Wiggy Worm: February 2012

Mimi came for a visit I had a floating holiday for work since I worked the day after New Years and Matt was done with classes early on Friday so we decided to take a day trip to San Antonio. First we visited the Alamo, the inside of it was having some renovations done to it so there wasn't much to see on the inside, but outside the grounds were kept up beautifully. We let Ethan go free and he had a wonderful time running around. He saw Koi fish and a wishing fountain in which he threw about ten pennies in. The weather was nice and I think he just enjoyed being in the fresh air. After we had our fill of the Alamo we went down to the river walk.
Since I have moved here all I have heard about is the River Walk, and it was nothing like I imagined. It was exactly as it sounds just a path that winds around a canal of water with restaurant and shops all around. You can even ride a boat throw the canals if you want. There was no railing so one could easily walk right off the path into the water. That being said you would see why we decided to keep Ethan in his stroller, even though it is not a stroller friendly place. The majority of the time we had to carry him up a flight of stairs and back down to get across to a new area. A friend had suggested a restaurant we got as close as the restaurant next door before a construction zone cut us off only a stones throw away. Three stair cases later we made our way to a great Mexican restaurant. Hot and hungry we were not picky when it came to sitting next to the canal outside or sitting at a table inside. I am glad we ended up inside because I had a flash back to my childhood. A band came by asking different tables if they would like to play for them. They busted out in song and it took me back to the days we would go to Don Joses and I would request that they play La Bamba because I marveled every time I saw those guys lips move faster than any I had every seen as he sang that song. Boopie loved the music and swayed back and forth and after they were finished he clapped for them. Shortly after that we walked back to the car so we could try and make it home before traffic got back to bad. It was a really fun day!

In front of the Alamo

Tossing pennies

Enjoying the Alamo

Crockett fountain

Another canon!

He loved these steps he kept sitting down and standing up and going up and down.

Here are some other funny pictures of Ethan:

Matt said that he put this hat on himself and then proceeded to pose for the pictures

A natural!

Mimi got him a basket ball hoop while she was here this is his new way of playing with it. Slam dunk Ethan. We have a pretty funny video of him putting a ball through the hoop completely naked with only socks on ... great blackmail material for later!

Ever since we have moved RR I have wanted to go check out the caves near our house. Since Matt is a native growing up he took several field trips there, so he never had much interest in going. Jenny and I talked about it a while ago and we thought it would be fun to take the girls, so we finally decided to go! I was a little nervous about taking Ethan, they are very strict about not touching the walls of the caves, add that to the uneven terrain its not exactly the best recipe for an 18 month old so I decided to put him in the baby backpack. When we got there it took us a while to get ourselves ready for our adventure, between everyone going potty since you can't go down there, Sadie needing to eat and Ethan needing to be secured in the backpack it took sometime. I really don't think we anticipated how much of an adventure it would be. Our tour guide was comedic from the beginning teasing us about having to swim through the caves and asking if we brought our swim suits because we were going to get wet. You should have seen the wide eyed look the girls shot Jenny questioning if this could possibly be true. After a brief introduction we learned that the mining car that normally takes people down into the caves was broken and we would have to walk down into them. It was very steep and all I kept thinking was "we have to climb back up this thing after an hour of walking through the caves?" Once we got into the cave all was forgotten as I took in the coolest thing I have seen in a long time when it came to natural wonders.

At first Ethan was giggling and kicking excitedly, I think from pure newness of the surroundings. The girls were excited to learn that some lucky cave explorers could receive cave kisses, which were drops of water that would fall from the ceiling and they even got to blow on a tiny bat that was sleeping on the side of one of the walls. It wiggled as if to say "what gives" and would curl its wings up tighter around it. The tour guide was VERY enthusiastic about sharing every bit of trivia different parts of the cave. At first it was interesting but after stopping so much the kids grew restless, as they just wanted to keep walking through the cave. Ethan started fussing and making tons of noise so I soon had to fall to the back of the tour group so I could bounce him around on my back while the tour guide talked. I would say about half way through we had reached the point at which we were all ready to turn back around. Ethan grew very heavy on my back and the girls were tired of walking. Sadie no longer wanted to be in her baby carrier. Once we turned around and made our way towards the entrance after a two hour tour (it was only suppose to be one but like I said a very enthusiastic tour guide) we realized we had to hike up the steep incline to get out. With Sadie in Jenny's arms , Ethan on my back and the girls holding our hands we made the climb. I had to tell the girls remember the little cartoon train say " I think I can I think I can?" Once we made it to the top we were all so relieved. A woman came up to Jenny and said " I have no clue how you two did it with those kids."

For being such troopers we decided on the way home to stop at our favorite yogurt shop. Dessert before dinner it was a special treat. After that we went back to our house and ordered pizza. We blew the air mattress up and the kids all laid down and watched Dumbo. I have to say that I am proud of Jenny and I for successfully accomplishing our trip. I think Jenny summed it up best when she said " we are going to look back on this one day and think what they heck were we thinking." Although I don't know that the kids got as much out of it I would highly recommend to anyone that is visiting to check this out. I can't believe that something so amazing could be one exit up from our house!