approaching unemployment during student teaching, I couldn't afford much of a vacation this year. My mom and I decided to take Cole to San Antonio for a few days. It was great to get away and have some fun.

Our first stop was the Alamo. Cole was eager to see the Alamo. We decided to rent headphones and take an audio tour to maximize our experience. The cashier didn't charge us for Cole because she thought that he might not be that interested. I laughed because I knew he would be enthralled with learning about the battle. He paid rapt attention to his tour. At the very beginning of the tour the automated voice was talking about the history of some doors and Cole looked at me in awe and said, "is that the door that the Japanese soldiers came rushing in?"...I guess between his trip to Pearl Harbor and the WWII movies, he thinks all "enemy" soldiers are the Japanese!

After the Alamo we went to the riverwalk. We rode a tour boat and then ate some lunch at one of the many restaurants along the river. After lunch we rode the trolley to El Mercado. After visiting the market we went to the Texas Ranger Museum. We then concluded our walking tour (we must have walked miles in the blazing Texas heat) by heading to the Imax theatre. We watched a 3D movie about Dinosaurs that we all loved and then watched a movie about the Alamo. Finally, we headed to our hotel. Cole and I capped off the evening with a swim in the hotel pool.

The next morning we went to Sea World. Our original plan was to spend the morning at the park, take a break mid-day and then to return in the evening. We ended up spending the entire day (from the moment the park opened until after closing) at the park. We enjoyed feeding the seals and seeing all the exhibits. The first show we saw was at 11:30am. Cole wanted to sit in the "splash zone". It was hot and we sat in the direct sun for about an hour. I remember being a kid and wanting to sit in the "splash zone" so badly. So Cole and I sat on the very front row while we braved the heat. It was a relief when we finally got soaked. We had a great time riding roller coasters. Cole and I rode one water roller coaster twice. The lines weren't long and the ride was so much fun. On the second trip, Cole "dared me" to ride with my hands in the air. I did and he was so impressed! We spent the most of the afternoon in the water park. We all loved the wave pool. During the summer the park is open later in the evenings. We watched a 4D haunted lighthouse movie and another seal/walrus/otter show. Cole and I want an otter and a walrus as a pet. We headed over to watch Shamu to finish off our evening. We were sitting in the "Splash zone" once again and I looked down and there was a kid from his Kindergarten class two rows in front of us..what a small world. They enjoyed seeing each other so far from home. Sunburned and tired we ate a quick dinner on the way back to the hotel before collapsing in bed.

This morning on our way back to town we visited some local caverns. I think this was one of Cole's favorite parts of the trip. He especially enjoyed the 5,000 year old pile of bat poop! We then "mined" for fossils and after securing his shark teeth, shells, amber, etc into a Ziploc baggie we headed home.

It may not have been a European vacation (since Vetmommy wouldn't adopt us), but we still had a great time.