We arrived on Friday afternoon and got familiar with Pawpaw Mark's (dad's) house. Taylor and Parker had never been there, so it was all new for them. Taylor immediately warmed up because she found whales, dolphins, and flamingos all over the house! Oh, and she found Lucy the dog. She loves dogs. Parker loved her too. Julie and her family drove down and arrived on Saturday afternoon after a 13 hour drive! There were 10 of us in the house for a whole week! It was fun that way though. We barbequed (dad's favorite thing to do) and swam at the neighbors house and toured Austin for a couple days until it was time to go to Sea World and San Antonio. The highlight of the trip.
Taylor had been waiting for months to see Free Willy at Sea World! She brought him along with her even though we told her she could get a new one there. We arrived to Sea World at 11am, but the Shamu show wasn't until 3pm. It was well worth the wait though! Julie and I both had tears in our eyes just seeing how happy and glowing Taylor was to see Willy. It was her dream come true! Julie video taped thank goodness cuz I'd give anything to save those moments. I took tons of pictures there so she would always have them to remember. We stayed till we were last in the auditorium and Willy said goodbye and waved to her. Parker was such a good girl too. It was soooo hot and she lasted all day. We stayed in a hotel that night and it was nice to all have our own rooms, take showers and get a good nights rest. The next day we went to visit The Alamo and the Riverwalk. Not all that exciting for the kids and again very hot, but it was fun to see. We headed back to Austin that afternoon and hit Carlos and Charlie's on Lake Travis for dinner.
Wednesday we spent the day at Lake Travis. I love this lake so much because its so clear and pretty. The kids would never know the difference between it and the ocean, so it worked well for a day at the beach. Its mostly rock there, but some sand, but made for an awesome place to hang out in the water. We hung out on a rock shelf that was just to our knees and a great place for the kids to swim and play. It was hot, but we never felt it because there was such a good breeze coming off the water. It felt so good, that we didn't even notice that we were all frying in the sun!! Julie was the indicator with her red chest and shoulders. We called it a day at 3:00. Poor little Parker had her first sunburn the next day! I put a 70 spf on her twice and she still got a sunburn! She slept so hard that night.
The next two days we mostly hung out at the house. Julie, David, Haley and David left on Thursday afternoon. They were sad to leave, but they had a long drive ahead. Taylor was lost without her buddy David to play with. She followed Lucy around for the next day. Our flight out was on Friday afternoon. We did our last bit of shopping, laundry, and swimming before leaving. Again, it was sad leaving, but we had a great stay. I can imagine Dad's house is pretty quiet without us all there! Taylor wanted to stay and she had a great time. I'm really glad they got to see where Pawpaw Mark lives and they know about Texas. It was a nice relaxing vacation and we look forward to the next visit! Great memories and 300+ pictures! Thats me!
