A few weeks ago, our family attempted our first vacation with both children. My kids are 2 and almost 4, so we decided on a road trip from our home outside of Dallas to San Antonio. We stayed for 3 nights at the Hyatt Wild Oak Resort and spent our trip enjoying the hotel’s amenities, enjoying two days at Sea World, and going to the Riverwalk one evening. It was a fabulous trip!

I found the Hyatt Wild Oak while looking for a place to stay that caters to families and young children –the Wild Oak fit the bill! It more than exceeded my expectations. With a beach, lazy river, water slides, playground, fire pits for s’mores, and much more, there was a variety of stuff to do. I really think we could have stayed on the premises the whole trip and had a blast. My kids loved the beach area and lazy river the most. My son was disappointed that he was not tall enough for either water slide, but hopefully when we return, he will meet the height requirement.

When I booked our room, I reserved just the studio, since it had a bed and pull-out couch. When our trip approached, my husband and I regretted not getting the one bedroom condo, since that way, we could shut the bedroom door once the kids were asleep, and have the living room to spend time in before our bedtime. I called, and we were able to get the condo for our first night there, but it was booked for the rest of the trip, so we had to switch to a studio for the last two nights. While the studio was plenty nice, we will definitely get the one bedroom condo on all future trips: it has a full kitchen (opposed to just a kitchenette), a gorgeous bathroom with jetted tub (which the kids loved as much as I did!), a washer & dryer, and a nice size living room. I felt it was definitely worth the extra cost.

Our days at Sea World were fantastic. I had wondered if my 2-year-old was too young to enjoy it, but both kids had a blast. We had a 2 day ticket, which worked out great: the first day we did the animal shows and rides, and the second day we did the waterpark and Sesame Street splash area. Both days were really fun, and having the chance to go back the second day kept me from stressing out and trying to get everything done in one day, which would have been too hard on such little kids.

Our visit to the Riverwalk was alright. We pushed our daughter in a stroller, which is difficult to do down on the water level. It was also very hot, and the kids were cranky after a day at Sea World. We did get some good Mexican food at Rita’s on the River, and that cheered them up, as did the boat ride along the river.

All in all, it was a wonderful first trip. The kids were troopers, even with a lot less sleep than normal, and we all made some lasting memories.

-Kim R