Ever since I was about seven years old (maybe younger) I've heard Jenna speak of the wonderful family vacations they would take to San Antonio. Jenna would tell me about staying in the Marriot hotel, the riverwalk, Dirty Nellies, La Valita, and many more San Antonio-isms I was unfamiliar with. Austin and I decided to take a vacation this summer, and thought San Antonio would be a good choice. So, we crashed the Williams family vacation! And, oh, boy. What a vacation, too. These people have this trip down to the science. It was fun to go and be a part of the many year traditions. This was such an eventful trip, that the 500+ pictures I took, are going to have to down as Part 1 and Part 2 in blog form. There was just too many things to talk about in one post! So, here is Part 1 of the San Antonio Trip 2011.
The trip kicks-off at George's Bar and Restaurant in Waco. I've heard of George's (hence all the Pat Green songs), but never actually been there myself. It's a neat place!
AB didn't enjoy it so much at first...the tables were a little high for her highchair. We were cracking up!
I couldn't pass up the famous, "Big O" beer...couldn't finish it, but at least I had the experience. Jenna helped a little!
After George's, we parted ways for the day/night. The Williams went on to Lindy's in Roundrock to stay the night there. We headed to Great Gran's. We dropped Nana off and spent the night there. I LOVE it at Gran's. I think AB did, too. She loved the backyard (not too fond of the pool), and Gran's statue of Bob. This was fascinating to her.
We hugged Gran and Nana, "bye-bye" and headed off for San Antone!
We stayed at the "historic" Menger hotel. Seriously, a ton of history there. It's a very old hotel and fascinating stories to go with it. We had one of the older rooms, but I really liked it because we had a view of the Alamo. AB was crazy about the window and the view. I think she could've spent the whole vacation just staring out that window.
After we settled in, we headed down to Jenna and Dean's room before going to the pool. They had joining rooms with Jeannie, Larry, Erica and Christian that overlooked the pool. So much fun! Drake and AB enjoyed the view!
Pool time! AB wasn't too sure about it at first. Daddy had to coax her into getting in, but as soon as she did she enjoyed it. She thought it was really fun when Daddy busted out the water guns.
It was rather exhausting chasing a one and two year old around a pool. You can't just let them run off...there's open water there! So, Dean (and his engineering self) set up a play pen, of sorts, out of chairs to keep the kids contained.
After the pool, we got dressed for dinner that night, and ready to hit up the town. The Menger is a perfect place to stay because it's in the middle of everything! We were in walking distance of the riverwalk, so we put the kids in the strollers and headed that way. Unfortunately, the riverwalk has stairs, so the daddies ended up carrying the strollers up and down the stairs, but hey, the kids didn't mind.
Some of my favorite pictures were of Jenna and AB together! LOVE it!
When we finally found a place that could seat 20 people, we were all settled and had a fun night of eating Mexican food on the riverwalk.
AB and "Uncle" Wayne have such a sweet little friendship.
Almost as soon as we sat down, Drake had to go into "time out." Cracked me up!
Austin got an idea to buy all the guys (including Larry) a shot. If you don't know Larry - he's a beer man. He thought about it. Hard. But decided to pass it up. It was passed on down to his brother, Terry.
Who had no problems taking it.
Later on back at the hotel, we bathed the kids, put them in the pack and play and let them wind down. We tried to let them sleep together, but Drake kept stepping on AB's head...lol. We brought AB down to their room in her pack and play (it wasn't a real short trek, either). So, while we hung out on the balcony, the kids slept. It was so sweet.
When it was finally time to go to bed, Dean and Austin kept AB asleep and carried the princess in her chariot back to our room. Seriously, she stayed asleep the whole time. Thank goodness for loving daddies.
Stay tuned for part 2...the rest of the trip! Lots more fun to come!
