Fun at SeaWorld

Thanks to Aunt Kim and Spaniole, we took the kids to SeaWorld and spent the night in San Antonio this weekend. It was hot, and incredibly crowded, but we had a great time! First of all, the folks at SeaWorld rock. They came and got us, along with some other military “guests” out of the very long ticket line and moved us up to the front gate. Then, they moved us again, to a window where the kids could wait in the shade. Then, when we got up to the window, they offered to refund the cost of my ticket and let us all in free on the military pass! I was totally impressed. But did I mention that it was hot, and incredibly crowded?

Needless to say, three kiddos were starved as soon as we walked in the gate. Fortunately, we had water and chips stashed in our bag, so they snacked out.

The kids were great the whole day. They walked from one end of SeaWorld to the other, and we saw just about everything we could squeeze in during our 8 hour visit, from Shamu to the penguins to the water skiers to the Beluga whales and dolphins to the water park. Their favorites were:

Pook – Shamu, the Chinese dancers, and the beluga whale/dolphin/acrobat show;
Bean – Shamu and the Shamu necklace, the penguins, the flamingoes, and watching the roller coaster;
Bitty – the sharks and the Chinese acrobat on the unicycle who juggled pots and spun rings at the water ski show.

Mine and Tracy’s favorite was the 3-D movie. It was a pirate adventure and it was inside an air conditioned theater! About 6 minutes in, the pirates discovered a bee hive, and the bees flew right at us (wow! 3D has gotten cool!) Bitty freaked out! He started screaming, “I wanna go home right now! I wanna go home right now!” and literally climbed over to me and then tried to go over my shoulder! It was hilarious, to us at least.

We all enjoyed the dolphin enclosure, where you lay on your belly and dangle your hand in the water hoping one will swim close enough to touch. They must be bored though, swimming in circles all day.

We finally made it to our hotel, the St. Anthony, around 9:30. After changing clothes and slathering aloe on our sunburns, we set off in search of dinner. A pleasant mile-long stroll (“I’m so, so hungry!” “My blisters hurt!” “I just can’t walk anymore!”) got us to a Denny’s, about the only thing open that didn’t feature drink specials or two-for-one pool. After we ate, and each child took the opportunity to poop in the Denny’s bathroom, we stumbled back to the hotel and collapsed, thankful and exhausted.

Sunday turned out to be even hotter. We braved the heat to take the kids to the Alamo so that they could see the diorama. They were suitably impressed, but wilted like morning glories in the sun after about ten minutes, so we packed up the vancar and headed home.

After a quick stop to say hello to the dogs, we ended our fun-filled weekend with a BBQ at Spaniole's house. The food was great and the company was even better, with Aunt Kim and APD's best officers in attendance.

Summer Lovin'

Congratulations to Uncle Brian and Aunt Cheryl, who were married on July 19th. Pook and Bean characterized it this way: "Somebody's gettin' hitched today!"

Beanie loved the weeping willow in the back yard!

Aunt Cheryl with the kids

Brian, Cheryl and Abigail

Baby makes three!

Momma and kiddos

Also, Happy Birthday to Grampa, who spent his day officiating the wedding, and to Granna, who marked her 100th birthday with a party in Orange, held in what used to be the school where she taught. We weren't able to make it to the party because of Tracy's absence, but Granna was in our hearts. Tracy returned from Army JMPI school in Georgia on the 19th, having successfully passed the grueling three-week course. Daddy is now a Jumpmaster! "Stand...in the door!"

Lil' Firecrackers

No matter what your political affiliation, patriotism is always in style. In our family, with two deployments behind us and one coming up quickly, we are all about supporting the troops and celebrating our freedom. This year, Gramma, Aunt Kim, and Marco joined us for Independence Day festivities in Lakeway.

Here is Bitty, modeling his firecracker hat. The indoor program included salutes from a small - but very loud - cannon. At the end, the crowd counted down to the big "boom!" After, he said, "Mommy, we were counting for my firecracker hat, huh? It sounds like this: spshh!" Of course we were! Pook is all decked out in her July 4th tiara and shirt, and in the "stars and stripes" necklace that we made at home. Our July 4th crafts were awesome!

We spent the evening picnicking at the Lakeway park. After getting hot and sweaty in the bouncehouse, the kids wanted to "wade" in the lake to cool off. They walked around carefully for a few minutes, and then Beanie "fell" in to her waist. The other two quickly joined her, and they spent the rest of the evening in their undies! The weather was perfect and the firecrackers were great. Happy 4th of July!