San Antonio Part I: Sea World

If you've ever been a part of our family travels, you might have thought us crazy to attempt a "vacation". We even questioned ourselves. My children are not known for being good travelers. They are not good adapters. They are not good at being out of their element. Sometimes they're not good at being in their element. Seriously, trips with my kids = not very fun.

So what possessed us to book ourselves a hotel and buy our tickets to Sea World in San Antonio, I am not quite sure. We were definitely rolling the dice. And the odds were not in our favor.

But we should pack our bags for Vegas, cause we came out winners! The trip was so, so great.



We woke up early Friday and made the drive in about 2.5 hours. Our first stop was the Shamu show.


I was so torn between taking pictures of the whales and taking pictures of Ava, because her reactions were hugely satisfying. And I didn't even attempt to bring my nice camera on our trip because I knew there was no way I'd be hanging that thing around my neck and having Max in the carrier at the same time. The point and shoot is small and convenient but very annoying. I was sitting right next to Ava so it was an awkward angle to get her picture. I ended up just holding the camera out in front of her and pressing the button. And because it has this really awesome delay (read my sarcasm) I got some interesting shots. But they will still do the job in illustrating Ava's absolute thrill-ment, and overwhelmed-ness. I have to make up words because I'm not exactly sure how to describe it.


When Shamu or her friend would do this:




or this:




Ava would do this:





And this:




And even if the remainder of the trip had been spent in wallowing fits and explosive tears her exclamation at the end of the show would have made the whole trip worth it. Maybe.

"MOM! Sea World is THE FANTASTIC of the whole world! EVER! I LOVE it!!

During most of the shows Luke looked like this:




Mesmerized, entranced, yet far less dramatic.


We went on the trip with our friends, the Princes. I think it is safe to say that all nine of us were impressed.


Max was a super trooper the whole trip. Some of the loud music startled him, but for the most part he was a happy guy.


The kids were oh-so-close to touching a dolphin but he just didn't quite get close enough.


He was close enough for me, though and I did cop a feel. So smooth! I guess there are advantages to having monkey arms.

We didn't stand in line at feeding time, when we would have been guaranteed some petting, but maybe next time. We did get season passes after all.

We opted to feed the sea lions, however, because there was no line. Apparently these guys are always hungry.




And apparently, so is Dan.




I was shocked at the willingness of the kids to touch the dead fish. Especially, Ava who prefers to eat Doritos with a napkin. You don't have to worry about that cheesy residue, I guess.





Sea World has such a nice mix of exhibits, shows, rides, and a water park. We didn't even touch the water park over the course of the two days we visited. Our hotel experience made up for that though and will be covered in the next installment.

But we did ride some rides. Ava is fearless when it comes to rides. She was able to ride a couple of big ones and she loved them!

Luke, on the other hand, was a bit fickle. Dan rode a kid's roller coaster with him a couple of times. The whole time Luke yelled,

"Don't Yike Dis! Want Git OFFF! Don't Yike Dis! Want Git OFFFFF!"


And then, when they got off and began to walk away, Luke said,


"I yiked it! It was FUN!"


The four of us, Dan and I , Ava, and Luke, rode a log flume ride together. Thanks to Jill who held Max while he cried and his diaper leaked. Thanks again, Jill!

It was a really fun ride and had two big drops. After the first one, Luke yelled,

"Want to go home!"


After the second drop he yelled,

"I FELL! Don't yike dis!"

But when our log pulled up to the curb, he started to cry,

"No, no, Noo Nain!" which is equivalent to "Do again!"

He sent us mixed messages that's for sure.

So in summary, Sea World was fantastic! A good time was had by all. And our hotel was icing on the cake, but that'll be Part II.