Sea World 2008

Every year for our anniversary we take a trip somewhere. Some have been bigger (Tennessee) and some have been littler ( Galveston), but they have all been fun and a great time to get away from the hustle and bustle of life.

This year we went to San Antonio... one of our favorite places to visit! We thought that Sea World would be a great place for the boys and we were right!

Our Tuesday began with the Believe show starring Shamu. The boys were almost in a trance! They clapped vigorously when the whale would come out of the water. They sat in amazement at God's beautiful creation. Here is our family before the show started...
Who wouldn't cry when they saw this?!?!? I totally welled up. There is something magical about seeing these creatures. They are so big, yet so gentle. They were so tender with the trainers and put on a wonderful show.
When Rylan saw Shamu do this flip, we said "Look at the whale" to him. He responded, "Jonah." It actually took my breath away to hear him make the connection of the big fish and Jonah. All of the times we have read the books about Jonah really sunk in to his mind. It also reminded me that we too should make connections to God's Word in every day things. Here we were at a tourist place made for material gain, and my 22 month old brings it back to God. Thank you for that lesson Rylan! :)

Speaking of Rylan... look at that sweet boy! And don't miss Jacob peeking over his shoulder! We cheated and made our own picnic lunch. They do not have any picnic areas, so we made the sandwiches at the car and sat on a bench by the entrance. Even though we felt a little silly, we saved a bunch of money and points!

The boys love to ride in the stroller! We kept them in it most of the day, but did let them run around some. They also do a good job of holding hands with each other or us. Sweet Jacob is all grins!
After lunch we went to Dolphin Cove to feed the dolphins. I think Jacob would have jumped in the pool if we had let him! He was in awe of the dolphins. We bought 2 trays of 4 fish for the boys to feed to the dolphins. Jason and Jacob got splashed by a dolphin and Jacob squealed every time Jason tossed a fish into the dolphins mouth.

Jason got to touch a few dolphins they were so close to us! Now Rylan must have said "dolphin" a hundred times while watching Jacob feed them. When it got his turn to lay his tummy on the wall, we wanted no part of it! Jason handed him a fish and he tossed it without moving his elbow... I guess it was really more of a fling! So Jason held Rylan the whole time. After we fed them he said "dolphin" a hundred more times, so all in all, I Think he liked them.

There was a mommy dolphin and an 18 day old baby in the tank. The announcer kept talking about them and when he said there was a mommy and a baby, Rylan said, "Where's Daddy?"


Brotherly love in the hotel! Have you ever tried to sleep in a hotel room with 2 pack-n-plays? Let's just say it is crowded! And have you ever tried to have a dark room and be quiet at 8pm? Jason and I caught up on some reading and once we were sure they were asleep, we watched a few movies on his laptop.

This is our FAVORITE San Antonio restaurant... La Fonda on Main. It is in the historic Monte Vista District and is not a tourist-y stop... but it is AWESOME! On Monday we both got Pollo Milanese after sharing queso. And let's just get this out of the way... I ate chips, salsa and queso and did not count points! I figured all the walking and sweating at Sea World equalled it all out. Back to the fabulous food... Then we went back on Wednesday. I got Pollo Parri and Jason got Carne Asada. Once again - worth every point and more! We got dessert too - you only have one 8th anniversary! Our favorite dessert there is a chocolate cake covered with pecans that is served warm over a mango sauce.

When we were there on Monday night, a lady who was about 70 years old came over to our table. She said that she was a nun and was there with 3 other nuns and they had been admiring our boys throughout dinner. They were so impressed with how well they behaved and how Jason and I were patient with them and included them in our conversations at the table. She aid to keep up the hard work and that it would all pay off in the long run. It totally made me cry! Being a parent is such a huge responsibility and you pray every day that you are doing the right things for your kids. And it was nice to be encouraged by a total stranger.
So that's it... our wonderful trip to San Antonio. We cannot wait to go back... for more Shamu, for more La Fonda and to see the Alamo... we missed that on this trip!

On the way home we took a detour through San Marcos to shop at the outlet malls there. For our anniversary gift to each other, we decided to re-do our bedroom. We've had the same decor for 8 years and we are both ready for a change. So we got part of the new stuff here. After shopping for the boys some new clothes, we ate lunch at Johnny Rockets. It is a 50's inspired burger joint that was so much fun! They play 50's songs, wear cute paper hats, have straws in those pull-up dispensers on each table, and they have a soda bar! The boys LOVED the hats and their cheeseburger too!

Silly Jacob!
Rylan loved to dip his french fries in ketchup. Jacob, not so much. Rylan is following in the footsteps of Jason and Uncle Justin... who once consumed an ENTIRE bottle of ketchup between the two of them at a catfish restaurant. Truly, it was an amazing ketchup feat!


We are glad to be home and hope that you all have fun adventures planned too for this summer!