remember the alamo {and} the riverwalk

So, everyone "warned" me that the Alamo was tiny, not much to see, blah, blah, blah. But, maybe I've lived in Texas long enough, or maybe I'm geeky enough about history, or maybe I've seen enough "Castles" in Europe to know that nothing is like how Hollywood portrays it....because, I really liked it. Whats not to like? There were a lot of things I didn't know about it either. Like, the Alamo is really a shrine...no photography allowed inside! Which was a bummer, because there are some interesting things inside, which you'll just have to see for your self (which I strongly recommend). But there were also some really interesting things on the outside too...

...Like really cool architecture!

Who'da thunk?

I mean really fabulous stuff here!

I thought it was just all adobe. Ignorant me. The grounds around the Alamo are really beautiful too.

After seeing the Alamo, I really wanted to go see the other Missions in San Antonio...but not with kids. The Alamo didn't hold their interest for very long. And I couldn't stop and read all the signs, markers, and information (yep, I'm a dork).

And check out the view across from the Alamo!

We went to Downtown San Antonio on Friday, which happened to be a BIG day down there. It was the lighting of the Riverwalk and Boat Parade. So, we went early in the morning, as to miss the 100,000 (!) expected tourists. (which, btw...after being down there, where the heck would they fit all those people?!)

After visiting the Alamo we walked a few blocks in the gorgeous weather to the Riverwalk for a River Cruise.

Apparently the walk was too tiring for some. Or could it be that they were just about vacationed out? (Yes, that is really Brynnie all sacked out on my back, not a rag doll.)

But she didn't stay asleep for long...

...and neither did Benson. They both woke up in time to enjoy the River Cruise.

Again, gorgeous weather, gorgeous sights.

We wrapped up our day in Downtown San Antonio with lunch and then headed back to our hotel for a rest. We finished out our vacation with a movie, "A Christmas Carol" (which we were so surprised that it was WAY too scary for our little kids. oOpS!), dinner, and ice cream. Friday night the kids all fell asleep at the hotel as soon as we got back. The next morning, we packed up our SEVEN loads of fun/dirty laundry and headed back to Houston.

It was such a wonderful vacation. The kids were marvelous and we had no major (or even minor) catastrophes. Most of all, they had so much fun, and so did Brandon and I. Yes, traveling with three little kids is VERY hard and VERY stressful. But I think this was the perfect place to start our vacationing adventures. I can't wait to go on another family vacation!

a memorable feast

So we may not have taken the traditional approach to Thanksgiving this year, but we still had a feast....

...including turkey, potatoes and gravy, and "pie" (cheesecake).

All of which Brynnie LOVED! Best of all, we had some special guests...

We ate our dinner 'tankside' (only about 5 feet from the edge of the tank) while three Killer Whales swam, played, and showed off! This was our view from our table!! Doesn't get much cooler!

We even got up close and personal (about 2.5 feet away!) while the whales showed us all their cool tricks and sounds, things that you don't see in the show. The trainers walked around the whole time and we got to ask anything we wanted (like, which one is "Shamu?" um..none. She died about 18 yrs ago. It's just all the whales' 'stage name.')

Benson LOVED it and kept asking to get in the water and play with "Shamu." Then he tried to run around the protective gate to get to them. YIKES!

It might not have been traditional, but it was SO much fun!!

And the food wasn't bad either!

Waving good-bye!

other highlights of Sea World, day #2 *OR* {the best baby ever}

Bailey on a roller coaster

Brynley waiting in the stroller by the roller coaster.

Benson, ME, Bailey riding the ferris wheel.

Benson and a Nascar...he could have inspected it for hours.

Bailey and Benson at the flamingos.

Brynley waiting by the flamingos.

Dad, Benson and Bailey feeding the dolphins.

And Brynley waiting *patiently* in the stroller, again.

Here's a little shout-out to THE BEST BABY, EVER! Brynley has been so good these past two days. She really enjoys just "people watching" from her stroller, and she can see most of the sights from her stroller. Today we brought Bryn her own stroller, and rented one for Bay and Benz to ride in. She deserved to be a little more comfy. This vacation would not have been nearly as fun without such a cooperative and easy going little baby girl. She is such joy to have in our family and brings such a calming spirit to us all. And in this picture, she was really enjoying watching the fish in the floor to ceiling Coral Reef Aquarium. She was quite mesmerized by it. I'm mesmerized by her.

we're going on a trip in our white rocket ship...

We started out on our White Rocket Ship Adventure (like, Little Einsteins, but "mama's car white.") last night and drove to San Antonio. After an 'interesting' nights sleep (a little hard for the kids to settle down, and lots of 'musical beds' through the night) we headed out to Sea World for the day. It was a little chilly when we got there...so much that it 'snowed' on us as we went through the gates. Nice Christmas touch, Sea World!

Even the seals and sea lions were a little chilly, and were sunning themselves. Benson's favorite part was when the "alpha" seal/sea lion? barked at all the others, and they all went jumping off the rocks into the water.

Bailey helped feed the seals some breakfast.

mmm. Nothing like handling dead, frozen fish first thing in the morning.


Benson liked to throw the fish AT the seals. He loved how they reached up and barked/begged for the fish. So much so, that for the rest of the day, he was "Baby Seal" and would bark and beg for me to feed him at meal times.

OoPs! Don't forget about feeding this little baby seal!

Brynnie was so good and so happy just to check out the sights from the stroller.

We all got a good laugh at the Sea Lion Christmas Show. Some of us also froze, and some of us (Brynnie)slept, and some of us snacked during the show.

During the next show, Shamu's Christmas Miracle, somebody else slept.
He woke up just in time to catch a little bit of Shamu, and to now nickname me, "Shamu." Nice.

A little lunch, and then a little souvenir shopping, and then some more sights

What a cute little sight!

Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales

And Christmas at the Coral Reef/Shark Exhibit.

We even got to see Santa snorkel in this exhibit! By now, everyone was near meltdown. So we headed back to the hotel. But not before stopping at El Taco Tote (just for Uncle Dan and the Ralstons). More fun waiting for us tomorrow...if only we can get them all to go to sleep...

take a good, long look

Take a good, long look at these pictures, because they are the last 'family' portraits for a long time. It was an absolute disaster, and only got the kids to cooperate for SIX, yes SIX, pictures (usually we get about 15-20 from JCP). Luckily, two turned out really cute. Not the best, but cute.

The rest were like this. It made deciding really fast and easy, though.

handsome boy

It's been forever, but Benson was finally well, and cooperative, so I took him to get his pictures done.

He was pretty good, and we got a good selection of pictures!

creepy crawler

ooh, she's cute...but now she's creepin' and crawlin'!! Watch out!!

(She started crawling about two weeks ago, but all the videos I took with my 'new' camera were too big, so I had to break out the oldie to get some smaller videos.)This is most surprising for Benson, as she now can more easily and quickly get into his stuff. Lucky for him, Brynnie's crawling is still pretty slow and deliberate.

So, when I was filming this video, Benson was looking over my shoulder watching through the camera screen. He thought that he was watching a 'funny' video from once-upon-a-time of Bryn getting into his cars...until he looked up and realized it was a LIVE. uh-oh. All done filming...must run interference.

Yesterday was a sad day for ALL of US....it was the return of the dreaded baby gates. ugh. It's been a blissful 8 months without them. I have a love/hate relationship with the gates. I love them for keeping the baby contained, safe, and out of trouble. But I hate how it turns my house into an obstacle course. I'm not the only one that dislikes them. Benson was quite mad about the gate interfering with his running and playing in our hall. Brynnie still doesn't understand and is mad about it. All the gate headbutting she can muster, and she still can't go through?! It's a cruel trick.