ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

So we had a 3 day weekend this weekend and decided to head to San Antonio and stay w/Andy's cousin, Shelly, her husband, Phil, and their daughter Caitlin. We took off on Friday morning and chose a smaller highway rather than I-35 because we wanted a more scenic route and we weren't in a hurry. So we're headed off to San Antonio and decide that the small town of Hamilton, TX, would be a place that might have a restaurant or something where we could eat lunch. They had a town square but oddly enough, they didn't have any restaurants on the square that we saw. We headed back to the highway to find the next place we could eat and quickly came upon a Dairy Queen. I tell you all of this because oddly enough, while we were eating, I kept seeing this couple walk past our table and couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I knew the lady...


I told Andy that I thought she worked in the office at the junior high we attended (600 miles north of Hamilton, TX, mind you). I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't ask so I did and it turns out that she was our junior high librarian, Mrs. Schultz! We talked with Mr. and Mrs. Schultz for about 30 or 40 minutes about Tonganoxie, KS, (they live around the corner from Andy's mom in fact) and about how odd it was to run into them in this tiny Texas town, 9 hours from where we knew each other. Very strange to run into them but they are a sweet couple and it's a fun story to tell now!

This is the second time we've taken this highway to San Antonio and both times, cars used the shoulder as a lane which is so weird as we haven't seen this happen anywhere else.

You can see the car on the shoulder ahead of us in this pic...


Oh, how I want to go to Schlitterbahn....this sign was there for torture I think.


So we head off to San Antonio and get there much faster than we had thought we would. Shelly made delicious spaghetti sauce and we ate spaghetti for dinner followed by fabulous Ghirardelli brownies...yummmmmmmmm. We ended the night with a couple of games of Scrabble and then prepared for our day at Sea World.

Entrance to Sea World...




The first thing we did was a show called Viva! which is very theatrical and involves dolphins and other creatures. It's kind of Cirque du Soleil-ish and was a favorite for all of us.



Then it was off to the sea lion show which happens to be Andy's favorite...

This girl was the pre-show and I only include the pic because Blake loved her so much. He asked if we were going to see her again after this show. She's in the middle in the newsboy cap.


Pics from the actual show....






Then to the incredibly cheesy ski show which we left early to try to go to the Shamu show...



Our first attempt at attending a Shamu show. We arrived 15 minutes early and there weren't any seats available so we stood and saw part of the show. We decided to try again later to get a better view. I did manage to get a few pics from this first show though...



Then it was off the penguins which you view from a very slow moving sidewalk. Our first time through was good and we saw lots of penguins moving and swimming. Once we got through, we realized that it was feeding time so we quickly went through again to watch the feeding frenzy.







Then we were off to a 4-D show which is a 3-D show where they squirt water at you, make things move under your feet, shoot air, etc. Blake HATES these types of shows so he hid under a towel the whole time. It was pretty good but just a tad scary for little ones.

We were ravenously hungry and headed off to get some BBQ for dinner which was really yummy. Andy, me and the kids left to grab seats for the next Shamu show and we arrived 20 minutes early and there were no seats so we decided to come back later. Since we had some time, we headed out to the raft ride which everybody but Shelly and Blake did. We got SOAKED but it was fun.

So we finally head out to grab some frozen lemonades and popcorn and grab a seat at the final Shamu show 45 minutes early. We had perfect seats and it was a great show.
Payton and Caitlin before the show...











There were FIVE whales out for the show and multiple whales would be jumping at any given time and it was a very involved show. Sadly, my camera takes 5 seconds to take a picture using the flash so I got NONE of the jumps. :(

So that was a great way to end our day at Sea World and we had a whole day ahead of us on Sunday to do the Riverwalk, Alamo, eat at Alamo Cafe (Andy's favorite) and then drive home.

So Sunday we headed downtown for the Riverwalk. I have been to the Riverwalk in December before but I don't remember it being so lovely. It was positively beautiful and very European feeling. We started off with a boat ride that lasted for at least 15 or 20 minutes and was well worth whatever it cost as we go to see so much. Some pics...

Kids waiting for our boat...


Girls on the boat....








Then I wanted to sit down for a snack and listen to some music and just people watch for awhile.



Then off to the Alamo to help Payton get her history fix. Can't take pics inside so here's some outside shots.



Throwing nuts toward the squirrel to help him out...





On the walk back to the car, we walked through the Hyatt which has lots of great waterfalls and water features.




Then we were back out to the Riverwalk and had some photo ops...


Our only attempt at a family photo and Blake didn't want to cooperate...


Shelly, Caitlin and Phil




Self-portrait by Blake...




We made it to our car and drove to the Alamo Cafe for dinner. Then it was back to the house to pack up and stall a little bit until it was Blake's bedtime.

Kids killing time until we leave...


We got home in less than 4 hours and had an uneventful drive on the way back. It was a great trip and we hope to go back soon!