A Few of Our Favorite Things

What do you like to do in San Antonio? 

We hear this a lot from people we meet.  So many folks like to hit Sea World, the Alamo, Fiesta Texas, and so many other fun things there are to do.  This is an amazing city, especially in its downtown area.  

Honestly, I've often questioned our making these trips with Eric.  Is it silly?  Is it worth it?  We are blessed to have a district that sends Eric here, and we're so thankful.  But we don't go around and do the family things TBA offers, because of our challenges.  It would just be too hard.  

So what do you do?  You settle into who you are.  

Coming to conventions with Eric... the same ones I attended as a professional... have played a major role in teaching me who we are, and that embracing who God made us to be is where true joy and contentedness lie. 

So today, our day to travel home, we will share with you our favorite things.  These are the most precious things to our family down here.  They are our vacation; the thing these kids will look forward to and Ryan will ask about until the next convention (which is February 12... thanks, Melanie for checking the date for me).  

We'll start with the star of the show... the elevators at the Hyatt Regency.  

We watch the ones that go to guest rooms...

We look out at the water, and to his beloved "Blue Elevator"...

And just generally run around and enjoy the amazingness of this design.

Then there's the Disney Store, where we go just once.  Each kid gets a toy, and they look forward to this like it's Christmas.

There's also the little Irish pub we love.  Richie spouted over and over last night as we left, "I love this place even more than Sonic!"  And if you know how much this boy loves a Sonic grilled cheese, you know this is huge.

This year, we went late enough that they had a man from Ireland who played guitar and sang.  I was a little worried at first, but Ryan loved it!

My favorite part was, during a song he knew, Ryan shouted, "Bust my buffers!' cried Mavis!"  Yeah, Thomas goes where we go. 

And there's swimming.  The hotel pool is so much of our fun at TBA.  

Cheesin' for the camera on the hotel elevator, which is just about the only place to get a group shot... 

 Then there's JUMPING!!!!  We love jumping in the pool!  Guess you could say this is our Sea World!

Oh, and the coveted bubble pool... 

It has been an amazing trip.  We've had panic moments, meltdown moments, and delightful, amazing moments crammed full of happy.  And we've had plenty of what I like to call mirror moments.

Thanks be to God for the rollercoaster that is life, and for the opportunity to enjoy this great city.

Stay tuned for more on mirror moments tomorrow.