SeaWorld SanAntonio

After many hours of planning the exciting day of our departure to SeaWorld arrived and we loaded the kids in the car for the 9 hour car trip.

Here my little man is trying out his new shades.

We stopped  a few times here and there to stretch are legs and break up the day. This big, beautiful Sunflower was calling our name!

After multiple hours in the car we were pretty excited to make it to the hotel. The boys weren’t a bit tired so we popped some popcorn and watched a movie.

Fully rested and ready to have some fun, we darned our swimsuits & sunscreen and headed to SeaWorld. I don’t know whom was more giddy the boys or me.

I knew I wanted to start the day of with a pretty big splash so we headed straight for the Shamu shows.

  

This little guy loved every minute of it! He has a passion for animals especially whales. The whales flipped, waved hello, & soaked people in close proximity. All of which my boys thought was pretty amazing. I don’t know how to explain it but watching their faces light up and seeing their joy, I have never felt anything like it. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that my sweet boys got to experience something so special I totally cried.

I didn’t take to many pictures of the shows because I wanted to just really be present and enjoy them myself. We got to see a lot of great animals including; beluga whales, penguins, alligators, a manatee, an otter, a theatrical sea lion, and much more.

We even got to watch a fun Sesame Street musical production. Afterwards our little cookie monster fan got to meet him up close and personal.

 

Donaven said that the penguins were his favorite part of the day!

There was a great splash pad to cool off in between shows and rides.

      Brandon convinced Donaven to ride his first rollercoaster. He did so great and wanted to ride it again once he got off.

       

                 

      

The sun started to set and these sleepy boys were out before we even made it out of the parking lot.

It was quite a magical day and we really hope to be able to take the boys back again.

The following day we decided to make the most of our visit in San Antonio and saw a few of the local sites, before heading home.

Don’t they look so excited! I don’t think I have history buffs on my hands.

At least they fully enjoyed their pizza and pasta on the river walk!

      

Brandon found this crazy off road trail to break in the rental car. He stopped and picked me a few lovely wild flowers.

This vacation had something to offer for each of us and I give it two thumbs up! Thanks for being good to us San Antonio. Oh how I wish you weren’t so far away!!!

Staycation : Day 4

Tuesday morning we slept in and had a lazy morning. No schedule, no rushing about. It was so nice! Our first outing for the day was fishing at Grammy's pond.

Surprisingly, I was the first to catch a bite. Take a look...


It was a small Perch so we just threw it back.
Brandon later caught one too.



The boys both loved being out side watching the fire flies, fish jump, and turtles sunning.

After fishing we stopped off at the house to clean up a bit then headed out to the movies. Our dollar theater does time warp Tuesdays and the tickets are only 75 cents. We let Donaven chose, he picked Rio. It was a cute show.

We were starving after the movie and we let everyone chose there favorite place to eat. I got a Newks Favorite salad to go. Brandon got hot wings from Pizza Hut and a Burger from Burger King. The boys wanted french fries.

With our tummies full we went home and enjoyed our evening together playing games.

It was a really great vacation on a budget. We had spent 96 hours together straight. I didn't have to do dishes or laundry at all. Brandon got to spend some real quality time with his boys. I now have a better understanding on why the General Authorities say that, "Successful families are established and maintained on principals of ....love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities"

Let's all remember that and take a break from work occasionally and work on our relationships with the people that matter the most!

Staycation : Day 3

Monday morning came, we were well rested and ready to go out on the town and have a little fun.

First stop, the Donut Shop!










Donaven insisted on taking a few pictures...







He is pretty talented, right?

Sufficiently sugared up we then headed to the mall.

Donaven saying hello to his pal Arthur.



Here the boys are showing Brandon the ropes at the new Bouncy House.



Ready for a snack we then stopped by the Great American Cookie place. They did not disappoint!




I finally got up the nerve to try out Sky Jump. It was a lot scarier than it looked. I did one flip and was ready to get down.



Brandon was up next and schooled me by doing about 20 flips!





(Donaven took those last two shots. I was trying to console Emerson.
He didn't like us jumping at all!)

It was starting to get late in the after noon when we realized we had only had donuts and cookies to eat the entire day. After going down one more slide at Donavens request we said goodbye to the mall and had an early dinner at Jalapeno Tree. The food was great. We topped off dinner with some ice cream it being vacation and all and then headed on home with our sleepy boys!

It was so nice splurging a little and doing a few nice things we don't normally allow ourselves to do. But mostly the time spent together was the best part of all!

Staycation : Day 1

A few weekends ago Brandon was able to take a couple of days off. With four straight days together we decided to have a little family staycation. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to one of our favorite parks to ride bikes. It was a lot of fun despite the heat.







I was a little worried about Donaven keeping up with us but he was so great pedaling as fast as his little legs would go. We all decided its time to upgrade him to a bigger bike. Emerson really enjoyed it when I went fast and the wind was blowing his hair. He would start to laugh so cutely!

After a few miles we took a little break.



Brandon found a nice climbing tree.


Of-course this little man wanted to join him...



Luckily his Daddy lent him a helping hand to get to a mommy approved height.



After catching our breath we were off to check out the playground.









Aren't they just too sweet!

We decided to go the local trade days that was going on pretty close by the park.
Here are the treasures we got...



A blow up fish that jingles for the boys.



A fancy 50 cent ring for myself.
Brandon picked a matchbox jeep but we didn't get a picture.
Hot, and tired we returned home and watched movies for the rest of the evening.

It was a fantastic ending to a fantastic day!!!

Stay tuned for days 2 & 3...