Sea World - Part Two

Wow...the last week has flown by. Aaron left for San Francisco Thursday morning and was gone for three nights and four days. I was so worried that the kids and I would get bored/antsy/on each other's nerves, that I kept us as occupied as possible. If there was an opportunity to be somewhere other than home, we were there. Science night at the school, the park, Target's toy area, the park, riding bikes at the track, the park, going out to dinner. Did I mention we went to the park? Anyway, all of this outdoor activity served two major purposes: It kept us busy and it wore the kids out.

The problem with all of that outdoor activity is that it took me away from any lazy, wasting-time-on-the-computer activity. And now I feel like I should have something really good to say...but I don't. I do, however, have some pictures from Sea World. I have "a case of the Mondays" (name that movie) so don't expect any catchy captions. Enjoy!

This trip to Sea World was 1,000 times better than our Spring Break adventure/nightmare. For one thing, it was rainy all weekend - it even rained a bit as we drove in to San Antonio - but this was a point in our favor. Sea World was not crowded at all. If you remember, our last trip was nothing but one big wait in line. We spent 2.5 hours waiting just to get in. Not this time. We were parked and in the gate in less than 10 minutes. We also didn't have to wait in line to ride rides. Avery road the Steel Eel at least three times. Here she is after her first ride:

See how excited she is? This is how she got off the ride, each time. This is deceiving, because each time she rode it, she actually cried in terror. I rode with her twice and both times, she warned me: "Mom, I'm probably going to cry. But it's ok. I'm still having fun." And she wasn't kidding. She cried. She looked positively miserable each time we went down the huge hill at the beginning...there wasn't any part of her that looked like she was having a good time. And yet, every time the car pulled into the exit station, she said 'That was so cool! Let's do it again!" That child is strange...

After waiting for Avery to get her fill of the Steel Eel, the little ones were ready to move on. We took them to Shamu's Happy Harbor, where Reese and Avery rode this ride at least 4 times:

See them in the back car? They're there, trust me. And while I couldn't see their faces much while they were on the ride, here's what Reese looked like when she came off the first time:

I'm guessing she enjoyed it...you think?

Poor Rhett couldn't ride anything. He's just about 3 inches too short. His daddy took him over to the arcade area, where he won this frog. He didn't seem to mind missing anything once he had this - something his sisters didn't have, which is always a bonus for a little brother.

The last, but most important activity on the agenda, was watching the Shamu show...I would show you pictures of how incredibly soaked we were, but to be honest with you, I was so horrified at myself in the pictures, I just couldn't bring myself to show them. It's horrid...I went on a diet immediately after seeing my skin tight, wet, shirt clinging to my body. It was sick. I can't show anyone. It's too gross...but if I don't, you can't really get the idea of how soaking wet we were when we climbed into our car for the 5 hour trip back to Frisco...oh ok, I'll show you. But only because I'm behind this computer screen and won't be able to see the looks of horror on your faces when you see what I looked like.

But you see? It's necessary to let you know how wet we were so you can appreciate just how uncomfortable the drive home really was...I couldn't lick my lips without tasting salt water and my arms were crusty with salt residue. It was a super pleasant ride...but Aaron was right to skip a hotel for the night...we were super happy to be home in our own baths and beds. And despite the less-than-comfortable drive home, it was an awesome trip. It was sooo worth the repeat trip to get our money's worth out of the season passes we bought in March. (I also brought back the refillable popcorn and drink containers we got on the nightmare trip, so we didn't even have to spend $20 on snacks this time. That'll show 'em!)

There you have it....sorry it took so long to post. And so sorry to share that picture of myself. I'm cringing for you right now.