For several years, John and I have been talking about taking a trip to Southern Texas to visit my grandpa where he lives. He turns 85 this year and drives up to see us every summer, so we thought this year needed to be the year! Mom decided to join us and so we booked the trip! We planned for June thinking the weather would likely still be pretty mild and gosh we couldn't have been more wrong! We eventually also decided that we would spend at least a week in Texas traveling from Edinburg where grandpa lives all the way to Dallas, stopping in San Antonio and Waco and exploring some significant tourist spots.....to make the most out of the trip.
Instead of spending 3 days driving, we figured it would be best to fly and the kids were pumped! They love everything about flying....the planes, the airport, the snacks....all of it! They've all flown once before so this time (as older kids) they were pros!
While John and Mellany parked our car in long term parking, the boys and I explored a bit. We found this Indy sign and a racecar....
Made it to our gate ON TIME!
Ready to fly!!
Just like his mama....reads all the details! :)
We had about a 3 hour layover in Austin (which we did not enjoy the airport) so we grabbed lunch and then waited. Mellany thought her photo app was quite hilarious.....and she was right lol...
Ready to get to Grandpas! Mom had already landed and made it to his place by this point.
Getting our luggage and rental car was a breeze! Can I just say how much easier it is flying was with older kids?! It was amazing that they could actually help with luggage and wait patiently when needed.
We made it to grandpas and everyone was hungry...so off to dinner we went.
The next morning, we had breakfast at Grandpa's usual restaurant.
Then later that day replaced his A/C because it was 91 DEGREES in his place!
The kids really loved the tree outside
And the pool at our airbnb was extra nice because the weather was ridiculously hot...
Just so I could remember it...I took these screenshots....it was already 81 (feels like 89) at 7:44am! By 5:30 that night it was 107 (feels like 116)!!!!!! It was horrible!! Like, it was even hot swimming in the pool!
These two found my phone and snapped a selfie...
We needed to replenish a few grocery items and the boys were loving their VIP service.
Remember that photo app that Mellany loved in the airport.....she loved it at breakfast one morning with Grandpa too. hahaha!
One last picture before we left!
After a few days with Grandpa, we loaded up and headed to San Antonio! The kids thought the border patrol checkpoint was cool...
Our first full day in San Antonio and our first stop was at the Alamo of course! We had been told that it wasn't really much to look at or go through, but we all found it fascinating! We walked through the church, ventured through the grounds and even watched a weapons show that was so cool!
We even found the Lego Alamo exhibit!
Of course, by 11:00, the heat was too much and we needed food! There was a Dave & Buster's within walking distance so we spent several hours having lunch and playing games. It's not what we would have really planned to do in a city we've never been to, but the heat was just too much and extremely limiting on what we could do. Either way, we still had fun!
Once we finished up at Dave & Buster's, we went back to our AirBnB. Mom decided she wanted to stay in with the kids and send John and I out on a date. We ordered her and the kids some pizza delivery and headed out to Morton's steakhouse (it was so good!) in San Antonio and then walked the River Walk after to see if it was something we would want to do with the whole crew. We decided: no! It was busy, there was no railing (we were sure one of our boys would end up in the water) and we just didn't feel like our kids would enjoy it.
What we did decide though, was that my mom and I would go to the River Walk in the morning before it got busy so she could at least check it out. Johnny said that he wanted to go too, so the three of us headed that way.
Johnny found a squirrel friend who was not shy at all!
Gammy and Johnny on one of the bridges above the River Walk.
He really loved the Five and Dime
And of course I needed a picture with my boy too!
After the three of us took an Uber back to the house, we loaded up and made our way north to Waco! I was totally shocked after seeing that the speed limit was 85!!!
Mellany had been dying to share in the Buc-ee's experience with the boys and we finally made it to one!! The boys loved it just as much as we did! We even found Buc-ee himself!
We landed in Waco and immediately found the Magnolia Silos!!! It was so great! It was still EXTREMELY hot but I still loved it. The boys went through the shops very quickly and eventually made their way to the car to get cooled down. Honestly, us girls weren't too far behind them. Though we did battle the heat to wait in line at the bakery for some goodies!
We had dinner then crashed in our hotel. Waco was only a one night stay so we packed back up the next morning and headed out, making our way to Irving, TX.
One stop that John had been most excited about was the gas station with the delicious Kolaches! And my goodness they were good! Totally worth it.
While in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we decided to visit the Ft. Worth Stockyards. It was so much fun! We stopped in at the petting zoo, rode the bull, rode the train and watched the longhorn cattle drive! We went into a few shops and had lunch as well, but then we headed out because, again, it was hotter than the sun!
On the way back to our house, I took this picture in the car of the outside temp! Then when I looked it up on my phone, it said it felt like 115....and I would say, ACCURATE! It was way too hot for me.
While staying in Irving, we got to visit with my cousin who lives about 25 minutes away! The first night we met up with them, we ate at one of their favorite places and had so much fun catching up!
We had so much fun the first night, that we decided to meet up again and had them come over for pizza and swimming at our airbnb!
Mom snapped this pic of us one of the nights in Irving and I love it so much!
After a full week of adventure, we were headed home!
And that's that!!! 9 days of traveling and we were ready to get back home (mostly because we missed our animals and cooler weather!). We had so much fun on our Texas adventure and it was extra special that Gammy went with us.....we are so thankful anytime she can join in on the fun with us.
See ya next time Texas!!
