We traveled to the Southern part of Texas this past week. Jeremy had a conference in Austin, so the girls and I tagged along. We stayed in the Radison hotel on the 8th floor. Victoria and Bella were hyped on Austin and shout "Austin Rocks!" in this picture.The coolest place around- figuratively and literally was the Austin Children's Museum. It had so many interactive learning experiences. My favorite was a room devoted to a Mexican artist Carmen? (name's failing me) and her paintings. They would show a painting, then bring it to life and let the kids be part of the picture. Here Victoria and Bella dress up in Mexican garb and create music for a fiesta.
One of her paintings was of Carmen helping her mother to make tamales. They had little pieces of cloth cut out like corn husks and maso and little brown bean bags for the meat. They showed a diagram of how to make the tamales. Victoria made a couple for me.
They had an activity center discussing how to make a quilt and lots of precut cloth and ribbon. The girl's made their own quilt patches.
One of the activities was to create your own "Ducky Chair." Victoria was very proud of hers.
Bella was proud of hers too.
In one activity, you were instructed to create your own vehicle that would roll down a platform that you controlled the angle of dissension. Victoria's vehicle was a success.
One station had materials and supplies to create a "Shadow Puppet." The arms and legs were supposed to be able to rotate with fasteners or pipe cleaners. Bella created herself. (FYI- Bella drew a smiley face on the chest.)
They also had many mock rooms, such as a restaurant, a construction zone, a grocery store, a train station, and a veterinary clinic, to name a few. All in all- very cool.
After a nap, the girls wanted to do some summing. Victoria was a little weary about getting into the water after a upsetting incident at Denise's pool the last weekend where she tried to swim on her own without a life vest. Swimming is an on going lesson for her. Bella, on the other hand, knows no fear. She has started swimming to me from the wall for a couple of strokes and loves to jump in at any chance she gets.
The girls and I ate at TGIFridays outdoor patio and watched the bats come out at dinnertime. They were mesmerizing.
The next day, we took a trolley to the capital and played chase on the front lawn. The girls weren't as interested in this building and kept complaining about how hot it was.
When Jer's conference was over we loaded up and headed for San Antonio. Along the way we saw a sign for Natural Cavern's Wildlife Perserve, so we gave it a try. What fun! The animals go right up to your car. I was kind of grateful for the heat, because most of the wilder ones were snoozing in the sun. Afterward, there was a feeding area for the kids. Victoria was reluctant to feed the goats, but in the end did and was very proud of herself. Bella's goal was to pet all the animals and talk to them. It was quite cute.
Our Sea World adventure in San Antonio was a disappointment. Not only was the cost extremely high, but it was so CROWDED and HOT. Bella and Victoria were very whiny. We did see two shows- the dolphin one and Shamu. When we were done with the shows we headed off to go swimming- which we had been promising Victoria throughout the entire day. When we got to the section, there was an hour long wait just to go into the water area- insane. We ended up calling it quits and heading back early to our beloved Frisco.
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