Take a walk on the wild side: Day 4

We woke up and ate some Texas sized waffles (literally, they were the shape of Texas) and got on the road for Waco. Magnolia Market and the Silos are on our path today and I’m as excited as shiplap. I got hooked on Chip and Jo’s show Fixer Upper when Will and I spent our afternoons snuggled on the couch on house arrest. Now, as we move to our new house and plan out a memory garden for him, I’m excited to hopefully take a little inspiration from this space.

We drove through some torrential rains, some terrible Dallas traffic, and saw some pretty scary lightening, but we arrived!! The light rain there was perfect. Light enough our umbrellas were sufficient in keeping us dry, but also enough to keep the crowds away.

We still had to wait in line at the Bakery, but the Silo cookies were enough to make us forget all about the wait.

Much like the show, you can see Joanna’s creative touch on every element at the Silos. It was a beautiful oasis in the middle of the city and a little sad that most of the locals probably don’t often get to enjoy it. We were there on a rainy Monday, so I can’t even imagine the crowds on a sunny Saturday. The turf lawn was perfect to play on today since the rain would have otherwise created a muddy mess with the foot traffic. The covered picnic tables and food trucks would have been a welcome addition as well if the crowds were crazy.

We, luckily, were able to move about with ease, buy a few seeds, check out all the cute niches and relax for a bit. It was the perfect visit and fun to see the Findery and a few other places where Chip and Jo have left their mark on Waco.

From Waco we headed to Austin. After a little while in the car, we needed a good place to stretch our legs so we checked out Zilker Park and the Barton Creek Hot Springs. This 350 acre park has hot springs (which stay about 70 degrees year round), an awesome playground, tons of water rentals, and a cute train. It was the perfect pit stop for a bathroom break and to run off a bit of energy. No lie, the smell of urine overtook the beauty of the hot springs, but the park was a great way to stretch our legs for a bit before we got back on the road.

How cool is this playground?

After Austin we headed into San Antonio. We checked into our hotel and decided we would scope out 4 of the 5 missions today so that we could break up our “mission trip” and keep the girl's attention. Let’s be honest…today was all about me. Magnolia Market and the Missions were something I knew the girls wouldn’t enjoy, but they were also things I didn’t want to miss on the way. I explained they were going to probably be hot and bored as we toured the missions (it was 102 today and the sun was brutal), however, most of the trip was stuff they enjoyed so they had to suck it up today for mom. They were troopers, and enjoyed the missions far more than I had imagined.

We started with Concepcion, (still an active church and oldest unrestored church in the US and Emma and my favorite).

Then down to San Jose (the largest of the missions and everyone else’s favorite).

The girls decided missionaries must be short.

Then to San Juan (which still has a private residence on it). Then down to Espada which unfortunately was closed by the time we got there so we missed touring it. Bummer.

Emma's drive through evangelization window...

They were a beautiful piece of history and the perfect opening before we head to the Alamo tomorrow. After our tour of the missions, we headed back downtown to fill Marks craving for some good southern BBQ. The girls enjoyed a little fried chicken but were totally confused as to why they were served sweet iced tea. I guess these girls aren’t cut out to be southerners after all.

With full bellies we took off for Tower of the Americas and the Hemis Fair. We questioned if it was worth the entry fee to go up in the tower, but let me assure you, it’s got a lot of bang for your buck. We started off with a 4D movie “Skies over Texas” which was super informative and interesting and being 4D seemed very similar to a ride like Soarin at Disney. It was awesome to see the landscape of Texas from above and feel the breezes of the flight. Since there was no line, we stayed and rode the 4D Rio and 4D Ice Age as well. Two great movies to experience in 4D.

Can you tell she was pumped for the ride?

We then headed up the tower to watch the sunset. Emma is extremely afraid of heights, but with the glass panels and concrete floor, she decided she had been up far worse so she was a rock star. (She wasn’t so sure about the glass elevator ride to the top though.)

Which of these girls looks nervous to you?

The views were amazing, the cool breeze was the perfect escape from the hot day as the temps remained steady into the evening and with the clear skies you could really see for miles.

Gorgeous sunset with a gorgeous girl.

She quickly became brave and wanted to check out all the views.

It has it's own museum up there so we read up on the history of Texas becoming a republic and many of its great leaders through time.

Goodnight, sun.

I could have stayed up there all night, but the girls were getting anxious to swim, so we headed back down, strolled through some of the waterfalls of the Riverwalk and headed back to the hotel to swim away the heat. The late night swim was the perfect way to end our hot day.