First Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation this past weekend to San Antonio to go to Sea World. We were a little nervous about it considering the 5 hour drive and since it would be Mateo’s first time to stay in a hotel. We left Thursday morning, and the trip seemed doomed from the start when the Yukon wouldn’t start and then after jumping it, the radio/DVD player wouldn’t work. Watching movies in the car definitely entertains Mateo, so I told Juan I would hang a flat screen TV from the backseat before I would leave without a working TV. Luckily it was a loose fuse, and Juan was able to fix it – Daddy to the rescue!

We wanted to break up the drive as much as possible, so we stopped first at the Waco zoo. We loved this zoo! There wasn’t anybody there, and the animals all seemed so close to us!

 

These were galapagos turtles, and I've never seen a turtle so big.  They can weigh up to 800 pounds and live over 100 years.






This bear was way too close for comfort.  They had a very tiny electric fence keeping him in.  Seems like a disaster waiting to happen.



Our second stop was Zilker Park in Austin for a picnic and some time on the playground. Mateo had his first McDonald’s cheeseburger. He really just picked out the pickles.

This is Barton Springs in Austin - one of the most popular swimming locations.  If you can't read what the sign says, it says "No Swimming" and "All Pets on Leash."  Obviously people can't follow directions.

Finally we made it to San Antonio and got all checked in to the hotel. We rented a 2 bedroom room so that Mateo had a separate room to sleep in. After the drive he had so much pent up energy, he was running back and forth in the room and babbling so loud I thought for sure we were going to get kicked out before our first night. Luckily it was a Sea World hotel and there were kids everywhere running through the halls.

Friday morning we got to Sea World before the gates opened, and we had a slight mishap that got the morning off to a bad start. Mateo got sunscreen in his eyes. This didn’t mix well with the pink eye that he was recovering from. And once it got in his eye, he kept rubbing it and getting more in it, and he was not happy. Juan, being the boy scout that he is, had saline eye wash in a first aid kit in the car, so we doused his eye with that a few times which made it a little better. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and it took a while for the swelling and redness to go away. Shortly after, Juan also got sunscreen in his eyes, and was crying about it just as much as Mateo so he could relate.  I have tried several different baby sunscreens and so far it seems like all of them end up in his eyes, so if there are any suggestions please let me know! Once we got in the park, the day went much smoother.

When did he grow up?

The first thing we did when we got there was feed the dolphins.  This was such an awesome experience!  Mateo was so intrigued by all of the animals.

The sunglasses stayed on about long enough for us to get a picture.  He did wear his hat some though which was surprising.

There is a whole section dedicated to Sesame Street, with a full show by all the characters.

This is where we spent a lot of our time.  They had a section for kids 3 and under.  It was great because there were only a few kids in there and it was in the shade and had chairs for the parents.

We were able to make it through the Shamu show.

Mmmm, watermelon!

The seals and sea lions were one of Mateo's favorites.  This sea lion pup was born that morning - it was sooo cute!

This was in the Sesame Street area - there were huge nets to climb, and stuff to climb through, a carousel and rides for the kids.

Giving Abbey a kiss on the cheek - or "Ab-Dee" as Mateo calls her.

This show, Azul, was really neat, and I thought Mateo would really like it.  It had lots of acrobats and birds that flew through the audience, and you can see the beluga whale in the water.  But - he fell asleep right when the show started.  This was the last show of the day, and the only time he slept, so he was a trooper to go that long without a nap.



This was a first.



This was also a first.  Nobody believes me, but Mateo has not fallen asleep in his stroller since he was probably 2 months old.

We had such an amazing time at Sea World, and we could tell Mateo did too. We are already planning to return later on in the summer.

Saturday morning Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Edith, and Aunt Letty arrived from Laredo to spend the day with us. We went to the Children’s Museum of San Antonio, the Rainforest Café for lunch, to visit Aunt Dora and Uncle George, and then Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. Mateo was exhausted by the end of the day and could barely keep his eyes open. It was great to see everybody and Mateo was able to meet some family for the first time!

This was weird.  They had a cow that you could really milk.  Luckily only water came out.

Playing some drums - maybe following in Daddy's footsteps?

The Sunday drive home was pretty quick. We took a break in Austin to visit Aunt Monkey and Uncle Worm, but ended up getting home pretty early. Mateo slept a full 12 hours Sunday night, which is 3 hours more than normal for him. It took a 4 day vacation to completely wear him out! It was a great first family vacation!