It was time for our annual summer trip to the beach, except, we are not going to the beach. RL is at the start of her third trimester of pregnancy, so a long car ride has a high chance of her throwing up everywhere. We decided to go to Schlitterbahn and visit San Antonio instead since it’s closer to Austin.

For this trip, we rented a Chrysler Pacifica so we could fit us and the grandparents all in one car. We wanted to buy a Pacifica for our growing family, so it was serving double duty as a long test drive to make sure there are no glaring faults with the van. As you can see, I am actually really excited about the prospect of owning a van. I am serious.

Grand parents are settled in, kids are strapped in their car seats, let’s go.

No trip out of Austin is complete without hitting traffic on the way out of town. Nevermind that it’s mid week and mid afternoon.

After a short uneventful drive, we’ve reached our first destination in San Marcos. We are at Aquarena Springs to ride the glass bottom boats. The kids would like this…maybe.

It’s really really hot, like 100 degrees out here.

The glass bottom.

Good, the kids seem to be fascinated by it.

Ah-Gong points.

As expected, the excitement of the glass bottom didn’t last long. Soon, they were trying to throw themselves out of the window and one after another bangs their heads on the window frame. Cry cry cry. Well, here’s some apple sauce, it’s all good now.

Seriously, maybe boat trips aren’t the best idea. They got tired of looking at the fish and now they’ve got no where to go.

Made it out of the boat. Can’t say it was fun except for the first 5 minutes of the ride.

Next, it was onwards to Schlitterbahn!!! Probably overkill for an 1.5 and 2.5 year olds, but hopefully they’ve got enough kid stuff to keep them entertained.

We knew the kids couldn’t last here all day, so we showed up after 3pm where each ticket gets a $15 discount. Still, We are paying way too much money for what we will get out of it. Going to a splash pad would probably be just as fun for them and a heck of a lot cheaper. But I guess that’s part of having kids…

Ah-Ma loves sunblock. LOL.

This is the only kiddie portion option on this part of the park. In fact, the whole park is pretty empty because it’s midweek. Since it’s not crowded, they don’t have all the different kid sections open. Poop.

This one is fearless. She would have gone down this slide 1000 times if I had let her.

PL is more careful. She takes much longer to warm up to new things.

Still crazy fearless. Dives into everything headfirst.

Time to refuel with expensive food. Surprisingly, Schlitterbahn allows you to bring in your own food, but we didn’t.

Ah-Gong took it upon himself to get something like a dozen ears of corn. At first we were like why did you get so much, but somehow we ate them all.

It was expensive, but the kids had a blast…But the truth is, they would have had a blast just the same at a neighborhood pool costing 1/10 of the price.

Our only time away from the kids. Maybe 5 minutes for me to grab a beer at a swim up bar. For the first time in our lives, we went to Schlitterbahn and did not get on a single ride. Life with kids.

Think we finally wore her out.

Sisters.

Now finally on our way to San Antonio. It was right around when this picture was taken when PL said, “I need to go poopoo.” Oh oh…better find a bathroom fast. We found a Starbucks at the next exit and that solved that. My nightmare would be poop stained carseat on a road trip. What do you do? Just throw it away and buy a new carseat?!? You’ve got the whole rest of the trip with the car smelling like poop!

We also made a pit stop at a McDonald’s to get some dinner and snack for the adults.

Arrived in downtown San Antonio. Traffic wasn’t too bad. It’s so awesome traveling with grandparents in the back with kids. They fuss, they need something, the grandparents take care of it. All I need to focus on is driving. Vans are awesome.

Our home for the next two nights.

Self park at the garage across the street. It’s actually a pretty tight garage. All the big trucks backed into their spots. Does that really make it easier to get out?

Ohhh, beer garden right across from our hotel.

Fancy lobby, situated right on the Riverwalk. I still remember seeing this lobby as a kid and being amazed by it.

Tower of the Americas seen from the hallway in our hotel.

It’s already past 8pm, which means it’s already past the kids bedtime. My mom offered to put the kids to bed while RL and I went out for a quick night cap. Sure, bye mom!!

The beer garden across the street will do.

This makes me miss Germany.

We were so tired, we stayed here for maybe 30min before deciding to call it a day.

Trucks too big to fit into parking garages.

Before we go back to our room, we had to find a convenience store to buy some diapers for PL. She’s potty trained, but occasionally she will still wet her bed at night. We had forgotten to bring diapers from home, and it would be bad news if she wets the bed in the hotel’s pack and play crib…Can’t do anything about it anymore tonight, but want to be prepared for tomorrow night. There’s a drugstore right on the Riverwalk by our hotel.

RL striking a pose with her pack of diapers.

Riverwalk can be nice I guess.

We came back to our room, and lucky us, both kids are asleep!! We were worried that they were gonna cry or talk for a long time since it’s a new environment and they are sleeping in the same room. We said goodnight to my mom and started packing in for the night quietly since the kids are in our room.

While everyone else ate their McDonald’s in the car, I had to drive so didn’t get a chance to eat. Well, I am hungry now, so I guess it’s time to eat my super late and cold dinner. Of course, since the kids are asleep in the room, I can’t turn the light on, which means I had to eat my dinner in the restroom. Life with kids, yo.

To be continued at San Antonio Day 2 Part 1.