Texas Trip--Days 1 & 2

We got back on Saturday from a trip to the great state of Texas, where we visited 4 cities in 7 days! We packed our days full of exploring and had the best time seeing some new places! 

We flew out of Huntsville on Saturday afternoon, and learned early on that it was going to be a challenge to keep Henry still. 😜

In the air!

 

Things started really well and I was confident and optimistic that Henry would quietly watch his movie for the full 2 hour flight...WRONG! This lasted for maybe 8 minutes and then he just wanted down. It was a constant battle to keep him from standing on his seat, pushing on the seat in front of us, trying to walk in the aisle, and all out screaming on the plane, and I think it left me with a stress ulcer. 😜😂 We hadn't booked Henry his own seat, but there was an empty seat across the aisle, so Caleb was able to move over and give us a little more space, which was definitely a blessing.

We were in survival mode, and Henry (and Bert!) ate almost an entire bag of Goldfish. Haha!

We landed in Houston and had an almost 3 hour layover, most of which was spent keeping Henry out of trouble. We had a short 45 minute flight to San Antonio where we had to share the row with a very unfriendly stranger and a toddler on our laps. 😬 We survived, but suffice it to say that we're not eager to do it again anytime soon! We landed in San Antonio where we met our friend Shelby, who would be joining us for the next 3 days. We picked up our luggage and rental car, and headed to our hotel on the Riverwalk. Shelby and Caleb left to find a grocery store where we could get a few things for breakfast the next day while I got Henry bathed and ready for bed. He refused to lay in the pack n' play we had for him, and it was at this point that I began to question everything; what are we doing here? can we go home?? WHY DID WE BRING HENRY?!? He ended up sleeping in our bed every night of the trip, but at least he slept! After a loooooong day of traveling, we were all ready for bed!

Thankfully, God's mercies are new every morning, and my outlook on life was much brighter when I woke up. 😂 We got ready to head to the San Antonio Zoo where we had a BLAST!! Caleb and I agreed that this was the best zoo we've been to. We absolutely loved it! It was SO clean, the exhibits were beautiful, and there were so many fun things to do and see! Sidenote: I have sat my butt on a public toilet seat 3 times in my adult life, and all of those times were in San Antonio, the first being at the zoo. Keep up the good work with your toilets, San Antonio.

Here's the three Horton's...

...plus Shelby! 

Henry was not interested in a picture, just in feeding in the fish!

They had an awesome hippo exhibit where you could watch them in the water through the glass tank. This big guy is a two year old male who is housed with his grandma. How sweet is that! 😂 The water is filled with native African fish who eat the hippo's poop, as well as help keep them clean by nibbling stuff off their bodies. Kinda gross, but also super cool! 

After we left this exhibit, I experienced one of the funniest moments OF MY LIFE!! We had been in another area where they had a bunch of trees with birds flying around, and Shelby mentioned how scared she is of birds. She was really nervous standing in an open enclosure with them, and told us that one time a bird pooped on her while she was walking to work. We joked about Shelby and the birds throughout the morning, and had a jolly ol' time teasing her. Well when we walked out of the hippo exhibit, there were big birds in the trees overhead, even walking on the ground, and I kid you not, Shelby had hardly taken 4 or 5 steps when all of a sudden she stopped dead in her tracks and yelled "AHHH!! I just got pooped on!!!" She turned around and there was a big pile of orange, chunky bird poop on her shirt, as well as on her forehead and right smack dab in the middle of her head. She was trying not to have a panic attack, and I COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING. Like, tears pouring down my face, belly aching laughter. She started laughing too, mostly to keep from crying, and I used baby wipes to help clean her up. It was a traumatizing experience for her, but I sure did get a kick out of it! I think I'll be laughing about this for years to come. Thanks for still being my friend, Shelby, even when I laugh hysterically at your misfortune. 😊

We ate a really yummy lunch at the zoo, and then headed for Henry's favorite part; the train ride! Look at that excited face! This boys LOVES trains!

I'm probably still laughing about the bird poop. HAHAHA!

The train ride lasted about 35 minutes and didn't actually go through the zoo, but around Brackenridge Park where the zoo is located. The conductor pointed out different places along the way and told us a little about the area. It was super fun!

We headed back to our hotel to rest and clean up (Shelby wanted to shower 😂), and Henry watched Up on the iPad. After a couple of hours, we headed down to the Riverwalk. This was SUCH a beautiful area, and none of our pictures do it justice. It was like a little oasis in the middle of a busy city! There are tons of hotels, restaurants, and shops that have all been built along the banks of the San Antonio River, and it truly is stunning.

Henry was excited for our boat ride! It lasted about 45 minutes, and the guide drives down the whole river pointing out different buildings and landmarks, and gives lots of interesting information about the area. We all thoroughly enjoyed our ride!

After our river cruise, we went to dinner at Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant on the Riverwalk. Caleb and Shelby throughly enjoyed their Mexican food, while I just thought it was okay (no surprise there! 😋). We walked up and down the Riverwalk for a while, bought a couple souvenirs, and ended the night with ice cream at Kilwin's. It was a GOOD DAY!