A Quick Spring Break Re-Cap

Ok friends, lesson learned!  7 days of non-stop fun = one tired momma!

I am so pooped and coming down with a cold, but I would not change a thing from last week - everything was perfect - the weather in the mid 70's, each day went off without a hitch, even Bubba was on his best behavior (most of the time).  And we had what we will remember as one of the best Spring Breaks ever.

I sorted through 1200 photos that I took (remember, I will be blogging about all these places we went to over at R We There Yet Mom?. ) and narrowed it down to these few to give you a glimpse of our week.  I'll tell you more about the fun days we had when I can catch my breath! For now,  here is a tiny recap.

 Day One: SeaWorld San Antonio - we haven't been in years, so Matt took the day off and down we went.  The shows are even better than I remember.  The rides are very fun with relatively little wait time - here is Bubba on his first ride of the day!

 Matt & Bubba playing around - he was so good as we waited for the shows and waited for food and waited for rides.  Yes, we and what felt like the entire state of Texas was there that day.  It was crazy busy, but it didn't bother us.

 Day Two: Hike a local spot here in Austin - Mt. Bonnell - It's an easy hike up to see the beautiful view of Lake Austin on one side and downtown Austin on the other.  After our hike, we picnicked at Zilker Park and checked out the Austin NAture & Science Center where we dug up Dino bones in this huge pit of sand.  An absolutely wonderful day that didn't cost a dime! Yay!

 Day Three: Took us up to Waco to visit the Mayborn Museum.  This complex features an incredible Natural History museum that my kids really did enjoy.  But what they loved the most were the 17 (yep 17!) individual rooms at the Children's Museum.  They especially loved the bubble room.....

 We spent over 4 hours here and loved every minute of it.  Can't wait to talk about it on my other site - it is a true gem.
After our fun, we headed over to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & History Museum, where we learned all about the Texas Rangers (no - not the baseball team, the law enforcement division).  The kids played a fun scavenger hunt here.

To finish our busy day in Waco, we had to stop by the Mammoth Site - 19 sets of complete mammoth skeletons were discovered here in the late 70's and only recently, they opened this up to the public to see the last 2 they did not excavate.  It was fascinating to see the size of these things!  For more information about mammoths, check out online paleontology classes that can teach you how slow birth rate and climate change caused mammoth extinction.

 Measuring up to see how they compare to a Mammoth!

 Day Four: We headed out to the Hill Country and went directly to the LBJ Ranch and Historic Park.  President LBJ gave his land to the government to create a historic park where you can go and see his old schoolhouse, tour his "Texas White House", where he spent 25% of presidency at, and tour the working ranch.

 In the barns, the kids were able to feed and play with 5 week old goats - I just loved these pics!

 Day Five: Started with the Vanishing Texas River Cruise, where we were taken by boat to an abandoned town that was moved in the 1930's when a dam was built.  The town is covered in water 6 months out of the year and it was really cool to hear the history of it all.  Brody says this was one of his favorites!

 After that, we went to Longhorn Caverns - one of 7 caverns in Texas you can go into with a guided tour.  What makes this one unique is that it was created by a river- the walls are so smooth!  What was also funny was we ran into our neighbors while we were on the tour!

 Dinner that night was the famous Cooper's BBQ in Llano - I have been wanting to go for years! The ribs melted in your mouth.  Delish!!

 Day Six: We took the kids to the Sweet Berry Farms to pick strawberries.  We had a ton of fun doing it, but man those are tartest strawberries I ever tasted!!

While we were there, little Bubba took a quick train ride too!

Did you make it through?  I'm exhausted just typing it all out.  Looking back, we did a ton, but we took our time and never felt rushed.  Yes, it was all planned this way so that I could write about all 20+ places we visited last week.  But it was a completely do-able and enjoyable schedule.  The kids and I learned so much history and saw so many cool things, that we have been talking about it for days. I know in a few short years, hanging out with mom for Spring Break is going to be at the bottom of the list, so I am taking it all in while I can!

Linking up this post with my girls, Impulsive Addict and Seriously Shawn (who I get to see in less than 43 days - are you jealous???) for their Talk To Us Tuesday meme.  Link up whatever you got- there are NO rules!!