After our pool time, we headed back upstairs to change. Adam ran out and got us some lunch, I cannot remember what he got us (Subway, maybe)? We ate lunch and then Lyla took a nap. Swimming is no joke and it is SO great how is wears her out.
My uncle Fred (my mom's older brother) and I had talked before we headed to San Antonio and he mentioned that we HAD to go to HemisFair Park. In all my research I had not come across it, but once getting in to the city, there would have been no way we would have missed it. It is a world famous landmark. It is a beautiful park with tons of waterfalls, a playground, tons of beautiful old trees and a very tall tower called the "Tower of the Americas" in the center of it. The park was built in 1968 to host the World's Fair. It was beautiful. We drove there and after we parked, we spent some time walking around, checking out the different water features.
A nice person offered to take our family picture. The Tower is behind us, but it is so tall there was no way to get it all the the picture with us....
....here is the top of it. The Tower of the Americas is 750 feet to the top of the antenna, 87 feet higher than the Seattle Space Needle and 67 feet higher than the Washington Monument, making it one of the tallest free-standing structures in the western hemisphere. Like I said, there was no way we would have missed it!
My sweet girl!
Of course she wanted her turn to take some pictures of us, and since Adam was there, I had someone to take a picture with! Still shocking me, she actually did a great job taking our picture. There are some really good ones!
Daddy and daughter! Totally happy to have her daddy back by her side for sure!
Such a sweet moment captured.
Love my family.
The water features were so pretty. The whole park was so tranquil. All you could hear was falling water, making it so peaceful.
Some more moments captured by Lyla.
See what I mean? She actually took some really good pictures that I love!
After we finished walking around, we went in to the Tower of the Americas. You can take an elevator to Flags over Texas, the observation deck and look out over the entire city. I think it was around $11 for each Adam and I and Lyla was free. That allowed us up on the observation deck and entrance to the 4D movie, Skies Over Texas. There was a line once we got inside to get on the elevator and someone was not happy about waiting in line....
Once we got up there, I honestly was not that impressed. I am not sure if it was because it was overcast or because the landscape was not that pretty (have I mentioned how FLAT Texas is?!) or because Lyla was not impressed. So needless to say we did not spend much time up there. It was amazing though how high we were and how much land we could see. We walked all the way around and then headed back downstairs to watch the 4D movie.
It was quite windy!!
We did the 4D experience and Lyla did NOT like it one bit. It totally freaked her out and she cried almost the entire time. There was nothing scary about the actual movie, it was all about the land of Texas, but the seats moving, the water in the face, the snake jumping out at us, the over-all 4D experience was what she hated. I know this for sure now because we went to the 4D movie at the aquarium, which is really cute, but all the extras that go with the 4D experience set her off again and we had to leave. Poor thing!
Here is a picture of the tower from a distance to get the whole thing in.
The entrance to the park.
After we finished up at HemisFair Park, we were hungry for dinner. We decided that we would eat somewhere along the river for the true San Antonio experience. We picked out an Italian restaurant called PaeSanos. What can I say, I love me some Italian, there was no wait, and we got to sit outside by the river. We were able to watch the boats go by and have I mentioned the perfect weather?? What more could we want?!
Lyla for some reason does not do well with restaurant food. She just doesn't eat it. I could order her mac and cheese or peanut butter and jelly (things I fix for her) and she just won't eat them. Great for us, cause it saves us money, but hard when you are on vacation and don't have a kitchen to fix a meal to take for her. Luckily, our room had a small refrigerator, so I was able to bring a few things to have for her (and I did take a few things at each breakfast to have through out the day, like yogurt and fruit).
She does love her some salad, so that is what I ordered for her and she ate the entire thing.
Couldn't even stop eating to take a picture, guess she was hungry!
Happy girl!
Our yummy food.
It was so nice that we were outside and it was loud and laid back. She could run around and be crazy and no one cared! After we finished eating we were able to get a closer look at the river before heading back up to street level.
The River.
The river is located below street level, so we had to go up and down stairs.
One of the River Boat cruise boats. I was so excited for Lyla to see the boat....we would be doing that the next day! I couldn't wait to spend more time on the River and see what it was all about!
After dinner, we made a stop for an ice cream dessert! We are on vacation, after all! Yum Yum!
Happy girl with a tummy full of salad and ice cream.
Pictures by Lyla....
Lyla loved seeing the horse-drawn carriages. We never took a ride and she was ok with that, I am not ever sure she knew you could. She was just happy looking at them and saying hello to the horses!
Walking back to the car.
Love these two with all my heart.
Melt my heart.
I loved that you could walk so many places. We headed back to the hotel to put Lyla to bed and Adam and I got to pick another movie to relax to. We had another busy day ahead of us the next day!
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