First Official Family Trip!

I had the ingenious idea to plan our first family trip for Labor Day weekend! We can finally start making some awesome memories as a family! And let me just say, there is never a dull moment in our current life! We started our trip bright and early Saturday morning! I had set an itinerary and we loosely stuck to it to my surprise. We were, of course, an hour behind leaving the house! With two kids and one of them being a very independent and opinionated two year old, that's pretty darn good timing! Chase refused to wear the clothes mommy left out for him so that added about a 25 minute tantrum even after he chose the same two shirts he always wears! At least this time the pants matched the shirt! I'm sure when he goes to school they must think he has no clothes!! Okay, back to my story... The car was packed and I made sure I had easy access to all baby supplies. Our journey began and we were off to San Antonio! Everything was going like clockwork! Chase was into all the books and games I got him, watched Netflix on Cory's phone and Shane took his morning nap. We made our only official stop, after a couple of bathroom breaks for Chase-e-poo, in Austin and met our friend for lunch at Freddie's Austin. Really neat place with a swingset for kids outside! (Great pick Sara!) Chase loved it! Then after our stop, we were all back in the car. The 2nd leg of the trip was a little more challenging because Shane did not understand why he was crammed back into his carseat. We finally arrived in San Antonio and checked into our hotel. We loaded up the cart with our bags, one for each boy and one for Cory and I to share, double stroller, diaper bag, bottled water for Shane's formula, bag of baby supplies, Chase's toys, pack n' play, etc. It was excessive but I was not going unprepared! I tried to bring the baby saucer but it would not fit in our Tahoe! So, we checked in and took Chase to the rooftop pool. Then decided to take the boys for a stroll around downtown. Um, has anyone been to downtown San Antonio during the day? It is filled with characters and homeless people that are out. Of. Their. Mind. Every single person we encountered had a neck tatoo on the side of their neck. And mind you, we stayed in a really nice hotel/suite on the riverwalk! Anyways, the first night was pretty challenging because Chase decided he did not want to go to bed. I'm sure it was from all the excitement of staying in a hotel and all the hype about going to SeaWorld in the morning. Mommy and daddy got no sleep to say the least! Next day, we woke up and headed over to SeaWorld for our brunch with Elmo and all the Sesame Street gang. This was priceless! If you ever go to SeaWorld, you HAVE to do this if you have little ones 4 and under! Chase had a smile from ear to ear and Shane was in awe of all the characters! The entire brunch the characters make their rounds over and over to your table and take pictures with you, and play games after brunch like hide n' seek! It was awesome! The only downside was Shane was the youngest (most kids were Chase's age) and the characters were all over him! They would not leave our table! Even Elmo insisted on holding him- I mean, there was no negotiation, Elmo was going to hold him! It was a little overwhelming and borderline stalker- ish lol! But sweet nonetheless! After brunch, because the park is not open until after brunch, we basically had the whole park to ourselves without any crowds. The weather was perfect! They have a big splash park in the Sesame Street town, lots of tunnels above the town and rides! Chase had the time of his life! After 4 hours of Sesame Street, we saw the Shamu show and then both boys hit a wall! We left after another hour of the splash park, and had a really late lunch hectic lunch. We had been feeding Chase sugar and juice all day to keep the energy up -don't judge us!!! We got back downtown and went to the mall, walked around, got room service and put the boys to bed, opened a bottle wine (yes, mommy and daddy need to unwind now and then), went to sleep, woke up, drove home, stopped for lunch on the way! All in all, it was a blast! A LOT of work at times but soo glad we did it!!!!! Cannot wait to go to Disney World hopefully next year!!!