We packed up Nate's little Corolla and headed out Saturday after gymnastics. We made a stop for lunch in Waco where Callie kept tapping the shoulder of the man sitting in the booth behind her. By the time we got to our first stop in Austin I was done listening to frozen and the girls were ready to be out of the car.
Our plan was to do dinner in Austin so I found this place called Kiddie Acres to kill the afternoon. It was awesome! Some redneck farmer had taken part of his land and filled it with a train, mini golf and fair rides for small kids. The girls were in heaven and I felt right at home. They were so cute running from ride to ride because they couldn't wait to try the next one. We discovered that Kenna loves mini golf and followed all the rules to play a game with Nate while Callie just picked her ball up and threw it. The highlights were the little ferris wheel and at the airplanes that flew in circles. Both girls decided to skip the pony rides so they could ride those rides twice. The second time around the girl working at the the ferris wheel was nice enough to put Callie in the purple box, per her request.
I thought Dallas was hot but as it turns out Austin is hotter. And San Antonio is hotter still. Nate and I decided that any future trips to those areas would have to be before summer because it was only 90 degrees but I think we all still drank a gallon of water each after Kiddie Acres.
Next we headed to the capitol building for 'hello bright fireflies.' Of course since it wasn't dark we didn't see the fireflies but we did see the capitol and got to teach Kenna a little bit about how government works. Basically we told her the president of Texas lives in that building and that was all she was interested in knowing. The capitol building has a huge dome in it and you can go up four floors to look down in to the middle of the dome, which Kenna wanted to do. The girls decided this stop was a little too educational so they enjoyed taking turns pushing each other around in the stroller and tipping it over.
We couldn't stop in Austin without hitting the food trucks so that's where we went for dinner. We got this delicious deep fried ham and cheese sandwich with some cherry dipping sauce and homemade chips. Kenna couldn't figure out the sandwich so we told her it was a donut sandwich, which it basically was. They were delicious and I've been wanting on every since we got back. Before heading to see the bats we stopped at another food truck to get snow cones. We got the girls vanilla and cotton candy but since vanilla flavor was brown they kept asking for the 'chocolate' bites, which were their favorite.
We got to the bridge way too early and that was definitely the most stressful part of the trip. It was a sidewalk with a major road on one side and the water on the other side. The railing keeping Callie away from the water was big enough for her to easily pull herself through (yes she tried it) and ended in a 3 story drop to the river. We had to keep a hand on her the entire time. It was early in the year for the bats so they were later coming out and when they did come out it wasn't in a hug swarm, but in little groups that darted out and back under the bridge. Callie was so tired by that point that she didn't care at all. It was dark and the bats were so fast that I'm positive she didn't see them. Kenna was also very tired but thought the bats were really cool. They were too fast and she wanted a closer look at them. I'm glad she got to see her 'hello dark bats.'
Since we were going to San Antonio the next day we drove half way there that night to stay at a hotel in New Braunfels, Texas. The girls managed to stay awake in the car long enough to have a heated argument over who got to sleep in the bed with mom at the hotel before falling dead asleep. They barely woke up as we carried them to their bed and immediately fell back asleep.
The girls though the continental breakfast in the hotel was the awesome and really enjoyed selecting their breakfast. Then we headed to San Antonio. San Antonio is a really cool city with lots of character. I can imagine it'd be a fun place for a longer visit. Our first stop was 'hello loud cannons' at the Alamo. It was much bigger than I expected based on the black and white Davy Crocket movie I saw where he fought in the Alamo. We also learned why the Alamo was important, which I did not know and which I'm sure Kenna has now forgotten. Kenna like the koi fish in the stream in the fort and Callie chased a squirrel. Sometimes I wonder why we try. But Nate and I enjoyed the visit. The fort had been landscaped and had beautiful gardens and massive trees throughout.
We walked the 100 yard over to the riverwalk where we took a boat tour of 'hello quiet river'. The river was incredible. You walked down stairs to get to the river walk and it was like a whole different city under San Antonio. It was full of trees, flowers and shade. Shops, vendors and restaurants and these darling little bridges that crossed the river at intervals. The boat tour was pretty cool and a good, quick way to see the river with kids. During the ride Kenna saw a vendor that was selling little fans. She decided that was the souvenir she wanted and as soon as we got off the boat made a b-line for the vendor which she was miraculously able to find. After some hamburgers both girls went home exhausted and happy.
We decided to skip naps and go for early bedtime. So we went swimming when we got back to the hotel. Callie has absolutely no fear of the water. When we told her to swim to us she just dove her little face right in and kick around until one of us pulled her out of the water. We had a good time for about an hour until Callie got too much water in her stomach and threw up her lunch in the pool. She couldn't figure out what happened and several days later was still asking, "Why daddy make me (insert gagging noise and face here)?"
We gave the girls a bath then headed out to explore New Braunfels. After half and afternoon there I decided it might be the coolest place I've ever been. We went to this huge park with playgrounds, a doggie swimming area, a train, a lake and tons of other stuff. We took a train ride and Kenna saw sergeant quackersons ( the duck she loved who used to live in our pond). She was very excited to solve the mystery of what happened to the duck she loved like a pet. We paddle boated around the lake and fed some ducks then let the girls play at the playground.
They were both exhausted by this point and we carried them to the car to go get pizza and ice-cream. They were both in bed at 6 o'clock that night and asleep not long after. We thought we'd get and early start the next morning but Callie slept till 8.
We wanted to break up the drive home so we stopped for donuts at this popular place north of Austin called round rock donuts. It did not disappoint. Although Callie saw a cupcake with and Anna ring in it and insisted on getting that instead. Then we headed a bit out of the way to stop by this drive though wildlife safari that Cyle and Athena had taken us to way back when they lived in Killeen. Nate was building up the anticipation for this stop the whole trip and it did not disappoint.
Right out of the car we saw two peacocks walking around with the feathers spread out. Nate got to be swarmed by a heard of goats while the girls laughed and laughed at how they followed him around.
We piled in the car to do the driving portion and they girls loved it. Kenna kept telling Nate to stop because he'd missed some of the hundred animals and we needed to feed them all. My favorite were the zebras which got up close and personal. They put their heads right in our car and didn't care at all if we pet them.
Kenna's favorite were the ostriches. They were freaky. They have these beady little eyes and just pecked all over the car whether there was food or not. Nate and I kept screaming and Kenna was crying with laughter as we tried to feed them and keep the windows rolled up so they wouldn't peck us! Callie giggled in the back seat but didn't quite get what was so funny. We ended the drive through with some kind of animal grabbing the entire bag of food from Kenna's hand and eating it, paper and all. She kept yelling to Nate to get it back. That didn't happen. It was a great end to a great trip. The girls had a blast and now Callie keeps asking when we're going back to our hotel. In fact the first night home she cried saying she wanted to go sleep at her hotel bed.
After Callie got bored of feeding the animals she decided to start cleaning them.
Since it's been a while since my last post I thought I'd give a few updates. Callie is growing like a weed. Nate and I wonder every time the girls squabble how long it will be before Callie can beat Kenna in a wrestling match. Probably not long. She's developing quite little personality too. She recently got her very own, brand new, pair of blue natives (shoe brand) and has been so obsessed with them she needs them to be in her room when she goes to sleep. I guess I should buy the poor kid a few more clothes and shoes of her own.
We potty trained her which went pretty well. She started putting her hand down her diaper and peeing on it every time she had to go so we had to put a stop to that. She loves wearing big girl undies and manages not to have too many accidents.
Here she is sporting her big girl undies and cowgirl boots to gymnastics. I'm the only person in Frisco who who is redneck enough to take my kids out like this.
She's also really into dressing up these days and accessorizes herself when we go out. This usually includes sunglasses, purses and pretend phones. Sometimes keys.
Kenna has learned a ton in school. She's recently started reading for fun! She's getting pretty good. She loves to learn about George Washington and will sit in her bed and night and read her books about him and about animals. Her writing is getting better and she and her friends at school write notes to each other. She writes notes to Nate and I and leaves them on the table by our bed. It is really sweet.
She also lost her first tooth! It was pretty loose and we were over at some friends' house. Adam the dad told her he could just pinch it and make it come out, which he did. There was some blood, but no tears and she was so excited to put the tooth in her treasure chest and wait for the tooth fairy.
She had her first experience with field day. They go all out here. No three legged races or potato sac races. They use blow up toys.
Her teacher, who I love, was so nice and emailed me pictures of Kenna at field day. She commented in the email to me that she was laughing at how cute some of the faces Kenna was making were. I told her you can always count on Kenna to make a good face.
Nate had is first campout in the backyard with the girls, we've eaten the first strawberries off our bushes and their have been lots of days with scooter rides a swinging. It's a good start to summer.
