Mini Vacay to See Shamu :)

We just got back from a mini vacay to San Antonio. We had the best time!!! I enjoyed myself so much more than I thought that I would. I was so worried about the heat and that Drew wouldn't do well. I was prepared for the worst, and so pleasantly surprised by all of the fun that we had! Drew did so much better than I thought that he would and the heat was manageable. Don't get me wrong - it was insanely hot - but we stayed in the water or in the air conditioning most of the time. :)

The impromptu trip was mostly due to the fact that we had bought season passes (that are good through December of 2010) when we went to Sea World back in November. The passes, combined with hotel points that Wade has accrued with work travel, made this mini vacation extremely affordable. So, we decided to end the summer with a bang. :)

We left on Sunday and hustled to get to the park in time to see the 4:00 water ski show. I had talked up the ski show big time to Clayton. It was the thing that he was most looking forward to. Well... on Saturday afternoon, I looked up the show schedule only to realize that the 4:00 show on Sunday was the last one of the summer. Yikes! So, we changed our plan a bit and made it to Sea World in time to catch the ski show. Thank goodness - Clayton would have been super sad, if we had missed it.

Clayton got antsy while waiting for the show to start, so we played with the camera and took a self portrait. ;)

Some of their tricks really were amazing!

My boys were on the front row, of course!
I sat (with the camera) out of the splash zone while they ended up soaked!

After the show, you could go to the front for a meet and greet with the skiers.
You would have thought that Clayton was meeting a movie star. He got so nervous! Ha ha!

Drew spent 3 full days being confined to his stroller or car seat. He took some good naps on the go and rarely complained about being strapped in. He really did sooo well, and made the trip so nice for his Mama. Bless his heart.

The Seal/Sealion/Otter/Walrus show is always a good time...

I have to say that the Shamu show made me really sad. After the horrible incident back in February when a trainer was killed by one of the whales, there have been some big changes to the Sea World practices. The trainers no longer get into the water with the whales. They don't swim with them and ride on their backs, etc. I know that the kids don't know the difference, but the changes were obvious to Wade and I.

Sunday night we checked into the hotel and ate dinner. The boys LOVED staying in a hotel. As soon as we got settled, Clayton said, "When me and Drew finish high school, we're going to get a room like this!" I think that he was referring to their dorm room. Ha!

Drew slept in the pack 'n play in the bathroom. Hey - don't knock it til you try it! He slept til after 9:00 in there. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. ;)

Isn't that the cutest little blond bed head that you've ever seen???

On Monday, we headed back to Sea World to spend the day at the water park there - The Lost Lagoon. Before we made our way to the water park, Clayton had his heart set on riding Journey to Atlantis with his Daddy. They sat in the front row (can you see them?) and got drenched! It brought back fond memories of riding Splashwater Falls at Six Flags with my Dad. Isn't there some unwritten rule that dads get stuck with all of the water rides???

While Wade & Clayton rode all of the big slides, I hung out in the toddler area with Drew. He had a ball!

He kept pointing and saying "Ish. Ish." until I acknowledge that it was, in fact,a fish.

Toddlers. Gotta love 'em. :)

He sat on top of this slide and said, "Pitcher. Pitcher. Cheeeeeese."
Have I got him trained or what??? ;)

We met back up with Daddy & Clayton in the wave pool. Drew was a fan!

I bought an underwater digital camera a few weeks ago, and I LOVE it! I got a great deal HERE. My Nikon SLR will always have my heart, but this little camera got some pretty good shots both out of the water and underwater. I'd highly recommend the underwater Fujifilm. It takes underwater video also. I haven't tried out that feature yet, though.

Drew and I tubed in the lazy river for over an hour. Good times.

We finished off the day with s'mores at the hotel's fire pit. They served s'mores every night from 7:30-9:00. Yum! Drew kinda liked them. :)

On Tuesday, it was back to Sea World for more Shamu fun!

We started the day by feeding the seals, sea lions, and dolphins.

We fed the Lorikeets, too.
They would swarm you for the nectar as soon as you walked into their cage.

One even camped out on Clayton's head for a little while. Ha!

The Azul show was my favorite.
It was very cirque du soleil-ish with beluga whales and dolphins. Very pretty.

This poor guy has, in my opinion, the worst job in the park. I think I'd rather clean those nasty bathrooms (and that's saying a lot!) than to don that furry suit in 100 degree heat. Ugh! How miserable must that be???

Feeding the dolphins - another highlight.

Drew LOVED the aquarium area. He could have spent all day in there. Just saying "Ish. Ish. Ish." over and over again.

Working on his fish face. :)

On Wednesday, Wade spent the day in meetings with a few of his customers in the San Antonio area. So... the boys and I hung out at the hotel. We swam...

We stayed at the La Cantera Resort and they had TONS of cool activities for kids. We went to the Zoomagination show while Daddy was working. I was so impressed! They had tons of cool animals for the kids to pet.

Bearded Dragon


Blue Tongued Skink

Wallaby

Tarantula

Hedgehog

Scorpion

Hissing Cockroaches

Ball Python
(Clayton was so bummed that he didn't get picked to be a volunteer for this part of the show.)

And, there was a monkey in the front row. Oh wait, that was Drew!

Two Toed Sloth

On Wednesday night, the boys took me out for an early birthday dinner. We went to Benihana's. Yum! Clayton loved all of the chef's "tricks."

Both of the boys were inspired to do their own tricks. Ha!

The onion volcano - classic. :)

After dinner, it was back to the hotel for more pool fun with Daddy. The hotel had a water slide that was really, really fun! We all went down it a gajillion times.

They let Drew go down the slide by himself! He wore his puddle jumper (which has been great investment this summer, by the way!) and LOVED it. He would go under, come back up with a huge smile on his face, and then say " 'gin 'gin 'gin" (aka again) until we took him to the top again. He is as crazy about the water as his brother is!

Then one last round of poolside s'mores!

We had a blast on one last trip before school starts! In just 10 days we will officially have a Kindergartner! Yowsers!