Postcards From Carol: Texas (Vacation Part 5)

Wednesday we were up and out of Oklahoma quickly. We were eager to see out little guys. Rick even turned to me shortly after we hit the road and grinned big as he announced, "We're going to see out boys today!"

Thanks to Dick, we sailed south through Texas with no problems negotiating Dallas/Fort Worth. By 3:30PM we were just inside San Antonio (and over an hour ahead of Dick's schedule) when Rick remembered that Warren had been asking for his fishing rod that he left in our garage before he moved. We didn't think to pack it so we decided to stop at a Wal*Mart and buy a new one. There aren't as many as many Wal*Marts around as I expected. We passed three Targets for every Wal*Mart spotted. We did find one and they had the very same rod but in a travel set with a back pack. We picked up a Nerf football for Parker and were quickly on our way.

When we arrived, Parker greeted us at the door and extended his arms immediately to Puppa. Puppa loved that! Warren was watching something on TV and hadn't realized we arrived until I tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around for a second and then his eyes swelled as he stood on the couch to reach for me. His first words were not the sweet little , "Hi Nini!" I was used to hearing every morning when he awoke but instead, "Are we going to Sea Word now?" Warren had been dying to visit Sea World and see whales, sharks, and dolphins every since they moved there. The TV stations he normally watches were flooded with Sea World commercials. Sarah promised him that when Nini and Puppa came we would all go. He was ready!

The sun rises over Sarah's house

That evening when Ricky came home from work, we all took a ride to the river walk to look for a place to eat. We parked way far away and strolled the sidewalk a long way before coming to a neat little steak house. A very expensive little steak house. The hamburger was $17.99 and things got worse from there. The steak was melt-in-your-mouth kind of awesome. I wouldn't mind returning one day. It was raining when we left, the only rain San Antonio had had all summer apparently and it didn't last but a few minutes. Sarah, the boys, and I waited next door under the cover of the Hilton Hotel while Rick and Ricky went back for the car. Thirty minutes later, Ricky called Sarah to ask what Hotel that was and what street it was on. It took them a little while to find the car but there were totally at a loss as to where they left their family! Warren made good use of the 40 minutes and the little rain shower.

Warren in the puddles.

We decided Sea World would be Friday's event and that we would spend Thursday just bumming around. Sarah had some errands to run Thursday morning so we road along with her to watch out for the boys while she took care of business. We went to the grocery store, bought a grill and steaks and took them home. Once everything was put away and the grill set up, we left Rick to season the grill before cooking the steaks (Warren, "Puppa's just cooking the fire."). Sarah and I went out to find Burlington Coat factory where she hoped to buy a new dresser for Parker. Even using her GPS we hard a hard time finding the place. We were lead the the dirt road along side the Georgia Pacific railroad. I mean at the fuel pumps. I told Sarah I thought this might be private property and we had better get off! The GPS kept telling us to turn where there was a railroad but no way to get over it except a couple of interstate over passes. We couldn't find access to those interstates. We did get to the mall where BCF was located. The store was three stories of pure shopping pleasure. But no dresser to match Parker's bed. Oh well. It took us 50 minutes to get to the store, 10 minutes to get home! Oh the the girl's gas bill must be outrageous!

An aside: Texans are sure proud to be Texans. Every where we went we saw big stars on the sides of buildings, on roads, on their homes, and on their trucks. Trucks. The first thing I noticed about the truck we parked next to at the mall was that on it's side it had a big star and boasted it was a Texas Edition. Well that wasn't the first ting I noticed about the truck. The first thing I noticed was that it had a sun shade across the dashboard covering the windshield and dark tinted windows that didn't keep me from seeing the young couple inside making out. Anyway, I started noticing that the GMC and Chevrolet trucks also had their very own "Texas Edition" too. Does any other state have a special edition vehicle?

After dinner Sarah bathed the boys and then she and Rick went out side to smoke. Warren climbed up on the cabinet and grabbed the box of my peanut butter cookies and brought them to the child sized table in the den. Warren doesn't eat much sweets so he chose one cookie and spent a long time nibbling on it. Parker ate the cookies by the handfuls!

Nini's yummy cookies

This bus runs on cookie power.

No love greater.

Sarah picked out a movie, "Awake" I think was the title, a really weird one. Warren fell asleep in my lap. I held him there until the movie was over. We used to do that a lot. I miss it.

Finally it's Sea World day! Warren was so excited! Parker was along for the ride.

We saw whales.

Wow!

Warren's first roller coaster. He was really excited to get to ride it and was not scared a bit. Of course the roller coaster was probably quite tame compared with riding around with his mother in San Antonio for six weeks. She scared me.