The Days That Move Me

We've had a rough couple of weeks. Who am I kidding? It's been a rough couple of months! When this weekend came up, I had a bit of a panic attack. You see, I had the opportunity to go to San Antonio for a couple of days. I'd been sick earlier in the week and I probably should have stayed to catch up on work and house work. But something inside of me told me that I needed to let go of the "shoulds" and embrace the "nows."

Mari loves hotels. When we woke up in our hotel bed, Friday morning, Mari squealed with glee! We dressed, and had breakfast as a family. Then, Don kissed us goodbye as he set off for his conference. Mari and I loaded up and headed out for our special day, a day with just us. I only planned going to the zoo and that was planned just the evening before. For those of you who know me well, you know that I plan almost everything! I plan my days, I plan in terms of quarters of the year. Having things scheduled on my calendar makes me happy. Creating colorful itineraries gets me giddy. I didn't have ANY objectives going into this trip. Well, that's a lie. I just wanted to spend time with my family and try to shut out the white noise that always distracts me in the everyday. This was certainly a weekend that I would treasure for a long while.

So off we set to the San Antonio zoo! I went ahead a rented one of their double strollers to not only cart the Sugarbean around the zoo, but to also hold the bag of our supplies: water, Cheerios, camera, juice boxes, and such.

First up, the flamingoes. She could've spent the entire time there watching them.

We saw all sorts of animals and she seemed to love them all.

Then, just when I was going to go through the map again to decide what we could hit up again, she turned to me, peering through a small crack in the stroller and said, "Mom, I'm ready to go back to the hotel." My swelling feet didn't complain one bit! We took off and headed back. Not before stopping to grab a bite to eat for lunch at a nifty place called Order Up. (Which was really good!) I also, grabbed some dessert for us to indulge:

Once our meal was settled, we took advantage of the indoor pool. We both had a great time splashing around and enjoying one another's company. All the while, the little one inside me frolicked and kicked just the same. Not much longer until it is no longer just the two of us girls. I have to admit, I got a bit choked up at the thought (still do), but I hope she remembers days like that day, because those are the days that move me indeed.

I will always remember her like this:

And like this:

That evening, we met up with friends at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Mari loved her broccoli and corn dogs so much, she did a bit of a booty shake. Afterwards, we drove around downtown San Antonio, checking out the Alamo from afar, and driving over the Riverwalk multiple times.

We made it back to the hotel, settled in, and just laughed and giggled the night away. This was the exact reminder I needed that not everything needs to be planned.