Happy July 4th!

To celebrate the 4th of July this year we decided to take advantage of the 3-day weekend and drive down to San Antonio. We left around 8:30 in the morning and made to San Antonio in a little over 4 hours, we made perfect time. Dallin is a wonderful car traveler and we didn't have to make any stops at all. He did great, he loved looking for cows and horses. It was really fun to point out the animals and hear Dallin in the backseat saying, "moo, moo" or "neigh, neigh".

The first thing we did was to head down to the Riverwalk and find some lunch. We enjoyed a nice little walk along the river, which was really cool. We were right next to the river and all along it they have wonderful shops and restaurants. Having been taught by commercials for Pace that San Antonio is where "real" salsa is made, we decided to go with one of the Mexican restaurants. The food was good and it was fun to eat so close to the river.
Dallin loved seeing the "quack, quacks" (a.k.a. ducks) along the river. Some of them would come up close to the edge and Dallin would get very excited. If nothing else they kept him entertained and happy while we were on our stroll.
After lunch at the Riverwalk we headed for the Alamo. We thought it was an appropriate activity to do as part of our Independence Day celebration. It was really interesting to learn more about that piece of American and Texas history.
We got to the Alamo just in time to hear some people dressed in costumes read the Declaration of Independence. Before they read the declaration, they showed us how to load and shoot a musket (because hey, it's not really a celebration of independence unless we are celebrating our Second Amendment rights). Following the firearm demonstration we recited the Pledge of Allegiance along with the other tourists and historians/revolutionaries. I don't think I've ever really said the pledge outside of school so it was nice to say it again and focus on the message of the Pledge, especially given the holiday. We then listened to the costumed men read the Declaration aloud, which was a wonderful experience. Some fun pictures from the Alamo. The first one is of me setting under a tree while Dallin and Doug waiting in line to get inside the Alamo. The Alamo was very busy on the 4th of July and had a very long line most of the day. The second is of Dallin, just because he's cute. The last picture is Dallin playing in his stroller with Doug while we were waited for the reading of the declaration to start. One funny story that I must mention is that as we were walking to our car after the Alamo it wasn't raining and the sun was shining. By the time we got to the car it was starting to rain. I volunteered to get Dallin in his car seat so that I would be covered. As I was doing that, it began to pour. Doug was left outside to try to get the bags and stroller in the trunk by himself. By the time Doug got everything in the trunk and was able to get in the car, he was completely drenched. Dallin and I, however, were able to remain warm and dry. Although I felt bad, I was grateful to know that I had a husband who was willing to sacrifice his personal comfort for the sake of his family.
For dinner we grilled hot dogs at the hotel. Dallin loved being able to run around outside for a few minutes and made some new friends while doing it. I was glad that they had a grill at the hotel, because it's just not the 4th of July without dinner from the grill. To complete the meal we had some baked beans, pasta salad and chips. Dallin of course enjoyed only the chips for dinner; he doesn't like hot dogs. (Editors note: Thanks to Melissa for planning such a great meal and fixing all of the side dishes so that we could have a traditional 4th of July dinner instead of going to a restaurant.)
Waiting with mommy and daddy for the fireworks to start.
To help pass the time before fireworks, we brought pop-its to entertain Dallin while we waited. Dallin loved them. It was fun to watch his face when they would pop. He loved throwing them to the ground; he would get so excited. Doug had to hold him in order for it to pop, because when we put Dallin on the ground he couldn't throw them hard enough. Daddy was kind enough to hold him the whole time we were playing with the pop-its.
These pictures don't do justice to the excitement that these glow-sticks brought to my little boy. He loved them and played with them for many days after, even though they didn't glow anymore. He had fun waving them and watching them glow. I think that he played with them so long after they stopped glowing because Daddy won't let him play with pens anymore. While we were driving to San Antonio Dallin got hold of a pen and wrote all over his car seat and the cooler, which was a big NO and resulted in a pen-ban. He used to be really good at playing with them with the lids on, but now he just gets to play with glow-sticks that don't glow anymore.
Laying with daddy watching the fireworks. Dallin did very good watching them. Doug did cover his ears because of the noise. I must say that I don't think the fireworks were Dallin's favorite part of the trip, but he did well sitting with us and watching.
What a long day!! While driving back to the hotel, I looked back and Dallin was asleep with his glow-sticks in hand. He had a very busy day and was extremely tired, he just couldn't wait the 10 minutes it took us to get back to our hotel before he was out.