I have managed to get a couple of weeks behind in my writing. It is time to catch up. During this week, our family went on summer vacation. We came back into town and I worked one night and then had a three day weekend. It was a good week.
After work on Sunday morning at 6 AM, I drove home and began packing up the Suburban for our trip. We got loaded into the family truckster and met some friends, T and his wife M and their daughter H, who were vacationing with us. Then we caravanned to the outlet mall in San Marcos. We ate and then began to shop. We had the children with us, so shopping was a challenge. A nine year old and two four year olds do not enjoy clothes shopping. T really helped out during the shopping. He took the initiative and tried to entertain the children while the rest of us shopped. That was very helpful and made the shopping experience bearable.
We left the outlet mall and drove to New Braunfels. There we met a friend who is an arson investigator. He showed the kids all around the fire station where he works along with the ambulance, and pumper truck. He opened every cabinet and explained to the kids how all of the tools and gear were used. The kids had a blast. We left and drove to our final destination for the week, San Antonio.
T and I woke up early on Monday morning to play golf. We played at The Quarry in San Antonio. The location used to be the site of a rock quarry. Nine holes are up out of the quarry and nine holes are down in the quarry. It was a very cool place for a golf course. The course was in great shape and the staff was great. The week was off to a good start.
That afternoon we toured the Alamo. It had been years since I had been there and A1 will be studying it next year in fourth grade. A1 really seemed to be interested in the history and the story of the battle. Then we took a boat tour of the Riverwalk. A family got on the boat after us and the mom took a few water bottles out and handed them to her kids. A1 then immediately said that he was thirsty and that mom gave him a water bottle. It was a very nice gesture since it was smokin hot outside. Jen talked to her for most of the boat tour. Afterwords we enjoyed a nice Mexican dinner beside the river with our friends from New Braunfels.
Tuesday started our tour of the local amusement parks. First up was SeaWorld. A1 was very excited since we were joined by some friends that have kids his age. Everywhere we went they sat in the splash zone. They were splashed by water skiers and Shamu. Luckily for us and his trainers, Shamu did not try to eat anyone while we were there. We spent the afternoon in the water park which became a trend for the week.
Speaking of water parks, they are great places to people watch. It is absolutely amazing what people will wear and not wear to these places. You see a little and sometimes a lot of everything. It turned into a little bit of a game for Jen and I. We tried to point out the funniest people to each other. I think that I won for the week. At the Fiesta Texas water park, I pointed out an older man wearing a red banana hammock (speedo) who was absolutely covered in hair. He reminded me of Sully from Monster's Inc, except his fur was not blue. It seemed like 30 black Chinchillas were hitchhiking on the man. That meant the visual was hair / hammock / hair. I win.
While I am on the subject of water parks, when did wave pools get so lame? The wave pools at SeaWorld and Fiesta Texas were incredibly boring. You wait in the pool for 10 minutes and then there is 5 minutes of "waves". The waves are smaller than what you find in a backyard pool after a good cannonball. I seem to remember actual waves at the wave pools when I was younger. Maybe I was just smaller so the waves seemed bigger, but I doubt it.
On the other hand, the wave river at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels was an absolute blast. They have a wave maker built into the side of a lazy river. By the time the wave reaches the opposite side of the river, the wave is about 4 feet tall. The waves are generated about every 20 seconds without a break. There are tubes to float on and they even have some tubes with bottoms so that little kids will not fall out. We all linked together and floated around the river enjoying the waves. The kids had fun and I could have done that all day.
Wednesday was Fiesta Texas. It was our first time at this park. The thing that I immediately noticed was the lack of shade while waiting in line for the rides. It was hot and there was no breeze and no shade. They really missed the boat on that. A little shade and some fans or misters would go a long way towards making customers comfortable while waiting.
On Thursday we drove up to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels. It is a huge water park divided into three distinct areas. The park was clean and the prices for food were more reasonable than the other parks. It was my favorite park for the week.
One consistent aspect of the three parks was the high cost of renting a locker. Since all three either are or have water parks, you need other clothes and towels. Unless you want to carry that stuff around all day, you have to rent a locker. These lockers cost between $10 and $15 a day. It is a money printing scheme for the parks.
We returned home Friday morning. I worked Friday night. I was the print unit and nothing eventful happened, at least that I remember. I was off Saturday night, so I had a three day weekend to recover from the vacation.
After work on Sunday morning at 6 AM, I drove home and began packing up the Suburban for our trip. We got loaded into the family truckster and met some friends, T and his wife M and their daughter H, who were vacationing with us. Then we caravanned to the outlet mall in San Marcos. We ate and then began to shop. We had the children with us, so shopping was a challenge. A nine year old and two four year olds do not enjoy clothes shopping. T really helped out during the shopping. He took the initiative and tried to entertain the children while the rest of us shopped. That was very helpful and made the shopping experience bearable.
We left the outlet mall and drove to New Braunfels. There we met a friend who is an arson investigator. He showed the kids all around the fire station where he works along with the ambulance, and pumper truck. He opened every cabinet and explained to the kids how all of the tools and gear were used. The kids had a blast. We left and drove to our final destination for the week, San Antonio.
T and I woke up early on Monday morning to play golf. We played at The Quarry in San Antonio. The location used to be the site of a rock quarry. Nine holes are up out of the quarry and nine holes are down in the quarry. It was a very cool place for a golf course. The course was in great shape and the staff was great. The week was off to a good start.
That afternoon we toured the Alamo. It had been years since I had been there and A1 will be studying it next year in fourth grade. A1 really seemed to be interested in the history and the story of the battle. Then we took a boat tour of the Riverwalk. A family got on the boat after us and the mom took a few water bottles out and handed them to her kids. A1 then immediately said that he was thirsty and that mom gave him a water bottle. It was a very nice gesture since it was smokin hot outside. Jen talked to her for most of the boat tour. Afterwords we enjoyed a nice Mexican dinner beside the river with our friends from New Braunfels.
Tuesday started our tour of the local amusement parks. First up was SeaWorld. A1 was very excited since we were joined by some friends that have kids his age. Everywhere we went they sat in the splash zone. They were splashed by water skiers and Shamu. Luckily for us and his trainers, Shamu did not try to eat anyone while we were there. We spent the afternoon in the water park which became a trend for the week.
Speaking of water parks, they are great places to people watch. It is absolutely amazing what people will wear and not wear to these places. You see a little and sometimes a lot of everything. It turned into a little bit of a game for Jen and I. We tried to point out the funniest people to each other. I think that I won for the week. At the Fiesta Texas water park, I pointed out an older man wearing a red banana hammock (speedo) who was absolutely covered in hair. He reminded me of Sully from Monster's Inc, except his fur was not blue. It seemed like 30 black Chinchillas were hitchhiking on the man. That meant the visual was hair / hammock / hair. I win.
While I am on the subject of water parks, when did wave pools get so lame? The wave pools at SeaWorld and Fiesta Texas were incredibly boring. You wait in the pool for 10 minutes and then there is 5 minutes of "waves". The waves are smaller than what you find in a backyard pool after a good cannonball. I seem to remember actual waves at the wave pools when I was younger. Maybe I was just smaller so the waves seemed bigger, but I doubt it.
On the other hand, the wave river at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels was an absolute blast. They have a wave maker built into the side of a lazy river. By the time the wave reaches the opposite side of the river, the wave is about 4 feet tall. The waves are generated about every 20 seconds without a break. There are tubes to float on and they even have some tubes with bottoms so that little kids will not fall out. We all linked together and floated around the river enjoying the waves. The kids had fun and I could have done that all day.
Wednesday was Fiesta Texas. It was our first time at this park. The thing that I immediately noticed was the lack of shade while waiting in line for the rides. It was hot and there was no breeze and no shade. They really missed the boat on that. A little shade and some fans or misters would go a long way towards making customers comfortable while waiting.
On Thursday we drove up to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels. It is a huge water park divided into three distinct areas. The park was clean and the prices for food were more reasonable than the other parks. It was my favorite park for the week.
One consistent aspect of the three parks was the high cost of renting a locker. Since all three either are or have water parks, you need other clothes and towels. Unless you want to carry that stuff around all day, you have to rent a locker. These lockers cost between $10 and $15 a day. It is a money printing scheme for the parks.
We returned home Friday morning. I worked Friday night. I was the print unit and nothing eventful happened, at least that I remember. I was off Saturday night, so I had a three day weekend to recover from the vacation.
1 comment:
You and I would have some serious fun at a water park because of the people-watching. It never ceases to amaze me what people will wear in public, especially at amusement and water parks. Sometimes it's just not okay to lose one's inhibitions....
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