Barker had to go to San Antonio on business over night. I was bummed. Yes, I know I have the kids here to keep me company but I never got accustomed to him traveling, even when he did so every week before the kids were born. I always missed him terribly and that hasn't changed. I know a lot of guys travel 50% to 80% of the time and leave their wives at home with the kids but I just don't think I could be happy living in such a way. I count down the hours every single day until he gets home. I don't think I could get out of bed if I was having to count the DAYS until he returned. Ugh. No way. So when he said he had to go to San Antonio over night I was sad, but glad it wasn't for a week.
Then lightening struck. My bestie is from SA and always talks about all the fun things there are to do with kids Audrey's age. So I figured the kids and I could ride to SA with Barker, then hoof it around by ourselves while he was working. I looked online and every thing I had wanted to take her to was closed during the week. Crap. Shot down.
So he booked a hotel on the river walk because there weren't any hotels near the district he would be visiting. Then Johanna tells me that nothing in San Antonio takes more than 15 minutes to get to. So I look up his hotel, and put the address of the children's museum into google and what do you know... it is .2 miles from his hotel! Score!
I got all kinds of excited, called and begged him to let us tag along. I swore we wouldn't be any trouble and would entertain ourselves with out his assistance all day long while he worked. I wasn't sure how I would keep this promise but I did manage to. The kids and I had an absolute BLAST in San Antonio, just the 3 of us.
We stopped in West at the Czech Stop Bakery on the way down.
Audrey picked out a gingerbread man cookie.
Then we stopped in Austin to see my older brother Jeff, sister in law Holly, and the kids. They loved on Hudson while Audrey played with her cousins. It was a great little pit stop and I was sooo glad they happened to be home, which is rare for this on the go family of five.
We checked into the hotel. Audrey asked why we weren't home. I told her that we were in San Antonio where Miss Honna, Connor, Uncle Chase and I were all born. She asked what we were doing here and I told her daddy was working but the three of us would kinda be on a little mini vacation. She replied "This isn't vacation. I don't see any sand." ha! Touche. That's my girl. If there isn't sand it just isn't a vacation.
The suite allowed us to have a room to ourselves and the kids to sleep in the living room, which was great. That way Barker's alarm didn't wake them up. In fact, Hudson slept until 8:30.
I was worried one or both would wake up scared in a new setting but they did great.
Barker got up at 6:30 to get ready to get to work. The kids and I had breakfast, checked out of the hotel and headed for the river walk. Oh! At breakfast Audrey about made me spit grapefruit juice everywhere. I asked her "Do you like your yogurt? It's very pink." She said "No. But it's her favorite color." and pointed at a lady walking by our table wearing 3 shades of pink from head to toe. It was awful. But how Audrey said it was hysterical. She might have inherited my snarky gene.
I put the kids in the double stroller and we trolled around a portion of the river walk. They LOVED it! LOVED! Hudson was in heaven. He's all boy. He's already all about cars, trucks, trains and boats. So when a tour boat went by he kicked up a storm and tried to get out of the stroller. Audrey loved looking for ducks.
Then we hit up the San Antonio Children's Museum that Johanna recommended. It did NOT disappoint! We all had so much fun! We spent all day there and were not ready to leave when Barker called late that afternoon and said to head back and meet him at the hotel.
Hudson loved the baby/toddler area. He was the only kid in there so he had plenty of room to explore.
He liked these bubbles that had different color lights and fish moving around. Well, that is, until he saw a truck. Then he was all about that truck.
Audrey really liked this wall you could put your hand into on one side, then come around and see it on the other side. I put my face in, as you can see on the top.
I was wearing Hudson in the back pack on my front. Can you make out his face under mine? ha! I totally smushed his little face through. Audrey thought it was hysterical!
She put her hands in it a bunch.
Then she spent a lot of time with the legos learning about force and earth quakes.
She had so much fun at the HEB. She shopped for produce, bread, then picked up a lobster, two fish and a steak. She said the steak was for the fish to eat. Hhmmm. Don't take her fishing. Her bait is pricey. She checked out at the touch screen computers, then cooked her food, washed the dishes and we all 'ate.' It was so fun.
Oh and this made me do a double take. Apparently HEB has their own store brand version of the drink Big Red. Then they made a cereal to taste like it. For real. I'm not sure if this is just wrong or the most awesome creation ever. Rumor has it Frisco is supposed to get a HEB, if so, this will be on the list just out of curiosity.
After the pint sized HEB trip she moved the chess pieces.
drove a trolley
And spent like an hour in this plane.
It was her favorite thing in the museum.
She made me and Hudson be her co-pilots.
Then we got in the back while a little girl was the stewardess. She brought us all kinds of pretend food and drinks for our in flight enjoyment. She was adorable and played really well with Audrey. We stayed in the plane with her until her not so attentive father woke up from his mid air nap. Seriously.
Oh she dug this house, too. She even mopped.
organ
She wasn't as impressed with the bubble room as I thought she'd be which was fine by me cause there was no where to sit down in that room and I was wearing Hudson for like 4 hours.
When Barker called and told us to head back we figured since we were only a block from the hotel we could say goodbye to the river. The kids got excited all over again. The weather was wonderful so I didn't mind pushing them around all day long. It was the most fun we've had in I don't know when. We are all officially in love with San Antonio.
Audrey wanted to take some pictures. Had I known I was going to be on the other side of the camera for once I might have worn make up or styled my hair. But Hudson is scared of the blow dryer so this is how I look most days now. Sorry Barker.
Oh and this is just one of the hundred or so pictures Audrey took of a boat with workers on it. She loves to snap pictures but I'm so not looking forward to the day she drops my heavy camera.
Oh and Hudson brought back a special souvenir, his very first tooth!
The next morning when we were brushing our teeth for school he grabbed Audrey's tooth paste and she asked "Mommy, is Huddie going to brush his tooth?"
