Family Fun Adventure

It was 4:45 and we were nearly home.  We'd had a late lunch and a noisy afternoon downtown at Palmer Events Center, where we'd gone to the "Camp Fair" to gather information on the myriad summer day camp choices for the kids:  dance, science, performance, art, golf, nature, language immersion, just to name a few.

After the fair we'd walked to Sandy's and stuffed ourselves with frozen custard, then walked back to the car and - finally, it seemed - headed home.

We were nearly there when Twin Daddy said, "We should go to San Antonio right now."  I raised an eyebrow.  "Really," he said.  "It's been so long since we've been there."

I thought of the wet laundry waiting in the washer, the pile of mail on my desk, my overstuffed closet I'd promised myself I'd finally clean this weekend, the tired kids in the backseat.  "Ok," I said hesitantly.

"Girls, what do you think, do you want to go to San Antonio right now and stay in a hotel?"  he yelled to the backseat.

"Yeah!!"    

"Ok," I said again, still not sure how this was going to go down.

Twin Daddy laid down the plan, and the law.  "Here's how it will work.  EVERYBODY.  When we get home I'll set the timer for 15 minutes.  Everybody has to be ready when the timer goes off, or we don't go.  If anybody cries, 'uncle' and says they just can't make it, we won't go."

The girls and Twin Daddy seemed so excited that I finally gave in.  "Ok!" I said, meaning it this time.

And so the great Family Fun Adventure began.  Twin Daddy gave us girls a one minute head start and we all sprinted into the house to get ready.  By the time the 15 minute timer sounded, all 4 of us had packed an adequate overnight bag and Twin Daddy had booked us a last minute bargain at a 4 star hotel on the Riverwalk using Priceline.com.  We were off.

On the way, Twin Daddy made us all pinky swear that we would have a good time, no fighting, no whining, no arguing.  "Fun" was the number one rule for our Family Fun Adventure, no matter what happened.

The rule held, despite some disappointing traffic, overcrowding at Casa Rio that pushed us to a less-than-stellar restaurant, a horrible margarita for Twin Daddy that I sent back on his behalf, and a very late night for the girls.  It was fun, and there was no fighting, no whining, and no arguing.

This morning, after a fairly decent night's sleep, I ordered room service so I could get a good cup of coffee and the girls could stay happy.  After a trip to the Alamo that teetered on whiny due to complaints about thirst and hunger, we bought the commemorative $25 photo to memorialize our Family Fun Adventure, and stopped at El Mirador to stuff ourselves happy with Mexican food one last time.  The drive home was peaceful and quick, thanks to the "Nancy Clancy" audiobook on Twin Daddy's phone.

Family Fun Adventure #1: a rousing success.