D - Fun Day in SA

Usually when we go to Sea World we spend our 2 days at the park and then head home the next day. We are always pretty wiped out and feel like our vacation was so rushed that we didn't get to enjoy it. This year we decided to try to slow the pace a little. We went to Houston to visit my parents for 3 days and then went to San Antonio. And instead of leaving the day after Sea World, we spent an extra day in San Antonio "relaxing."

The first thing we did on our restful day was to go on a train ride around a park just outside of the San Antonio zoo. It's really a fun little train, and the kids had a great time. It reminds me of the new train at the OKC zoo, but the track is much longer and has some scenery to it.



After the train ride, we decided it was well past time for Noah's first time spelunking and headed off to the Natural Bridge Caverns. Mike and I have both always enjoyed caves and remember touring them when we were kids. We just knew it was the kind of thing Noah would LOVE.



I don't know that I would go so far as to say he loved it, but he thought it was pretty cool at first. He got tired of it by the end, and wanted to be carried up the 15 story walk-way that lead out of the cave. I got the good end of that deal and just had to carry Katie.



It really was a beautiful cave. I always think it's interesting to hear the stories of how caves are discovered. In this case, it was a group of college guys exploring. Can you imagine?!? I would love to hear them tell their stories.



Here we are pretty exhausted after walking deep down and hiking back out. Fun!



At the top of the cave there was a gift shop where you could buy a bag full of sand with "gems" inside. You pour the sand into wooden boxes with a screen on the bottom and put them in a trough of running water. Supposedly we were panning for gems. The kids thought it was great - especially Noah who loves the gem hunt in Webkinz World. He thought he was really getting some treasures!







After the cave we stopped briefly at our hotel and took a swim. Then we decided that no trip to San Antonio would be complete without some time spent on the riverwalk. So off we go again...



Dinner on the riverwalk





Katie LOVED to wave to the boats as the passed by.



Enjoying some Marble Slab





All in all it was a great day. I guess next year I'll know better than to think we would actually relax if we had an extra day, but I'm still glad we did it. Maybe we should add a fourth day. I bet we'd relax then......