We decided to take a family vacation this year since we didn't do one last year. Where to go on a small budget that was a fairly short travel in a non-plane sorta way? That was a duh answer for us-San Antonio. This was actually the Hubster's and my second trip down to SA for the year as we had gone down in January for the first PaxSouth convention, but we didn't really leave the convention area or see family while there. We didn't have to worry about the big expense of hotel since we had family to stay with.
Day 1
5 hours in a car with a 3 year old who has just started fighting being in a car seat sounds like a ton of fun right? Perhaps for those who love root canals and walking on shards of glass. Lucky for us, Little Man is normally a fantastic car napper normally, but I still wanted to come prepared. We had been debating a new iPad, so this gave us the excuse to go ahead and get one. Hubster loaded it up with a new "Jake and the Neverland Pirate" DVD and a selection of animated movies since the new iPad did not have access to data. Downside of that was it pretty much filled up the 16G of memory. I also got a collection of coloring items, books, and car friendly toys.
*Lesson 1: With the episodes of Jake, I could have just gone with one or two movies which would have freed up room to maybe put some of the apps I had found reviewed for toddlers. He really only got through one long episode of Jake and "Cinderella".
*Lesson 2: Less selection was better. We either read books, or he watched something. He played a little with his Bucky boat, but that was at his insistence over the difficulty of it. He liked on particular off-brand coloring book that he just flipped through and made-up stories for. It would have been better if I had could have gotten a more child-friendly app on iPad since it would take up less space.
-Stop 1: West Czech Stop-Normally, we stop on the way back to take kolaches home, but we stopped on the way there to get them as a surprise for my great aunt who we were staying with. This was a easy stop as always, and the kolaches were good as every. If you have never stopped here on the way, then I would suggest you make it a priority next time you go. A bonus was that I got to see an old school friend for a brief moment.
-Stop 2: Collins Street Bakery in Waco-While I have passed the pretty white building many times, I had never actually stopped. I read in a blog article (sorry but can't remember which) that it was a good stopping point for families, and it was definitely worth the stop. We got lunch for 3 adults and 1 toddler for about $20 including sandwiches, chips, and drinks. They had a decent selection of premade sandwiches as well as ones to be made to order. I was a bit limited with my abnormal food allergies since they were a little turkey heavy, and the soup had rice in it. However, the chicken salad sandwich I selected was good, and everyone else seemed to enjoy their picks. They also had a sweets part of the bakery. I picked zucchini bread since I hadn't had it in a long time, but it was a bit dry. The cherry cookie sample I tried was much better. However, the bake case was very inexpensively marked with most items less than $1.50
-Stop 3: Buc-ee's in Temple-Another win stop! This is one of the newest Buc-ee's in the area. My first experience with them was when we traveled to TRF for our first anniversary in 2009. That Buc-ee's was on a smaller scale; this is one of the megastories they have more recently been building. It is like you put Love's and Walmart together. They are a great stop because they have plenty to look at so you get a chance to walk around, and the rest room is large and very clean. Plus there are Buc-ee Nuggets! They are these yummy corn puff flavored with caramel. They are very addictive, too, so you have to watch it. They also supposedly have tasty beef jerky and a plethora of many other yummy treats.
Our last stop was really at some random gas station in the middle of no where since we were lost. We did take the tollway (130/45) around Austin, and unless you plan on stopping at Austin, I would highly suggest it. It cut down on some of the time we lost with the stops. Afterward, we went straight to San Antonio, but I did learn one last lesson.
*Lesson 3: NEVER EVER count on naps! I had planned for Little Man to go down after lunch when he normally does, and this was far from the truth. So having patients is extremely important!
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