SPRINB BREAK 2008!!

There's a quote, and it says "A vacation is like love--anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia." I must say that is the truth. We couldn't wait for J.B. and Simone to come down with their kids. We had anticipated this week (9 days) with excitement for a long time. Remember this throughout reading this and looking at the slideshow: family of 6 plus family of 6, equals 12 people.
The first couple of days we just hung out. The kids played outside, watched movies, just had a good time getting re-aquainted. The grown-ups fixed food and cleaned up after fixing food and got ready for our time in San Antonio.
Monday, we loaded up the cars, children devided up equally, according to noisey-ness levels, and headed to San Antonio. We checked into our hotel (which was perfect for both of our families) and headed downtown. We walked the River Walk--a very happening place--and, very appropriately, sat down for some Mexican food. The kids loved the Mariachi band that came to our table and sang the I, yi, yi, yi song (Cielito Lindo). The first day went off without a hitch.
Day 2--our plans were to go to Sea World, BUT it was forecast to rain all day. So, we could do what everybody else was going to do, like go to the caverns or a museum or we could take a chance and do Sea World. So, we decided to go see the dolphins. Best decision we made all vacation. There were no lines for rides, no lines for food, and we got great seats at every show. The first show we saw was Viva. It was fantastic. (Accept the part when we left Maggie to fend for herself in the crowd--Each adult thought another had her. She was just wondering` around. It was scary for about 1 minute, then we found her.) It was a dolphin show meets Cirque De Sole "O". We also saw the Shamu show-called Believe. It was a hit with everyone..almost. The babies, for some reason, did not like the shows at all. Both of them cried when they saw the dolphins or whales. We thought they'd love it, but we had to take them out. Maybe next time.
GREYSON RODE A ROLLER COASTER!! Anybody that knows Grey, knows what a big deal that is. He's 14 years old--never rode one--never will. All we can say is peer pressure. Madison somehow talked him into it. It wasn't a little one either--legs dangled, cork-screws and loops. He loved it! Now I have 2 roller-coaster riders.
Weird side-note to the day. Toward the end of the day, it did start to rain--mud. I'm not kidding. There was a wind and sand storm in New Mexico. The sky picked it up and brought it to Texas. Our cars were red with dirt. It was disgusting.
Day 3--Sea World again. This was the day that everybody that was supposed to go the day before plus the people that were going today anyway, all showed up. Long lines every where. The food lines were 2 hours long. So we had ice cream for lunch. You couldn't even walk without being in a crowd. Too many people--we didn't last very long that day.
All in all though, Sea World was a hit. We had a very fun time.
Day 4-Downtown again to the Alamo. The line to get into the front of the Alamo was very long also. So, I went to the visitors center and asked if there was any way around that line--8 children...in line...for 2 hours...not good. She told us to go into the court yard and go in the back, hence the picture of the doors with the NO ENTRANCE signs. We did what she said. A couple of people let us know (not very nicely) that we were going in the wrong way and the line was at the front--but--we got to see the Alamo. Luckily we had Caden with us. They had just studied the Alamo in class, so he brought everybody up on all the details. Very cool place. Remember the Alamo!
We left downtown and went to Natural Bridge Caverns. What a cool and amazing place. Every one needs to see something like this before they die. In the caves, and "rooms" it was beautiful! Thousands of years it has taken to form these rooms and their decor. Stalagtites and stalagmites meet to make beautiful formations that sparkle and are still forming. Very Very humid, and a steep climb, but worth every step.
The rest of the day was spent in New Braunfels, where J.B. and I grew up. We went to Landa Park and played. Then went to the Gristmill in Gruene to eat. Great views of the Guadalupe River and great food. It was fun to reminisce in our old stomping grounds.
Then it was home for us--reluctantly and joyfully at the same time.
The trip was a little stressful with that many people and most of those people are kids. Over all, we had a great time together and can't wait to do something like this again.
Now--I know this is a long post and a very long slideshow, but it's fun to see what we did on our vacation. Have fun with it, and if you have to, you can start the music over again. Sing it!! I, yi, yi, yi!