~WHEW~ What a day!!! I wouldn’t believe everything we’ve crammed into just one day if I weren’t feeling it like I am! I’m exhausted—and sore! We’ve walked miles today, I’m sure, but we’ve had such a great time.

Stop #1: The Alamo. We wanted to do this very first. We went this morning and watched a documentary type thing about the Alamo that showed what happened before, during, and after the siege. It was very well done and portrayed the events and men in such a way that you felt like you were really there—like you knew them and could feel what they were feeling. I know this will surely sound corny, but it was powerful. At the end I noticed heavy sobs coming from the seat next to me. It was Katie. Then Joe came and started asking questions with quivering lips, trying hard to fight back the tears. In the minutes that followed our whole family was in a little huddle out in the hallway, crying together and talking about life and death and liberty. Even Yankee Boy (James) cried. It was all just so moving. William Travis had sent several letters asking for help and assistance—more troops to come to the Alamo to help fight. Word finally arrived that no assistance would be coming (not in time, anyway). He took his saber and drew a line in the sand, then asked for all who were willing to fight and die along side of him to come on his side and stand with him. All but one crossed the line, even Jim Bowie who was deathly sick insisted that he be carried across the line on his cot. It’s such an overwhelming feeling when you realize that right then and there they had made their decision: they were going to die for the cause of freedom in Texas. The knew at that point that no assistance would be coming and that they were outnumbered nearly 10 to 1. Death and defeat wasn’t just a possibility, it was inevitable. Yet they stayed and gave their lives for all that they held dear and for the future of those who would follow after them. Amazing. That’s the part that really got the kids, too. We had wondered if all of this might be a little too much for them, but even though it was hard on them I think this was a really, really good experience for them. For all of us. I hope we've all learned a lot and hopefully even been changed by it. I asked Joe later on if he had been at the Alamo and had the choice, would he have stayed and fought and died with those men, or would he have fled and gone back home to his family. He thought hard, then said that he would've stayed and died there. Katie has been talking for weeks about how sad it is that those men died at the Alamo, but she's quick to follow it up with how proud she is that they fought for our freedom. I hope the lessons they're learning are really sinking in. I think they are.

After watching the history of it, we walked across the street to the Alamo itself. It is an amazing feeling—after you’ve just seen what happened there—to stand in that place and consider how significant it is. We were standing at the west side where the main entrance was. It’s the side where Davy Crockett and his men were defending the wall and we saw the spot where legend says he died.

The Alamo is a shrine and you’re not allowed to take pictures inside, but there was so much neat stuff in there. They had a vest that belonged to Davy Crockett and a knife that was Jim Bowie’s at one time, along with several more significant artifacts as well. :-) It was just sooooooooo neat. I can’t imagine anybody getting more out of it than our family did. I’m so glad we came here.

After the Alamo we walked across the street to a Davy Crockett Interactive Outpost or something like that. It had lots of big, animated characters and music and all things geared toward little ones.

It was way over-priced and was definitely a one-time thing for our family, but we were still glad we went this once. The kids enjoyed it. At the end they had a shooting gallery (where you try to shoot little sensors to make the barrel spin or the hat fly off, etc.) and other stuff that was fun.

Along with that ticket came one for the Guinness’ Book of World Records Museum. A total waste. It’s nothing but pictures and plaques, for the most part. Who wants to go stand around and read all day while on vacation??? We were definitely not impressed and reminded of how unimpressed we were when James and I went in a different Guinness museum a few years back. Don’t know why we thought this one would be any different. Anyway, if you ever see one, skip it!

We walked down the street and had lunch at some little whole in the wall joint. It was great! Then we went to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Musuem and the Louis Toussaud’s Wax Museum. Now that was fun! Ripley’s has some kind of icky stuff that we marched the kids past kind of quick like, but 90% or more of it was just really, really interesting. This is a picture of James...as the "Heaviest Man." (The guy actually weighed over 1,400 lbs.)

And I couldn't not put this picture on here...