Old vs. New

Every time I return home, I am astounded by just how much and how fast the city is growing. New homes, schools, shopping centers, roads and highways now reside in places where I never thought it was possible. While all this change infiltrates the nooks and crannies of San Antonio and its outskirts, I am relieved knowing one little spot close to the heart of the city has managed to stay put. Recently, Braedan and I visited the historic Kiddie Park, an amusement park with rides that are the just the perfect size for toddlers and kids. I use the word historic to describe it because it's been around since 1925, and if you were born and raised in San Antonio visiting the park is almost like a family tradition because chances are your parents frequented the park during their day as well. For those of you who know it, Kiddie Park still looks the same if not a little smaller than you remember with the original rides still intact - the cars, boats, airplanes, horse and carriages, Ferris wheel, school bus and those crazy flying saucers - all with a little sprucing up. Even the original carousel has held steady all these years. During our visit, I was really glad to see Braedan enjoying himself. So much so, that he even objected a few times by protesting, kicking and tightly gripping a few of the rides once they stopped to let me know just how much fun he was having and did not want to leave.

Notice how he is sitting. As soon as the ride started, he put himself in this position.

With this introduction to a historical part of the city, I in turn felt obliged to also show him a more modern kids hot spot just so he could experience the old vs. new of San Antonio. So on the Columbus Day holiday Braedan and I, with his Tia and two cousins in tow, jaunted over to one of the numerous new shopping centers near my old neighborhood for an afternoon of fun and games at Chuck E. Cheese. All had a good time, especially Braedan since he received the opportunity to eat pizza for the first time with the added bonus of getting on more rides. Just as before there was a repeat of protests when we had to move on to a new ride, but here he is during one of his happier moments showing Stuart Little how to drive.