A Weekend Adventure: San Antonio (Part 3)

On Sunday morning, Will and I woke up early and hung out together in the living room of our suite, waiting for the late-sleepers to wake up. Finally we decided to let them keep snoozing and head to breakfast ourselves. Spending some one-on-one time with my big boy was a lovely way to start the day!  

After the whole crew was up and ready for the day, we headed to Trinity University, where I spent my undergraduate career. The campus is so pretty and we wanted the boys to see where I spent four years of my life.

The campus has changed so much in the past 20 years.

Coates Library -- I spent so many hours here studying!

The campus was very quiet on a Sunday morning.

It was so good to get back to Trinity for a visit!

After our college tour, we headed north to Natural Bridge Caverns. Gene visited as a kid but I had never been! And the boys have never been in a cave before. 

We took the Discovery Tour, which was an easy hour-long walk through the caverns. We all enjoyed it so much!

After the tour, the boys wanted to do some panning for treasures, so we bought them loaded bags of sand and they got to work. Will's bag was full of arrowheads and Henry's was stocked with gemstones and rocks.

The boys also ran through the maze on the property, which was harder than it looked! They finished in 17 minutes, and then it was time for lunch and the drive back to Houston. 

I have the best time exploring with these three! We're already thinking about where our next adventure will take us.

A Weekend Adventure: San Antonio (Part 2)

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning. After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we walked along the Riverwalk to the Alamo. We found many more Hugman plaques along the way. 

We popped up from the Riverwalk just before the Alamo opened. I realized that I hadn't been there since my college days, and it was so much more meaningful to me now that I've lived here so long (and taught Texas history to boot!).

Everyone always comments about how small the Alamo is, but the boys didn't think it was small. They did a really good job imagining what the entire compound looked like and where the Texas defenders were stationed during the final siege. 

We've visited San Felipe de Austin, where Stephen F. Austin brought the original settlers; Washington-on-the-Brazos, where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed; the San Jacinto Battleground, where Texas won its independence; and now the Alamo, which kind of completes the tour of sites of the Texas Revolution (though one day I would like to add Gonzales and Goliad to our list).  

After our visit, we couldn't resist a stop at the gift shop. Will came away with a history book and Henry chose this Davy Crockett coonskin cap.

Examining the memorial to the Alamo defenders

Two Davy Crocketts

Back at the Riverwalk, we hopped on board a river taxi and rode it up to the Pearl Brewery compound. 

This northern reach of the Riverwalk is new since I lived in San Antonio and the Pearl Brewery compound is a mixed-use development consisting of shops, restaurants, apartments, a soon-to-open hotel and weekend farmers market. It was fantastic!

We had lunch at The Granary 'Cue and Brew, which was exactly what we needed after a busy morning in the San Antonion sun!

We hopped back on the river taxi after lunch, but Will felt nauseous in the hot sun with the boat swaying, so the two of us jumped out and started to walk back to the hotel. This was not the brightest idea as it was a 2-mile walk in 90 degree heat. Fortunately, the river taxi was delayed at the lock and dam and we caught up with it and were able to sit back and ride for the last mile of the trip. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and playing at the hotel pool before heading out one last time to the Riverwalk. We had Tex-Mex for dinner with local San Antonio beer and found more Hugman plaques along the way.

It's hard to imagine that the Riverwalk was ever an unpopular, unsuccessful place and I'm glad Hugman and his incredible vision are celebrated today.

A Weekend Adventure: San Antonio (Part 1)

We spent the weekend in San Antonio, doing all the touristy things! As a fourth grader, Will is busy studying Texas history, and we wanted to take our young Texans to the Alamo. San Antonio is also special to me because I spent my four years as an undergraduate at Trinity University.

We pulled the boys out of school early on Friday and arrived in San Antonio just in time to check in to our hotel and walk down to the Riverwalk. 

Dinner the first night was Tex-Mex at Rita's on the Riverwalk. You can't beat Tex-Mex in San Antonio!

Two happy boys with FULL bellies.

After dinner, we strolled along the Riverwalk. Will loves to read the historical markers wherever we go, and he was especially interested in reading about Robert H. H. Hugman, "the Father of the Riverwalk." An architect with an incredible vision, Hugman conceived of the idea of the Riverwalk in 1929 and secured funding and began construction in 1939. The Riverwalk was completed two years later, but it did not become popular until after San Antonio's World Fair in 1968.  

All along the Riverwalk are plaques that show original features designed by Hugman. Finding them was like going on a scavenger hunt.

Will told Gene and Henry all about the plaques.

The amphitheater was another of Hugman's designs; they were setting up for a concert as we passed.

Some of the plaques were tiny.

After just a few hours in the city, the boys were already big fans of San Antonio!

Lately: Cookies, Books and Henry's Half Birthday

School and activities have been keeping us busy this September. Here's a peak into what we've been up to lately.

Both boys got to attend a special lunch with the librarian on Friday to celebrate the summer readers.

Will has an amazing science teacher this year who is energetic and enthusiastic. Over the weekend, he had a "Metric Cooking" assignment in which he had to bake using metric measurements. Will really wanted to make triple chocolate cookies, so we found a Nigella Lawson recipe and got to work.

125 grams of chocolate chips!

The final product -- they were so good!

Also on Friday night, we attended a members' event at the Health Museum. We couldn't resist a walk through the McGovern Centennial Gardens first.

Bone Zone Carnival exhibit

Our weekend was busy with the usual activities plus hanging out with the cousins and swimming at Mike and Jess's house. I didn't snap any pictures, but we sure did have a good time!

My boys read all the time, but this year, Henry's reading log tracks read-aloud minutes. He spent 25 minutes reading to Gene while Gene sketched.

Henry's half birthday was yesterday, and we celebrated with a candle in one of Will's chocolately chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. 

7 1/2!

Happy half birthday, Henry!