Mommy has been slacking off again, and hasn't written to you in almost a month. Of course, a lot has happened and I finally have the time to sit down and write to you. Let me tell you about our San Antonio trip!
The main reason for the trip was for Uncle Harold's retirement from the Air Force. It was a nice short vacation to get away from the busy, busy life in the Bay Area, to a completely different environment, and not to worry about anything but what to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
We arrived at around dinner time and after checking into our hotel,Courtyard Marriott at Stone Oak, we went over to Uncle Harold and Auntie Judy's house. Auntie Neil was already there, and we just spent a casual evening catching up and enjoying each other's company. It was great to finally meet little Alan. He has gone through so much, especially when he has to go through chemotherapy again. Luckily, Alan seemed to be in a great & active mood, and we had a lot of fun.
This is the big day for Uncle Harold's fini flight. We went over to the Sanders in the morning, picked up Grandma and headed to Subway to pick up 4 super long sandwiches for the retirement lunch party. We then followed directions carefully written by Uncle Harold and Auntie Judy to the Randolph Air Fore Base. This was such an honorable and memorable experience: from entering into the AF Base, to seeing Uncle Harold flying back, to the special "water" ceremony, and the official retirement ceremony and speeches, everything was just perfect!
We met up with the Sanders again in the morning for brunch at a Mexican restaurant that close to our hotel. Food was good and best of all, there's a big play structure outside the restaurant for the kids to play around. In the afternoon, we tested out the hotel's swimming pool, and your brother had his first swim ever! He was a little scared in the beginning, and holding onto Daddy and Mommy like a koala. Eventually, he warmed up and had a lot of fun playing in the water. He's still scared, and didn't like water in his eyes (just like Mommy!) but he didn't want to leave.
At night, we went over to the Sanders again for Uncle Harold's retirement dinner party. More delicious food! Your brother wanted to play in their backyard with all the kids the whole time, and I was dreading the hot and humid weather. And let me tell you, those San Antonio mosquitoes weren't kind to me! I got huge bug bites that lasted for DAYS!! In the end, it was a nice party. Just chilling and watching the kids play. Like I said, this is a very relaxing trip and that's what I needed.
Today's the day we went to Morgan's Wonderland. This is a very unique and special theme park especially for children with special needs. The place was beautiful and so ADA accessible. Everything was new and everyone was friendly. All of the staff that I came in contact with were volunteers, and they were all 100% friendly! San Antonio is lucky to have such a great place for the little ones. We stayed there for a long time and left pretty late. We had to keep hydrated the whole time as it was pretty hot. Luckily, they had an indoor area blasting A/C where the kids could play. It was heaven! The theme park also tried to have a lot of shades and mist machines in a lot of the areas. I was just not used to the weather. I bet for the locals, it wasn't too hot as it was overcast that day.
After Morgan's Wonderland, we went back to the hotel to rest. At night, we out to the Riverwalk area again and tried out another steakhouse. Luckily, this time the steaks at Texas Land and Cattle Steak House were a lot better! Actually, for whatever reason, our food came out really slowly and our waitress said something about helping out in the kitchen, and apologized for the lack of service and food by giving us free steaks! Woohoo! Our whole meal only cost us $20! What a nice way to end our trip.
Day 5 - June 7:
This is the day we had to go back home. We had breakfast at Las Palapas, which seemed like a chain Mexican restaurant. We didn't need anything fancy, but just want something we can't find back home. Food was good and we're satisfied. Sadly, it was time to go to the airport.
It was a great and fun trip. Now, I am looking forward to our big August vacation. Work has been so crazy that I really, really, really need a long vacation.
Love you,
Mommy
