Measurements of Merriment: San Antonio Here We Come!

A couple of weeks ago we packed up the kiddos and drove to home to San Antonio for a two week vacation to visit family and friends. It's been awhile since we were home and with the hubby's deployment coming up, we thought it would be a good idea to spend some time with the ones we love so far away before he goes.

We are all packed up and ready to go!

It wasn't long before Kinley fell asleep.

On the road...Liam brought his Avenger figures and played while watching The Avengers.

We stopped at this little family diner for lunch.

And of course the Princess' and the Avengers had to join us.

Kinley and her "Popeye" face.

We really enjoyed the Southern meal!

Outside the building was this beautiful mural of some famous people you might recognize...

I love Judy Garland, so I had the kiddos stand by her portrait so I could take a picture.

Our next stop was for dinner at Coopers in Junction, Texas.

We usually stop here on our way to San Antonio, it has really good BBQ even the kiddos liked it.

But I think they liked the free ice cream more!

Kinley is in that stage of "let me do it," so she loved dipping her sausage, chicken, and brisket in the BBQ sauce. She has become a huge foodie like the hubby and I. Always up to trying something new even if it's spicy, she goes back for more. Liam on the other hand, is a plain Jane, sticks to the usual kid food: nuggets, burgers, hotdogs, PB&J, mac 'n cheese...however he did eat the sausage here.

Mmmmmm, look at that plate! Everything was really good!

That's why we always stop!

Time for ICE CREAM!

I think someone is excited!

Well, it was a long drive but we finally made it to my sister's house around 8:30pm-ish (we were house sitting for her while they were in Mexico). Which considering driving with two kiddos, stopping for meals, potty breaks, and snacks was pretty good. I mean we did make it there before the sun went down.

The next day, the hubby went tubing down the river with one of his friends (if you're from SA, you know what I mean. If not, it's a local thing to get a tube for yourself, friends, and a cooler for your adult beverage of choice then go float the Guadalupe River. A must do if you are visiting, we used to do this every summer when we lived there!) While he was having fun, we had plans to meet up with my mom and my nephew (she was watching him while my sis and bro-in-law were on vaca). Like I said, little Miss is in that "I can do it" stage, so she insisted on brushing her own teeth like a big girl that morning. Things were going good that morning...until we got to Target.

Since Camden was still taking a nap when we planned on meeting at Panera Bread, so I decided to go Target to kill some time, plus I needed to find a frame for my Father-in-law's father day gift. Well, we were shopping along, but of course it was lunch time and the kiddos needed to eat. Let the whining, crying and meltdowns begin! I always pack snacks and carry a bottle of water for the kiddos just in case. Which usually means, every time we are out and about they have to snack or as Kinley says "snacky." So I bust out the snacks, some yogurt melts for Kinley and some fruit snacks for Liam. But of course, Kinley is already cranky and decides to dump the snacks all over the floor. I mean, really? C'mon.... Well, I did think of the snacks but not a container to put them in. So since we were in Target, I thought I would just find one of those snack cups with the lid in the baby section. I found one, opened it up, put the snacks in it, gave it to Kinley, and of course, she wanted nothing to do with it. Wanted the lid off, and like I knew she would, dumped more snacks on the floor, which she had now gone through the whole bag and barely got to eat any. Super Mom to the rescue (I thought to myself)......I had more snacks, Slim Jims, animal crackers, fruit snacks, grapes, pretzels...but nothing she wanted (Super Mom defeated), of course which caused melt down number two. I hurried to the picture frame section and to my luck, they HAD the frame I was looking for. YAY! Finally something positive out of this Target trip. So after two melt downs, snacks all over the floor, two cranky hungry whining kids, and one picture frame we hurried to check out so we could meet my mom and nephew at Panera Bread, which they were already there waiting for us.

I'm thinking, ok lets get there already so these kiddos can eat and be back to normal. Thank goodness Panera was in the same plaza, I just had to drive through the parking lot. So, after I got the kiddos all buckled in and put the bags in the back, the diaper bag in the front seat, then looked for my phone so I can call my mom and let her know were are on our way....wait...where's my phone? OMG! I LOST MY PHONE! WHERE IS MY PHONE! In the diaper bag...nope, in one of the bags...Nope, in the shopping cart...NOPE! OMG! Just great!

I get the kiddos back out of the car, head back into Target, all while thinking, "Mom is probably calling and I can't call her back...lost all my pictures and videos...I don't want to buy another phone..." I went to the cashier I checked out with, she didn't see it. I went to Customer Service, no one turned it in. We walked around and retraced our steps..one good thing, we could totally tell we were there because of all the crumbs Kinley spilled on the floor. But, did not find it. By then, I had given up, put the kiddos back in the car and was just going to drive to meet my mom. But I had a feeling to look in the cart one more time, and to my surprise, it was there! It had slid down the side, so at first glance I couldn't see it. What a relief! I checked it to find 2 missed calls, 1 voicemail, and 3 text messages...from mom, of course. Texted her back..."On my way."

Well, long story short. Met up with them, told her the story, we all ate lunch, everyone was in a much better mood the rest of the day. Mom even brought Camden back to the house so they could play a bit.

A few hours later, a lobster, I mean my husband, walked through the door. I couldn't believe it! The one thing I told him not to do the first day of vacation. "DO NOT BURN!" He swore they applied Bullfrog Water Armor Quick Gel multiple times all over. Well, I guess it didn't work because he was beat RED from head to toe only on his front side (the normal sunburn for tubin' all day, sad but true). He was feeling horrible, sore, hot, and achy. I gave him some Tylenol and applied some Aloe Vera to help soothe the heat. Since I had had a pretty eventful day and he was feeling miserable we decided to just order pizza for dinner.