Me, Jay and our family, Katie and her girls and Matthew went to San Antonio Monday and Tuesday. We wanted Dad to come with us all, but he said he had just started getting back to work now that the dust has settled after your passing and that he needed to get some things done. It was the first whole-family trip we have taken without you and Dad. We really had a great time, but there were holes in our trip where you both should have been.
On our way to San Antonio, we stopped and toured the Natural Bridge Caverns. Katie and Matthew thought they were kind of lame, but they reminded us all of the family trips we used to take growing up. Jay and I really enjoyed it, and of course our boys did, too. Jay had made up this whole scenario that we were in a bat cave (which we were) and that we were in search of Batman! Then all the way through, we would point to the different formations and say, "Oh, look guys! There's Batman's bed, and there is his bath." It was a fun adventure for our outdoorsy family.
When we got to our hotel, we unloaded our stuff and the kiddos, and went directly to the indoor pool to swim. We ate some pizza (Of course, Jay HAD to have pizza...) in the pool area, and when we were sick of swimming, we went back up to our rooms to get dressed and walk around the Riverwalk.
On our way to San Antonio, Dad had texted us, telling us that the last time he was in San Antonio was 37 years ago on your honeymoon. That made me sad, but I could picture you and Dad as newlyweds, hand in hand, walking down the romantic riverwalk together. I think that may have been part of the reason he didn't want to come. I worry about how he will handle your 37-year anniversary later this month. He really misses you, Mama. I think he is still figuring out who he is without you.
We had gotten up to leave pretty early Monday morning, and the kids hadn't really napped much in the car, since we stopped around naptime and toured the caverns, so we had to try to keep them happy while we walked around. We stopped at a riverside Mexican restaurant for some nachos and drinks and laughed when we were serenaded with "La Cucharacha." It almost seemed like I could feel you there with us, laughing. It reminded me a lot of the ski trip we all made to Taos a few years ago when Garit was a baby and we told the waiters it was Jay's birthday and they brought us out some fried ice cream. Remember how we all laughed at the look on the waiter's face when he brought it out and Jay started to tell him it really wasn't his birthday?
The next morning, we all got up and Jay was able to "motivate" us all out the door for Sea World on schedule.
Weeeeell, we are the Conrad family, so we were only 15 minutes behind. We were all running on "Mollie" standard time, I guess.
Sidenote: Remember last summer when we all stayed with Uncle Tom and Aunt DeeDee and you had changed Matthew's ACT test site so that he and Nash could take it together in Florida while we were all on vacation/there for Grandma Ann's memorial? You had laid out all of then-16-year-old Matthew's stuff that he needed to take with him for the test, but an hour into the time he was supposed to be test-taking, he called my phone in a panic saying they wouldn't let him take the test because he had forgotten his ID, and he couldn't get ahold of you guys to come pick him up. You were so frustrated with him that you had done everything for him beforehand and he STILL managed to forget something and couldn't take that dang test that you had jumped through hoops to arrange for him to take while we were there.
Back to our day of Sea World...
We got there, and I was in mom-mode, getting sunscreen on all my kids and passing it down to Kate, so she could do the same for her girls. At some point, I guess Matthew asked me for the sunscreen, but he never did get it. As we walked around Sea World, he decided that doing the Sea World experience with his two sisters and their 5 kids aged 8 months to 7 years wasn't all that much fun, so he began to split off from us for periods of times to go ride rides. Once I went off with him for about a half hour and rode a ride, then Katie did next. When Katie came back around 2pm, and met us in a show, Matthew didn't. She said he was going to ride a few more rides and meet her in the Sesame Street Bay of Play. The problem was they had not set up a time to meet, and Matthew had (imagine that) left his cell phone in my house before we left Monday morning.
We looked and looked for him, dragging our poor, exhausted children all the way, spending a lot of time in the Sesame Street Bay of Play, but never found him. Finally, it was time for the park to close, and we had seen and experienced just about all there was to see and do at Sea World. So we got our children to the car, with drinks and snacks, resting in front of a DVD, and decided what to do about lost Matthew.
It was decided that I would go back and look for him.
I got back to the gate, and prevailed upon the guard to let me back in to look for my lost brother, and found him stumbling toward the entrance, arms burnt to a crisp, slightly dehydrated. Splitting off from us also cut him off from sunscreen, food, and drinks. Thankfully, he had his wallet and a little bit of cash so he was able to at least get sustenance when he really needed it. As I walked him back to where we had parked, I could hear your smug "Matthew! If I didn't do everything for you..." speech in my mind and I giggled a little to myself when, as we walked, he thoughtfully reflected, "Hmmm...this all could have been prevented if I had remembered my phone."
Then later at dinner, he said, slightly joking, "Colleen, remember when I asked you for sunscreen this morning? It would have been REALLY nice if I had gotten it." Jay responded, "Yeah, it's totally you fault, Colleen." The nerve! Uh, yeah, this all could have been prevented if he had remembered his phone. Or his own sunscreen. Or had taken responsibility for himself and been persistent in asking me for mine. (After all, I do already have 3 children of my own, I didn't know I was responsible for a fourth!!) Or had set up a time and place to meet Katie at Sesame Street. Or just not split off from us in the first place.
So Mother, you weren't here to help him think forward, and he got a second-degree burn, according to Jay. And I could hear you laughing at him, shaking your head, thinking that he got what he deserved. But I bet you he'll be a bit more responsible next time.
A tad.
I mean, we can't expect miracles here, but I'm guessing he will at least remember his cell phone. ;)
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