Sunday - go home :(

4:15 came awful early.   Everything went smooth and we left for the airport at about 4:50.  We were able to check in for our flights and get through security.   Somewhere during the repacking from security, the goblins ate our boarding passes.  Don’t worry because American Airlines was able to print replacement coupons and we were able to get on the plane.  We are now on the flight to Salt Lake which should be followed by dinner with Netnet, a tearful goodbye to Natalie and a grueling drive back to Boise and real life.

Tanners favorite part of the trip was Six Flags and his favorite part of Six Flags was Scooby Doo.  His advice is that you should aim at targets that are ahead of you.

Natalies favorite part of the trip was Six Flags and her favorite ride was either Poltergeist or Superman.

Suttons favorite part of the trip was also Six Flags and he liked Poltergeist the best.

Rachael’s favorite part of the trip was Six Flags and she liked Potergeist the best. 

Heather’s favorite part of the trip was Six Flags and Goliath was her favorite ride.  However, she was not impressed with the $11 chicken strips.

Dallin’s favorit part of the trip was also six flags and he can’t decide if he liked Goliath or Scooby Doo the best.

The highlight of the trip for Amy was the sea turtle release.  It was really cool.

And I can’t decide if I liked the tour of downtown San Antonio, including the Alamo, or Seaworld the best.  The Shamu show was pretty neat.

One Week…. Schlitterbahn, Seaworld, Surfing, Six Flags, Turtle release and everyday topped 102 degrees.  It was exhausting but fun.  It’s always fun to get away from real life and spend time as a family.

Saturday - Wildlife???

Saturday was meant to be a down day to pack, clean and get ready to  come home.  We decided to do a drive through safari.  It turned out to be really fun.  We saw and fed multiple species of Deer and Antelope from Africa and Asia.  We also saw and fed Zebra, Ostrich, Camel, Buffallo, Llama, Lemurs, Catfish, Koi and Sturgeon.  The highlight of the day was Heather kissing a Zebra while it was sticking its head in the car window being fed by Natalie.  A Zebra also tried to eat Rachael and an ostrich was fed inside our car.  After lunch/dinner (about 4:00) in a picnic area next to the gift shop,  we returned to  the car, I turned the key and it didn’t start.  I called for Rachael to use her magic powers, but she disappointed us all with her lack of powers.   After playing with the battery cables, the car did start and we started back to our house.  Just before we reached the freeway, the car died and I was able to coast into a parking lot.  There was a Walmart about a half mile away so the kids went to Wendys for Frostys and air conditioning.   I bought some wrenches and got the car to start.  After seeing visions of a dead car at 5:00 in the morning and missing flights, I decided that we should get the battery looked at by a professional.  I couldn’t find a professional late on Saturday afternoon so I took it to the auto center at Walmart.  They diagnosed it as a bad battery so I agreed to replace it.  If you have high blood pressure, don’t take your car to Walmart.  After waiting for about an hour and a half, we finally got our new battery and again, headed back to the house.  Dinner that night consisted of leftovers and food we had purchased during the week.  We got into  a killer game of phase ten.  Eventually all eight of us joined in.  We played until about 10:30 when Rachael and I reached phase nine and then sent everyone to bed we needed to leave for the airport at 4:45am.

Friday - Six Flags

Six Flags Fiesta Texas.   Amusement parks  have always been an important part of our family’s summer.  If the plans did not included Disneyland or Disneyworld, a trip to Lagoon was always planned.  Amy and the kids would open and close the park.  We were a little bummed about the crowds at Six Flags and the temperature (106) but decided not to let them bother us.  We also obtained (for a price) a flash pass which allowed us to avoid 60% of the wait time and made it so that we could pretty much ride the rides as soon as we could get to them.  I was amazed at how much better Six Flags was than Lagoon.  The roller coasters were all bigger, faster, scarier and funner than those at Lagoon.   There was also more large rides at Fiesta Texas.  The favorite ride seemed to be Superman which was a very large metal roller coaster.   Everyone seemed to like the Rattler, which is an old wooden roller coaster about three times as big as the wooden coaster at Lagoon.  I thought it was named after the snake but it was named because it rattled like craze or because it rattled your teeth as you road it.  Everyone also liked the Scooby Doo ride, which was similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland.  Natalie scored the most points with a little over 1,700.  Rachael and I came in second in the 1,500’s.  The park closed at 9:00 with a firework, laser, and video presentation that was pretty cool.  It showed pictures of each section of Texas and had cool fireworks and music.  Once again, we were exhausted.

Thursday

After the adventures from the three previous days, what would be more relaxing than a day as Six Flags?  That was the plan.  However, at 10:30 when no one except for Natalie and I was awake, we decided to change the plan.   We were all just too exhausted.  We let the kids all sleep as long as they wanted.  The boys slept until after noon.  I took a three hour nap.  At about three o’clock, we decided that we should do something to get us out of the house and not waste a day in Texas.  A sent a text to Sean Moorhouse and asked for a very Texas place to eat and he suggested a restaurant called Mi Tierra.  It was downtown.   After assigning Tanner to remember where we parked, we enjoyed an amazing Mexican meal.  An air conditioned theatre was calling our names so we went to Kung Fu Panda 2, followed by Frozen Custard at Freddy’s.   All in all a very relaxing and recharging day.

Wednesday - Port Aransas - The Beach!

After being kicked out of our hotel at noon, we drove the ten minute drive to Port Aransas, which in an island with cool beaches.  It is a popular destination for spring brakers.  Our plan was to spend the rest of the day on the beach.  Rachael really wanted to learn how to surf.  I was unsuccessful in obtaining a surf instructor (my master planning skills at work again), but we did secure six surf board rentals for the afternoon.  The kids soon discovered that the warm water and hot air was a good match, but that surfing was going to take a little while to master.  Amy and I planned on a leisurely day sunning on the beach.   Tanner was the first one to figure out how to remain standing on his surf board.  He was soon riding waves into the beach.  I think it was easier for a smaller child on a larger board as it seemed more difficult for each child as they got bigger.  By the end of the day, they all were able to stay up on their boards for at least a few seconds.  We didn’t do so good at the sunscreen on the beach and all ended up very red and in pain.  We left the beach at about 6:00 with a three hour drive back to San Antonio.   We left the Island on a ferry.  The entire ride was about 2oo yards.  It took longer to load the ferry than it did to travel to the other side.    With the strange sleep schedule, all day in the water, surfing, and baking in the sun we were a pretty tired family.  I thought that everyone would sleep during the drive, but the girls taught us how to play a travel game called smurfing.  You’ll have to ask one of the girls how to play.   We again made Rachael a happy girl when we stopped at Whataburger for dinner.   The Burgers were really great but the fries were marginal.