The Srader Family: San Antonio

   This past weekend, Nick had to take a trip to San Antonio for a home show, and JR was nice enough to let us go with him!! We had so much fun!! We left Friday morning and made it to San Antonio around lunchtime. We stayed downtown in a 2 bedroom suite. The hotel was a 3 minute walk to the Alamodome where Nick was working. We ate lunch at a (cheap and yucky) mexican food place right by the hotel, then Nick headed off to work while the boys took a nap. When they woke up, we went to the Alamodome to visit Nick. We then walked downtown to the RiverCenter mall. We walked around and played for a while and Nick joined us when he got off work. We ate dinner in the food court and then did some sightseeing downtown. Rylan loved seeing the decorated horse drawn carriages around the Alamo. He kept asking for "more horses." We had some ice cream, walked around some more and then called it a night.
   On Saturday, we ate breakfast in the room before Nick had to head to work. Then, the boys and I went to the Children's Museum in downtown. Rylan loved it. His favorite thing was an area that had lots of ball chutes. He loved putting the balls in the chute and watching them travel to a basket in the air. Every so often, the basket would open and dump the balls. We then headed to the RiverCenter mall again for lunch. It was ridiculously crowded and I instantly started praying because I didn't know how I was going to find a table, where I could park the stroller, and get a highchair, while carrying a tray of food. Well, we got our food in a box (yeah) and then headed to find a table. We were able to find a table, off to the side, where I could park the stroller, that already had a high chair!! God is good!! I love that He cares about those little details!! After lunch, we headed back to the home show to see Nick before naptime. After naptime, Nick took a break so we could all go down to the river walk and ride a Rio Taxi. It was kind of crowded, so Nick was gone longer than he wanted, but we had so much fun!! Afterwards, the boys and I waited for Nick to finish work and then we ate dinner at the cheap Mexincan food place again before heading to bed!!
   Sunday morning, Nick helped us get all packed up and checked out of the hotel. He headed to work and the boys and I headed for the zoo. This was the most challenging outing that I tackled alone, but it was still fun!! When we got there, we saw a few animals, and after each one, Rylan would say, "Uh uh," and then do his sign for elephant. So,we skipped everything else and headed for the elephants. When we got there, Rylan was excited, but then he started asking to see a "baby elephant." Sorry, son...no baby elephants this time!! :) While looking at the elephants, I realized that a bird had pooped on Ransom. NICE!! We grabbed some lunch, hung out at the aquariums, and then walked around a little more before heading to the train. The train was a fun little 20 minute trip around the area. There was a 9 month old girl sitting behind us and she and Rylan just laughed and laughed at each other!
   It was 90 degrees, and crowded, and kinda hard to maneuver the stroller around, and find places to sit and eat and such, so we only stayed about 3 hours before heading home. The boys and I drove home by ourselves and it went just fine!! We stopped at a Wendy's in Temple, which didn't have a changing table. Annoying!! And Rylan poured salt all over the table while I was grabbing utensils and such. And he also was covered in Frosty by the time we left...but vacations are supposed to be all about messes and ice cream, right??
   It really was a great trip!! I hope that we are able to join Nick for a business trip again soon!!