Our Texas Two-Step

When we asked the kids where they wanted to go for Spring Break, Lexie said she wanted to go to a hotel with an indoor swimming pool and Joseph said he wanted to go to Sea World. So we decided it would be easy enough to accommodate both desires and also get to visit some family by going to Texas. On our way to San Antonio, we had a layover in Houston where the kids thought this model of the Space Shuttle was pretty cool.

Once we arrived in San Antonio, we quickly checked into our hotel, changed clothes, and headed to Sea World. We hadn't been there long before we ran into some friends from home (the Mortensen's) - that was fun to see familiar faces while visiting another state.

Lexie loved the smaller roller coaster, but Joseph and Andrew were terrified on it and wouldn't go a second time.

Andrew saw this little bench with pillows on it in the hotel room and thought it was a fantastic place to sleep. Too bad his parents thought that was too precarious of a place for a two year old to sleep on.

The next day we spent the morning swimming at the hotel pool before celebrating Joseph's birthday just the way he wanted - by going back to Sea World. Even though he didn't care for the rides, this little boy sure loved the shows and he can never get enough dolphins! Getting to feed the dolphins was one of the highlights for the kids.

The kids also couldn't wait to play in the water park area. That was nice to sit down and rest for a bit while the kids had a blast getting wet.

By the time we were headed back to the hotel, we were pretty beat. Somehow Lexie and Joseph found enough energy to pose for a picture with birthday balloons and a cupcake before going to bed.

A fun birthday surprise for Joseph was that he got a brand new cousin! Rick's brother's wife had their baby a little earlier than expected, and Joseph thought it was so cool that he would get to share his birthday with one of his cousins. The following day we drove down to Houston to spend Easter weekend with family. We went straight to the hospital to see baby Serenity (OK, I guess we also were going to see her parents, too). I'm so glad our kids love babies and are so sweet and gentle with them, it's really cute!

After the hospital we went to Cheryl's brother's house where we stayed for the weekend. It was great for the kids to have cousins to play with, and Lexie especially loved getting to spend time with four other little girls. She really loves her brothers, but she really wants a sister!

On Monday morning we stopped by Johnson Space Center to check out Rocket Park. They have an Apollo rocket there that is very impressive. Rick's brother stopped by with his family, so we had the chance to have our questions answered by a real rocket scientist. Although the kids thought the rocket was cool, mostly they just liked running around with cousins and picking bouquets of wild flowers outside the warehouse.

After lunch at Mom Alone (great authentic Mexican food with AMAZING fish tacos), we took the kids to Challenger Park for some space entertainment that they would appreciate a little more - a really big playground.

On our final day we drove back to San Antonio. Our first stop was at the Alamo. It was neat to learn more of the historical implications of what happened there, and Andrew seemed to enjoy the pictures quite a bit.

Next we spent some time on the Riverwalk. It is a fun atmosphere, but would have been more enjoyable with bigger kids and smaller crowds (lots of people because of the women's NCAA championship basketball game that night in San Antonio). We would also recommend avoiding the Panini shop on the Riverwalk (not only did we have to wait over 20 minutes for cold and overpriced Paninis, but they tasted bad, too).

Our final stop before flying home was visiting the San Antonio temple. It's always impressive to see how beautifully the temples are made and maintained. The stained glass on this temple was absolutely gorgeous. We're glad we had time to stop and see it.