I found a few websites over the weekend that were all about the Natural Areas in San Antonio and decided it would be a great idea to visit them all. We had already been to the Friedrich Natural Area. Next on the list was the Medina River Natural Area. We didn't hike nearly as much as we did the last time. It was extremely hot and muggy outside and Noah was too interested in catching "pills" (caterpillars) to hike around. I was fine with that because it gave me a chance to take some pictures. I finally got a closeup of that lizard we saw at the other park. We actually saw quite a few of them. I believe it's a Texas Spotted Whiptail Lizard.
Noah started off wanting to just sit and snack in the wagon. After we started seeing more and more creatures and flowers though, he got a bit antsy. He must have caught about 10 caterpillars along the path. For a while he was just holding them in his hands. I suggested he put them in his empty sandwich bag. Great idea. We let all his pills go before we left the Park and he watched them all crawl away for a good 5 minutes. "Bye pills! bye pills!".
I wasn't sure where we were going yet. I guess I was navigating by my mom's old method. She used to say "let's go get lost!" and that was honestly the best way to find some of the coolest things. The tough part was trying to remember how you got there if you ever wanted to go again ;) I saw a sign for San Antonio Missions National Historic Park and thought it would be a neat place to take pictures. It was!
The mission we saw was the Espada Mission. The layout was pretty cool and the structures were great photography subjects. There was still a monk living there and I think they may still hold church services inside. We peeked in for a second and he was sitting there, chatting with some congregates so we quietly backed out. I highly doubt we disturbed him too much.
Noah had a blast climbing all over the rubble of the old buildings, playing hide and seek with me. He did a lot of laughing and running. I didn't get to read any of the history of the place because I was trying to keep up with him. He was easy to spot in his bright blue outfit, though :)
At one of the houses a little grey kitten came wandering out to greet us. Noah was so excited to see the "meow". The cat was obviously used to being around people and looked taken care of. He had a flea collar on and was well fed. There were a few cats out there, but this one wanted attention. Even after Noah picked him up he was still happy to be around. He followed him for awhile and then was distracted by the next group of people. "Bye kitten! bye meow!".
On the way to the Mission we had hit a crossroad. One way was the Mission, the other way was the Aquifer. On the way back I followed the signs again to go check out the aquifer. There really wasn't too much to see or do here. Noah did what he always does around any body of water. He threw rocks. I let him throw some rocks in while I took pictures. I saw an interesting bird or 2 to add to my collection. One was a green heron. We don't have those in Ohio so I was pretty excited. It was really weird looking.
We finally headed home for a late lunch and a nap. We had been out in the heat for about 4 hours so Noah slept like a log. I called Vita when naptime was over. I was still ready to explore more but didn't know where to go. We all went out to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse (mmmmm) and then took a night walk downtown by the river. We saw ducks, a lot of bugs, a racoon, toads, and a huge snake. After we saw the snake V and I were a little creeped out, but it was still cool to see. It was at least 3 feet long :O Once she downloads her pics I'll have to show everyone this thing. It slithered off the bridge right into the river with a big splash.
Noah started off wanting to just sit and snack in the wagon. After we started seeing more and more creatures and flowers though, he got a bit antsy. He must have caught about 10 caterpillars along the path. For a while he was just holding them in his hands. I suggested he put them in his empty sandwich bag. Great idea. We let all his pills go before we left the Park and he watched them all crawl away for a good 5 minutes. "Bye pills! bye pills!".
I wasn't sure where we were going yet. I guess I was navigating by my mom's old method. She used to say "let's go get lost!" and that was honestly the best way to find some of the coolest things. The tough part was trying to remember how you got there if you ever wanted to go again ;) I saw a sign for San Antonio Missions National Historic Park and thought it would be a neat place to take pictures. It was!
The mission we saw was the Espada Mission. The layout was pretty cool and the structures were great photography subjects. There was still a monk living there and I think they may still hold church services inside. We peeked in for a second and he was sitting there, chatting with some congregates so we quietly backed out. I highly doubt we disturbed him too much.
Noah had a blast climbing all over the rubble of the old buildings, playing hide and seek with me. He did a lot of laughing and running. I didn't get to read any of the history of the place because I was trying to keep up with him. He was easy to spot in his bright blue outfit, though :)
At one of the houses a little grey kitten came wandering out to greet us. Noah was so excited to see the "meow". The cat was obviously used to being around people and looked taken care of. He had a flea collar on and was well fed. There were a few cats out there, but this one wanted attention. Even after Noah picked him up he was still happy to be around. He followed him for awhile and then was distracted by the next group of people. "Bye kitten! bye meow!".
On the way to the Mission we had hit a crossroad. One way was the Mission, the other way was the Aquifer. On the way back I followed the signs again to go check out the aquifer. There really wasn't too much to see or do here. Noah did what he always does around any body of water. He threw rocks. I let him throw some rocks in while I took pictures. I saw an interesting bird or 2 to add to my collection. One was a green heron. We don't have those in Ohio so I was pretty excited. It was really weird looking.
We finally headed home for a late lunch and a nap. We had been out in the heat for about 4 hours so Noah slept like a log. I called Vita when naptime was over. I was still ready to explore more but didn't know where to go. We all went out to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse (mmmmm) and then took a night walk downtown by the river. We saw ducks, a lot of bugs, a racoon, toads, and a huge snake. After we saw the snake V and I were a little creeped out, but it was still cool to see. It was at least 3 feet long :O Once she downloads her pics I'll have to show everyone this thing. It slithered off the bridge right into the river with a big splash.
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Snakes...*shudder* I was pulling weeds in the front the other day with my daughter and she saw a snake skin and then spotted the newly shed snake. Just one of those little garter snakes, but it was all I could do not to go into the involuntary spazzo shrieky dance.