So, yes, we opted for a staycation for the first part of the road trip, but we are heading to Bryan/College Station this week because none of us want to have a road trip that doesn’t ultimately involve the brownies at Honey and Big’s house.
But yesterday we had another full day at the JW Marriott and had the best time. Even though Gulley and I laughed because being at a nice resort doesn’t exempt you from a slice of real life. The kids have bickered over everything from who ate all the Dots to who is going to push the button in the elevator. They’ve popped each other with towels and aired various grievances and thought it was a good idea to climb all ten flights of stairs to our hotel room. At one low point yesterday morning Gulley and I wondered if maybe next year we might be able to take a road trip sans the children.
However, there isn’t much that a lazy river and a margarita can’t fix and we all fully relaxed into our day. Gulley and I found some prime pool real estate situated right by the lazy river and with bathrooms close by and I got tickled as the day went on because I wondered if the cute young female lifeguard might be wondering why the older lady needed to go to the bathroom so many times and I wanted to tell her to enjoy her bladder while she can because she was looking at her future.
After a great lunch by the pool the kids asked if Gulley and I would ride the slides with them and so we spent the next hour or so doing that and then rode the slide that drops you into the lazy river which has all kinds of waterfalls and water spray features along the way. Caroline and I were in a double tube but she was working overtime to make sure I took the brunt of whatever water feature was up ahead. I tried to be a good sport until I realized she’d purposely parked me under a waterfall for close to two minutes. Why? Why do you want to aggravate your mother like that?
I also feel like I need to confess there may have been a point where I threatened to take everyone home and leave them there while Gulley and I went on to Bryan because I cannot deal with the arguing over minutiae.
But, ultimately, we had a great day and ended the evening sitting around looking at this year’s Aggie football schedule and making our individual predictions for the season. For posterity’s sake, I’ll tell you that Caroline, Jackson and Gulley believe we’ll go 10-2 with losses to Arkansas and LSU. I’m going with 11-1 with a loss to LSU or maybe Alabama. And Will is going with an undefeated season and even did the whip and the nae nae to accentuate his certainty. What you can know for sure is that we are all total optimists where Aggie football is concerned. We will always believe in the best until we have concrete evidence to suggest differently like losing 58-0 to Alabama.
And I just have to say that I cannot say enough nice things about the JW Marriott San Antonio. The service has been exceptional, the food is delicious and the kids have ended every evening playing soccer on the big lawn with a ton of other kids. In fact, Gulley and I sat at the Crooked Canyon bar during happy hour and ate the best ham and cheese biscuits while watching the kids run all over the lawn and hopefully burn every last vestige of energy they had left.
My only regret is that Gulley and I weren’t able to sneak away to the spa. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we thought about it. But ultimately decided that we needed to stay in the vicinity. This allowed us the opportunity to watch Will cannonball right into the lazy river and splash a group of about six women who were not amused at all and one of them remarked, “That’s not even one of our kids!”
And Gulley and I apologize deeply to those women. Both for the fact that they were splashed and the fact that we may have laughed when it happened. I realize it wasn’t an optimal situation but there is an all-adult pool on the premises where I’m guessing nobody is getting surprised by a cannonball. Also, these kids have dumbed us down as evidenced by the fact Gulley and I got on Dubsmash and laughed until we cried making videos. Sometimes it’s the little things.
So Thursday afternoon we’ll leave here and head to Honey and Big’s house for the remainder of the road trip. When it’s all said and done, we won’t have covered as many miles as we have in years past, but we’ve already made some of the best memories.
None of which involved seeing a King Cobra in a flimsy cage made out of used office furniture.
And for that we are eternally grateful.