San Antonio and ShAMu!

Last weekend we decided to do one last getaway before school started! So Friday afternoon we left Dallas (along with everyone else in the metroplex) and headed south. There was a ton of traffic, but we managed to find some back roads and made it in about 6 hours...we were pretty impressed. (considering all the traffic) Ricks older brother Stewart drove his family out from Farmington and his nephew Matt, also met us there. Friday night we had a great time on the Riverwalk...I love that place! We ended up doing the little boat tour...so informative! I would highly recommend it. Saturday morning the priority was SEAWORLD! Apparantly all those people leaving Dallas were also heading to SeaWorld as well...the line to get in was CRAZY! We decided to pass the first exit for SeaWorld by and move on to the next one...I can't say we didn't make a few illegal turns, jumps, and swerves, but we made it inside!
SeaWorld was packed!!! People everywhere! We hadn't been to SeaWorld since Paige was 6 months old. So all the kids were excited! We went on a couple of rides, but Shamu was what the kids were waiting for. I am always so amazed at these animals...just watching them jump and do all that they do is awesome. Paige now wants to be a "whale trainer". You know Paige and animals! Of course we had to sit in the first few rows so we would get wet...well, that was an understatement. Four whales lined their tales up right in front of us and we got SOAKED! They can splash that water for sure! And all in rythem together! AMAZING!After Shamu the kids wanted to ride more rides...it didn't matter to them that there was an hour and a half wait! It actually went by pretty fast! We spent a lot of time in their water park being lazy on the lazy river, and diving waves in the wave pool. Cody was a maniac diving into those waves. I of course was a nervous wreck. The pool was so crowded...kids everywhere. I felt like I had no control over where my kids were...I don't know how the lifeguards could even tell if anyone was drowning! The kids did great and loved ALL the rides...Cody even got a little daring and went on some big rides. But we did travel to the little kid area and take advantage of their cute "shamu" rollercoaster.We spent the whole day at









SeaWorld...and had a blast! You almost need two days to see and do everything. There were a couple of things we didn't get to do, but maybe next time! It was fun spending time with family and the kids had a great time! We told them they could all pick out one thing to remember SeaWorld and they all picked out a stuffed animal. (because we don't already have enough at our house). But I guess you can't go to SeaWorld and not come home with a whale or animal of some sort right? Hopefully it won't be 9 years before we make it back there again! Sunday we met for "brunch" at Farmers Market in San Antonio. It's crazy that I lived there and never went to Farmers Market before. It was pretty neat! I felt like I was in Mexico! Rick said "this is pretty much what Mexico is like, but a lot cleaner!" We ate at a yummy resaurant that seats 600 people an hour! Can we say MONEY!!! The food was yummy, but what was cool was the way everything was decorated! Pinatas and sparkly things everywhere! There were guys singing and playing pipes out on the street, lots of vendors, and of course little shops everywhere. The kids favorite thing they saw were these cute marionettes. They were so cute...they had all kinds of animals and they look hilarious when you walk them. Ricks brother had never been to the riverwalk, so we walked downtown San Antonio for awhile. Sadly we had to say our goodbyes and start heading back. We had a great time seeing Stew, Tracee, Laura, Shada, and Matt!!! Thanks for spending the weekend with us! We all had a blast! There is just something about San Antonio! A great place to visit...Hopefully we will make it back soon! I am so sad the summer is over...I love it when the kids are home. We have no schedule, get to sleep in LATE, and we have a lot of fun together. This year is especially hard because ALL my kiddos will be in school. AHHH!!! I miss them already!