SanAntonio

San Antonio

For our summer vacation, we planned a trip to San Antonio. We didn't know that we'd end up spending three days at Sea World. But it was a great few days and we all had a wonderful time.

24-28 June 2006

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

We left early Saturday morning and drove (with only a couple stops) to just north of Dallas. There we met up with our friend Becki. We had lunch at Chuck E. Cheese and then hit the mall for some shopping. Sydney and Josh had a great time hanging out and causing trouble - I don't know who's the bad influence, Sydney or Josh - they both have a knack for getting the other going. LOL! So fun to watch these two. Sydney talked about "Joshie" for days after our visit.

We stopped at Starbuck's to get some coffee. The kids entertained themselves by hugging and sharing a vanilla milk. Awwww, how sweet!

At the Gap, we stopped at the maternity section to see if there was anything for me. The kids got a kick out of the maniquinns. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of Becki and Nathan. Nathan is such a cutie and tries so hard to keep up with his big brother. Most of the time, he wouldn't let his momma hold him - he had to do his own walking. Fortunately for us, we'll be making another trip down to TX next month, so we'll get to see Becki et al. again. I promise to take more pictures next time.

Waiting to ride the carousel, the two with their paci's! Sydney is always happy to find a paci buddy. LOL!!

And again in the car.

After lots of window shopping, we said our goodbyes. The kids didn't want the day to be over and neither did the adults. Our visit was too short.

We headed to the hotel in Dallas and settled in for the night.

We got packed up and hit the road in the mid-morning. Headed for San Antonio, we knew we had another 5 hours or so of driving ahead of us. Good thing Sydney does so well in the car. It was an easy and pleasant trek to southern TX. We arrived in the early afternoon and got checked into the hotel where we would spend the next four days and nights. Then we took a stroll down the River Walk. What an interesting place. We stayed long enough to eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Not the most cultural place to eat in a city that is full of great mexican restaurants, but Sydney needed some fun time and we knew she would love it there. And she did. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and slept hard after a long day of driving.

We slept in a bit and actually made it to Sea World by 11am.

We talked so much about Shamu, that our first stop was the Orca whale show, titled "Believe". Sydney got so excited when she saw the whales "backstage" as we waited for the show to start. And once it started, she sat in awe for most of the 30 minutes. And talked about it so much on the way out, we made our way over to the gift shop, fully prepared to buy her a large plush orca whale. Instead, she only wanted the "baby" orca (Whew! We got out of that one pretty easily. LOL!)

Obviously, she couldn't keep her eyes off the show long enough for me to take a few pics of her. (Before the show, we stopped at a kiosk so she could get her face painted with a "beeooaful" butterfly. LOL.) Love the sunglasses on the top of her head? LOL!

SHAMU! What a great show! Enough to make any kid (or adult LOL) want to work with animals when they grow up.

Next, Mommy and Sydney rode a couple rides. Not wanting to bring back the nausea I so recently got rid of (Ah, the second trimester, LOL!), I sat this one out. But I caught this wonderful shot of kisses right before the ride started.

After some playing and riding, we just happened to go by the dolphin pool right at feeding time. We purchased a couple bowls of fish and got to feed any dolphin that was ready to eat (which was pretty much all of them, LOL). And if you were quick enough, you could pet them while they hung around for more fish.

We hung around the dolphin pool for a long time. It was so fun being so close to them. Afterward, we went into the aquarium. Sydney's favorite (although everything is her "fabowite" these days, LOL) was the sea horse. I guess anything with the word 'horse' in it is bound to make the favorite list. (And although I don't have any pics to post of the Clydesdale horses, we did see lots of those and even got to pat a couple of them). Sydney also liked to watch the fishes in the big huge tank.

In the afternoon, we went to another show, this one with dolphins, beluga whales, and daring divers. Before the show, a beluga came out to see us. Sydney went down to the pool and watched him swim around until the show started. The "bewooga whawe" suddenly became her favorite. LOL!

It's hard to take still pictures of moving dolphins, whales, or divers. But I managed to get a couple clips on video (shhh... I know, I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself, LOL!). If I get a bit more time, I'll go ahead and add them to this page. The divers were jumping from not only those two diving boards (just above the trainer), but also the platform way up above (almost in the pic at the top of the auditorium).

We caught the sea lion show just in time. It was meant to be a funny show and it was. The sea lions and even the walrus (who made his appearance at the end of the show) were very entertaining.

The day was winding down and we had a little time to kill before the evening Shamu show (which ended up being almost like the daytime show, but still amazing. I could watch those whales all day). So we put Sydney's bathing suit on her and let her run around the small water playground (not the actual water park within Sea World). She found the underground fountains more entertaining than the playground. LOL!

Staying dry in the playground...

Contemplating at the underground fountains...

But not hesitating to stick her head in and get wet...

So funny! LOL!

The sun was fading fast, but even the pre-show kept the audience enthralled. I got a few shot of this show, but needless to say, although taking still shots of moving animals is hard, it's even harder with no light and no flash. LOL! Those pics are not worthy of this webpage. This show wrapped up our first day at Sea World. We headed back to the hotel.

Up early, we made it to the park at about 10:30am. First stop, more rides. Again, sitting this one out, I got this cute pic of Mommy and Sydney riding in the front car of the Shamu ride.

And then off to face painting ... again. This girl LOVES to have her face painted. Two dolphins this time.

Not ten minutes later, we were sitting at another orca whale show (at Sydney's insistence). She wanted to get splashed by Shamu, as she'd seen a bunch of other kids in the previous shows. We had made sure to sit a few rows away from the "Splash Zone" so as not to get wet, but she was adament. Off she went down the starirs to get splashed (they allow children (anyone, really) to stand at the base of the pool during the splashing segment). We stayed away and let her venture down to the bottom of the bleachers.

One huge splash later, and she was racing back up the steps, pissed off that she got soaked. LOL!! We reminded her that she wanted to get wet, but that didn't make things any better. She was ready to leave the show and change into clean, dry clothes.

And so much for the dolphins that were just painted on her face. LOL! Guess where we were later that day?

Yep, the face painting kiosk to get those dolphins replaced. LOL!!

Then it was time to see the water skiers show. Part of the pre-show was a beach party for the kids. Sydney had fun twirling a hula-hoop and playing in the sand.

The show was fun, and this pic captures *my* favorite part.

And then, as with the dolphin pool, we happened on the seal lion pool just as feeding time was beginning. We got a couple bowls of fish for these funny animals.

A stroll through the lorikeet enclosure and a jaunt past the penguin exhibit and our day was done. Back to the hotel for a quick clean-up and off to get some yummy (and authentic) mexican food.

For our last day at Sea World, we decided to spend the day inside the water park. There was so much to do and our little fishie had a blast. (See Sydney among all the "picture" people?)

The wave pool was big and complete with a count-down clock to when the waves were about to begin.

In the kids' section, there was so much to do. But Sydney seemed to have the best time just crawling around on her hands with her legs floating behind as she explored the giant water area.

Later that day, we got the opportunity to be kissed by a beluga whale. Jess saw a small sign as we walked into the park that day. So she went to inquire about it. She ended up signing us up and when we were ready to leave the water park, it was time to go get kissed. Sydney was so excited, but we wondered how she would do. The rules were pretty strict - kneel like this, put your hands like that, don't even think of doing this, that, or the other thing. And although we didn't find out until a few minutes before the pictures were taken, children are suppose to be 5 years old. We were not asked her age when we signed her up, so the trainers let it go. How fun for Sydney!

Jess went first, moreso that we could have Sydneyin between us. Only two people (aside from the trainers) were allow on the deck at one time. So with Jess going first, I could see Sydney up, and Jess would be there waiting when she got down.

The beluga's name was Martha. And the trainer was just wonderful. She got such a kick out of Sydney when she told her that "bewoogas" were her favorite.

The photographer took two pictures of each person. The is the second pic of Sydney. In the first one, the photographer actually caught "the kiss", but it surprised Sydney. So she backed up right away. But this picture has got to be even cuter than the first. Sydney looking at Martha, who looks like she's just asking for a kiss. So cute!! And the trainer is just thrilled for Sydney.

I got to stand behind Sydney whe she was on the deck, and I was all apologetic to the trainer because, really, Sydney had broken a bunch of the rules (Oops!). But the trainer wasn't phased at all. She just sat there with the biggest smile on her face.

I, anticlimactiacally, went last. It was a funny feeling - I can see why Sydney backed away. But how fun to be kissed by a whale!!

That was the end to our Sea World adventure. We left the park for the last time.

In search of dinner, Jess had been dying to try a restaurant that we'd heard of over a year ago, but there are none of the chain in Little Rock. Having mapquest'd it earlier, Jess knew exactly how to get to The Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant. What an original dining experience. The food was great, dessert way fun, and Sydney had a great time "dunking" things into the pot.

After dinner, back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for the loooooong ride home in the morning.

Thursday

We were in the car and on the road by 8am. We drove and drove. We were making really good time and hesitated with every bathroom stop. We made it back to Little Rock in 9.5 hours. Sydney did great!