On Saturday we met my dad at the Alamo for our own private tour. I think Emma, who had recently been studying about the Alamo in school, was impressed with how much my dad knew about the dates and people in the books she'd been reading.
Being a spring break weekend in TX, the Alamo was packed! But we toured the grounds, hearing all about the history of the area. I think it was more interesting for the grown ups than the kids, but that's ok--it doesn't always have to be all about the kids.
After the Alamo, we walked across the street to the Fire Station Museum. The kids definitely found that more interesting, especially since they could climb around on a fire truck and sound the bells and sirens.
The station even had one of the old bucket and ladder trucks that would have been pulled by horses. Imagine trying to put out fires with buckets of water! I thought it was fascinating to look at pictures from the 1860's fire departments (including pictures of the "bucket brigade" trucks!).
Saturday night we took the bus out to my dad and Lisa's house for dinner. The kids wanted very badly to see their cats, but the kitties were too shy and spent the evening hiding in the bedroom. We enjoyed having dinner out on the patio--what a treat for March!
After dinner, my dad showed the girls books of the cartoon strips he used to draw, and Josiah ran around the back yard playing hide-and-seek behind bushes and cacti.
Sunday was a pretty laid back day. We walked around downtown, finishing up our souvenir shopping. In the afternoon, the boys napped, while the girls did some laundry and watched HGTV in the hotel lobby. (It's a good thing HGTV is a cable channel, and that we don't have cable here at home! I'd never get anything done!)
While in the lobby, we noticed a St. Patrick's day parade lining up along the River Walk. The city dyed the river green for the holiday, and the girls watched the different boats float down the river in turn.
In the late afternoon we walked over to El Mercado, but quickly found it to be overflowing with people who were there for a big music festival. So rather than spend too much time lost in a big crowd, we let the kids play on the playground across the street.
Eventually, we made our way back to the River Walk, where we met my dad and Lisa for dinner at the Iron Cactus. They had fantastic food and I would eat there again!
Monday, our last full day, we took the bus to the zoo. My dad had to work, but we met up with his wife, Lisa, and another friend and her kids who used to live here in Iowa.
The week before had been spring break and we had heard horror stories about how crowded the zoo had been. Expecting it to still be busy, we got there shortly after it opened, hoping to avoid the worst of the crowd. But the huge crowds never came! For the first hour and a half, it felt like we had the entire zoo all to ourselves!
Josiah told us before we left for TX that he was hoping/expecting to see unicorns and saber-tooth tigers. Of course, we didn't see any of those, but we did see lots other animals--including some baboons shamelessly sunning themselves, and a shy elephant that kept trying to hide behind a pole.
That night we had dinner at our hotel again with my dad and Lisa. Then we headed upstairs for a final packing and a short night of sleep!
Tuesday morning we awoke very early, had breakfast and headed to the lobby to meet our cab. Only our cab never showed! Lesson learned--always book two cabbies if you need to be at the airport on time! Whichever one shows up first can have your business! It was a frustrating start to our day, but we did eventually make it to the airport in time for our flight.
Our first flight into Dallas was SO bumpy. Ashlyn almost got air sick, and I kept thinking those oxygen masks were going to drop down at any minute. It was awful! The second flight to Kansas City wasn't as bad, but none of us were too excited about getting on the second flight after the way the first one had ended. Still, we made it to KC in one piece, and drove back to IA in time for dinner.
Most of the snow had melted back here, which was a welcome sight! And as much as the kids said they wanted to stay in Texas, it was easy to see they were happy to be back home again. It's always nice to come to your own bed (and toys) after a week away. : )
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