Michael has been to San Antonio probably 3 times a year for the last couple years, and twice he was able to bring me along. But Evelyn and Grandma Mary had never been, and it had been over twenty years for Grandpa Dail, which was just barely enough time for him to be okay with visiting there again.
Evelyn was adorable on the plane. She was playing with her littlest petshop toys that she got for Easter. She was having the sheep sing--opera. And she's good. Everyone around us were laughing at her, but after a while I took pity on their ears and told her to sing more quietly. Then while we were taxiing and waiting to unload, Evelyn decided to grace us with some of her original 5-year-old jokes. They consisted of "Why didn't the duck cross the road? Because it was lazy!" And "Why didn't the squirrel climb the tree? Because it was a banana!" Michael and I couldn't figure out why it was funny, but the people around us sure got the giggles. I still don't get it.
When we got to San Antonio, we got right out on the Riverwalk; one of my favorite places in the whole world. The atmosphere is just wonderful. Especially when you're not distracted by oppressive heat. But the temperature was beautiful, when it wasn't raining.
We took Evelyn and my mom to the Alamo the very first day. I really didn't think Evelyn would be very thrilled to be walking around an old building with lots of plaques she couldn't read, but I was surprised. Before we even went into the chapel, we sat her down on a bench and I told her the story. I didn't think she was listening very well, but she asked some good questions, and she was quiet and respectful when we were in the buildings. When we questioned her, she really understood the basic concepts: that a lot of men decided to die in order to give Texas time to gain it's freedom.--And that Davy Crockett was one really cool man. She's been really into cheers lately and she has decided that her favorite thing to shout out is: "1, 2, 3: Remember the ALAMO!!!" Except when she is playing the bad guys and then she chants, "1, 2, 3: Forget the Alamo!"
Dad was insistent we try lots of Tex Mex food, so mostly we ate there, but we had some Texas BBQ and Texas-sized brownies too. (If you ever go, you HAVE to order the brownie from Texas Land and Cattle.) Evelyn was anxious to go to the Rainforest Cafe. We obliged. Exorbitant prices, not great food, but fun atmosphere. It balanced out that we were glad we went just to see Evelyn's excitement.
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| Great Turkey here :D |
Mostly we bashed around the riverwalk: going on a tour boat and watching the ducks. We also stopped by Market Square and we saw the IMAX movie they made about the Alamo. We were a little nervous about how Evelyn would do with the end battle, but she did fine. She was really interested in the story. She did bring up an interesting point though. "Mommy, I don't think that guy looks like a bad guy," she stated about Santa Anna. "Are you sure he's the bad guy?" I had to tell her that most bad guys don't look bad on the outside, just on the inside. Then I showed her how she could tell he was a bad guy because of the things he did.
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| Evelyn posing with "Cowboy Bob" whom we met in the streets of San Antonio. I love Texas! |
The last day we were able the go to Sea World. (Yes, in Texas.) (No, I don't know how they got the whales there.) It was really fun. As my dad said, Everything is BIGGER in Texas, so if you ever go, prepare to walk a lot. We were all worn out by the end of the day, even though most of the day we were sitting in shows.
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| Me and my Papa-Daddy outside of Sea World. This was taken before we went in and our feet got all sore. |
First we saw the Shamu Show. I was a little hesitant about how much I would like it, because I have vague memories of when I went to Sea World as a 5-year-old--mostly of a seagull pooping on Kari's head, but also of waiting a lot to see the animals be disobedient to their trainers. So I had my reservations about this trip. The first 5 seconds of the Shamu show banished all that uncertainty. I had tears running down my cheeks when those majestic animals appeared. They were so responsive to their trainers, I couldn't help but marvel at the trust and affection they had.
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| Doing a flip |
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| Singing |
I worried a little that Evelyn's memories would be more like my childhood ones, but they weren't. First off, none of us were pooped on. But second, she was extremely entertained. She loved watching the animals dance and squirt people. She especially loved the clown in the Beluga Whale/Dolphin Show.
She got to see a BLUE bird. But she couldn't pet it. And then she got to learn the hand signals to train Blue the fish how to do flips, spins, and leaps into the air. She practiced them on Daddy, and it worked just fine. She hasn't gotten Blue to be very obedient yet.
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| Teaching Daddy how to wave his flipper. |
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