5/29/13

May 17

Day 2 at Sea World. Grayson's favorite show yesterday was the sea lion show and he really wanted to come back today. So, that's where we headed first. Doesn't he look thrilled?
 
 
Neylan sat down and asked if he could go back to the hotel! I can tell it's going to be a different day here without friends to hang out with

 
The show was very cute and once it started, Grayson got into it a bit more
 
 
And because he is a creature of habit, G insisted that we then go to the Shamu show, just like we did yesterday! The park was so much more crowded today and we just barely made it in and found a seat this time. No splash zone seats today!
 
 
Grayson's favorite ride was Abby Cadabby's Rockin' Wave coaster. He did it a couple of times yesterday and today I rode it with him (and a lively group of middle schoolers on a fieldtrip!!)

 
Neylan got to meet Franklin, the turtle
We really like his books
 
Once they were satisfied with the rides and climbing, we headed back to the Bay of Play for splash time
 
Today was Grayson's turn to have a blast here. Neylan was having fun until his feet slipped out from underneath him and he fell on his head.
 
 
We decided to leave the park mid-afternoon and go somewhere else for lunch. We had been given a BBQ recommendation from a local for what he called "the best BBQ you will ever eat in your life!" Sorry, friend, we are from KC and this DID NOT come close. Actually, it was pretty gross!
 
 
After lunch we began the long drive back to Ft. Worth to see our friends again before heading home. We had a blast in San Antonio! What a fun vacation destination
 
 

May 16

The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived!!
 
 
We were there bright and early, before the gates opened, because we had a plan
 
 
We had read that you have to be the first ones to feed the dolphins!! They are eager, playful, and ready to eat first thing in the morning, so we headed there as soon as we could

 
We let Grayson feed first and not long into it, a couple of dolphins started wrestling right in front of him. The splashed really big and then swam off, leaving Grayson soaking wet and completely stunned! He didn't know what to think. Overall, he was a bit skiddish to lean over too far and drop the fish into the dolphin's mouth. He preferred the stand away and toss method!

 
Then it was Neylan's turn


 
He was much more enthused and did a pretty good job


 
trying to tame that bed head with sunglasses

 
The Shamu show was pretty cool. We ended up sitting in the "soak zone" with some friends. We had heard that there is "wet" and there is "Shamu wet,"  and we didn't go prepared with ponchos. So, during the splashing part of the show, I just barely got my camera put away when I got completely soaked. The rest of my row (with the boys and our friends) barely got wet at all! I was sitting in the wrong seat!
 
 
I loved this show because it had so many fun photo ops. I think Neylan felt the same way!
 
 
After Shamu, we headed to Azul, the dolphin and Beluga whale show. There was a bunch of diving and synchronized swimming in this show. It was also very fun to watch
 
 
After our morning of shows, the boys were ready to play! It was so fun having older boys for Grayson to hang out with. They all wanted to ride the rides
 
 
and Neylan preferred to stay in the little kids area where he could splash around and climb
 
 
He was so in his element
 
 
The kids' splash area was in the Sesame Street Bay of Play, so throughout the afternoon some of the characters would walk around and do little shows. The boys didn't want their pictures taken with any of them, which surprised me a bit

 
Neylan held on until about 3:30 and then passed out in the stroller for the rest of the day
 
 
Our last ride was the river rampage. Not sure why we decided to do this at the very end of the day after we had dried off, but we did, and all of us come off soaking wet!! Grayson wasn't tall enough to ride this and it broke his heart to see his friends on it without him :(

 
We ended up staying until the park closed and had so much fun that we upgraded our tickets to season passes and plan on coming back tomorrow!
 
 
 
 
 

5/25/13

May 15

We spent the morning at the San Antonio zoo. We had heard great things about this zoo. It was really pretty and the animals were really close. It wasn't too crowded, which made it much more enjoyable.
 
They also had a farm area where the kids could pet and brush the pigs and goats





 
After our morning at the zoo we took a little train over to another recommendation- Kiddie Park

 
Kiddie Park is America's oldest children's amusement park. It was built in 1925 and renovated in 2009 (although I'm not sure where or how!) We bought the boys a wrist band for them to have unlimited rides and then let them pick where they wanted to go. It was so nice to be at an amusement park that had no height restrictions!





 
One of my favorites!!
 
Pure joy!!

 
Oh, Brother, we made it down safely!!


 
Just a little view of how small and old this place was
 
The boys had a great time and now we can say we've been there!
 
We went to dinner at an authentic Mexican restuarant that is top on the tourist's list. We ordered out-of-this-world sopapillas for dessert (so disappointed the picture is blurry)
 
and paid these guys to sing "La Bamba" to us!!
 
Grayson enjoyed the song! The restaurant is decorated for Christmas all year long and had a large bakery in the front. On our way out, we stopped to buy some more treats
After a very long day, we ended it with a dip in the pool.
Our pool was on the roof of the hotel, so there was always a nice breeze. Tonight, especially, there was breeze! So much that there were waves in the pool and the water was cold. When we got back to our room (with blue, frozen lips) and turned on the TV, we saw that there were tornadoes in Dallas. The wind was blowing in TX tonight!!
 

Gotta get little ones in bed early tonight. Sea World tomorrow!!