The First of Many

With another deployment looming, Kurtis and I decided the kids were getting old enough that we needed to go on a real family vacation. I'm talking an honest to goodness family vacation that didn't consist of visiting either his family or mine(no offense families). We chose San Antonio for several reasons. 1 - It is close(only 2 1/2 hours) 2 - It is a big city with a lot of things to do including Sea World and Six Flags and 3 -Everyone we've talked with, since moving to Texas last year, loves it there.
After visiting and seeing it for ourselves...We must agree. We love San Antonio. It had everything we wanted and then some.
We started out our fun family vacation at Sea World. It hadn't rained in San Antonio for months, so of course, the day we decided to be outside for 12 hours the weather decided to change. Boy, did it rain. I thought for sure we were going to have to leave but thankfully it subsided and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It dropped the temperature and made the heat bearable. The day was back on track. Or so I thought. It seems like no trip to a large amusement park, would be complete...at least in my family...without someone getting lost. Yes that's right, we lost Carter at Sea World. Thankfully, he didn't get very far before a very nice couple led him to guest services where he stood brave and stoic until I found him a short time later. When he saw me, his bravery gave way and he burst into tears. I know from personal experience that Carter will never ever forget this day.

(This is a special message for my Dad: Does this scenario sound familiar? This part of my childhood has come full circle. I now know the sheer panic and finally the overwhelming joy you must have felt all those years ago. I want to say thanks, I love you, and I will never ever forget that day at Disneyland and the Peter Pan ride afterwards.)

After that traumatic experience, though, it was pretty much smooth sailing. There was so much to do, in fact, we were non-stop from early morning til almost midnight. We visited the Alamo(but I'm not sure we will always remember it because they wouldn't let you take pictures inside the actual building because it is considered a patriotic shrine). My personal favorite was walking the store/restaurant/hotel-lined Paseo del Rio (translation - Walk of the River or Riverwalk). It is beautiful. Our hotel was actually right on the Riverwalk where we could walk out of the lobby right onto it. We went to the zoo, saw a movie (because it rained and we didn't want to get wet watching fireworks), bought souvenirs, and did the many other tourist activities we were looking for.
It was a great first family vacation. One that we won't soon forget, which is a good thing because we don't know when our next one will be.