Texas Day 4

Day 4 of our Texas trip started with packing and a little light cleaning of our lovely rental house. Somehow things never seem to quite fit back in your suitcase the same way as previously packed. Packing for 2 kids was interesting to say the least. Babies sure do come with a lot of stuff! After we were all packed we headed downtown to meet D., she was going to be our tour guide for the afternoon before we had to catch our flight.

We found a parking garage and waiting a few minutes for her to arrive. I was already feeling sad about saying goodbye to Briana and Noel and was seriously not looking forward to having to say goodbye to D. We had so much history in just 11 short months. I tried to push that aside and make the most of the few hours we had left. We ventured out to find the Alamo. So many people had said that I would be disappointed with the Alamo but I personally thought it was pretty cool. I wish it had been a little less crowded so I could have read all of the little signs and plaques, but I think we got the gist of it. The building is still beautiful even after all these years. We took a self-guided tour, took a few pictures (outside), and headed to the gift shop for some souvenirs.

After the Alamo we continued walking downtown and made our way to the River Walk area. Very cool. Beautiful landscaping along winding bricked walkways on the water. I kept thinking that walk would have taken forever if Dad had been there. He would have wanted to inspect and then teach us about every plant and flower we passed. I wouldn’t have minded though, that would have been time well spent.

We bought tickets for the water taxi tour and we really enjoyed it! Of course, my camera decided to die at that time, so I took zero pictures, but take my word for it, it was really enjoyable. Next we walked a few blocks to the Rainforest Café – a really interesting place for lunch. It is decorated like a huge jungle complete with animatronics and “thunder storms” that come up every 20 minutes. I think it was a little loud for my father in law, but the rest of us enjoyed it. Even Caleb thought the giant gorilla near our table was fun.J

We were quickly running out of time so after lunch we headed back to the garage. And again, we were faced with having to say goodbye. I really didn’t want too. Because, just with Briana, I didn’t know how long it would be before we could see each other again. We hugged, a few times, and promised to keep in touch. My sweet D. means so much to us. We just adore her and her sweet spirit. I wish I could protect her from all the negativity and the things that she is facing. I can’t wait until we can visit again, or maybe next time her and T will come to see us!!

We turned in our cars at the drop-off location and took a shuttle to the airport. I had looked at the tickets and informed everyone we had plenty of time because our flight did not leave until 5:50pm, and it was currently just a little after 4pm. Ummmm, not sure where I got that info from because after we all used the restrooms, and made our way to print our boarding passes and check our luggage I looked again at the times. We were leaving at 4:50 not 5:50!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY Goodness!!!!!! We rushed through security – thank God we had the baby and stroller cause we always got to go through a special line, and then we all rushed to our gate. I almost blew that whole situation and we would have missed our flight! Thankfully, we made it with a few minutes to spare and loaded the plane with no more problems!

Caleb did great on the flight again and just drank his bottle and took a good long nap. We couldn’t have asked for a better flying companion. Amber enjoyed her window seat, especially when it got dark outside and she could see all the pretty lights.

We arrived in Charlotte, had dinner and were passing the time at our gate. It was getting really close to boarding when the attendant made an announcement that the flight from Charlotte to Jacksonville was boarding at E31……not the terminal we had been sitting at for an hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, so this time it was not my fault!! Our boarding passes confirmed that where we were sitting was correct but the airport had changed the terminal and we had not heard the announcement. So there we were again, about 30 gates away from our boarding plane! We loaded our stuff and started hauling booty to our gate. Mom, Caleb, and I hitched a ride with a security guard so we wouldn’t have to run with the stroller and we made it just in the nick of time! We loaded the plane, strapped our belts and let out a collective sigh of relief.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, located our luggage, drove home, and passed out!!

We all had a wonderful, memorable time but we were all SO glad to be almost HOME!