My 33rd Birthday and Adam's "Big Boy" Trip.

For the fourth we went to San Antonio for Adam's "Big Boy Trip." Basically, it was my birthday and I haven't had a vacation in a very long time. Secondly, it was time to give up the beloved paci. His two year old molars finally came in the month after he turned three. He wasn't sick, and it was just time for it to go. I knew that it would not be one of those things where we could just get rid of them without a big ordeal, because he was very addicted and very much relied on them to help him calm down, because it takes mountains to pull him out of over-stimulation mode and back into reality most of the time.

But, it was time, and it was an elaborate scheme:
1. The Paci's are going to someone who needs them. (For the record, the person who needs them is me, being a packrat and overly sentimental, they are packed away in my closet.)

2. You're going on a special "Big Boy Trip" with Mommy and Daddy. Colin and Claire are staying with Mamie and Grandpa for four days.

3. If you are very good and get 80 stickers on the trip, when you get home...

4. You'll get a big boy bike.

(P.S. He couldn't care less about getting the stickers, but really really just wanted to be good.)

We arrived in the hotel and toured the place, and he made himself right at home.

laughter.

Then we went to see the fireworks. Those pictures are in my previous blog, Adam's First Fireworks.

We got back very, VERY late after sitting in traffic for a very long, painful time. Adam was just DONE. And it was his first night without the paci, and in a strange hotel, and after being in the car for hours upon hours... it wasn't the best planning on my part, but it was just as bad as it was going to get, and then after that, for him, it didn't seem so bad. Although he did miss the paci's very much and asked for them, he understood that they were not there because we had prepared him. It think we would have been up all night for 3 days if I had sprung it on him. He's just not that kind of kid. He needs the communication. I really think that's the only thing that saved us.

Here he is, calling for room service after the fireworks (I did call for dinner since we had missed it completely and I need a ceasar salad refueling.) I ordered him mac and cheese but I think he was calling for a pacifier fix. And yes, the clock does say 1:14 am.

We hung out at the pool the next day. We were at the JW Marriot resort in San Antonio, and they have a great pool, lazy river, and water park slide (which was too big for Adam... but we did the rest and he was happy).

This picture had to be cropped because he was running next to a kid about a year older than him, and it was so cute... until I looked at the image later and realized that kids' shorts were around his thighs and sharing bare butt. I may push the limit sometimes but I didn't want to share a stranger kid's butt online... plus, I've been there. Shorts fall down. It happens.

Multi-tasking. Waiting for our table on the patio with a snack and the iPad.

He moves so fast sometimes that I don't notice how exhausted he is until I start taking pictures.

 We got the table and had a nice lunch, including drinks. The iPad is his "calm down" tool.

He's looking at the menu and copying the letters so he can type new words.

If your parents are going to let you blow bubbles in your apple juice on vacation, you take advantage.

Fixing my margarita while a bee checks it out. We don't panic around bees.

SMILE!

With all the things we could do, the arcade/game room was his favorite.

I get that this is what kids like, and I get that most of the time said kids are much older than Adam... but is this kind of game really necessary... I mean, at all? I felt that way before I had kids.

He got to help me design an inner tube. But mostly, he just wanted an inner tube.

 Some down time.

This is one of my all-time favorites.

We walked around before my birthday manicure-pedicure (LOVELY), and while Shannon shopped for some new golf shirts. He was not in a good mood that morning, and really wanted to go back to the pool. At one point Shannon asked if he was going to be good or bad that day, and he looked at him and said, "bad."

He got over it quickly though.

The hotel and golf course posted this on their facebook page with my permission.

In the effort to give Shannon some time to shop without someone touching everything in the store, we stayed outside and explored. He wanted to see what Dad was doing.

That night we ate dinner at a really good Mexican restaurant (La Hacienda, but not the chain). There was a long wait there too, but we took it so we could sit on the patio again.

 While we waited, Adam helped some kids throw sticks at the pear tree to get the fruit to drop.

We came home on Sunday after stopping in Waco at Buzzard Billy's and touring the Baylor campus. When Adam and the twins saw each other, he gave each of them big hugs and they wrestled to celebrate their reunion. My parents are so awesome and brave to watch my two toddlers... who are not exactly "still and cuddly."

Next time I'm hoping that our vacation is a true "family vacation," but it was nice to get some one on one time with Adam. He needed it, he deserves it, and most of all, the paci is gone, and he is so much happier now feeling like a "big boy."