Sea World

Another staple in San Antonio is Sea World.  One of the first places that we hit when entering the park was... KID LAND!  I forget what it was actually called but it was little kid heaven.  Hunter was pretty suspicious of me the whole trip so I think I took him on the merry go round about 10 times, or it felt like it. 

 I also got some good bonding time with Evelyn.  She is a thrill seeker for sure!

This was a whale of a roller coaster!

 One of the nice parts about having family with a little more mom experience is they always take pity on the newest member of the gang.  They insisted on taking Harper so Brent and I could have a little time to go on some of the adult rides.   The walk was nice and we got to see these cool wildlife creatures made out of recyclables.

 There was also a fun penguin exhibit.  They had a little habitat for the baby penguins but you couldn't see into it and I was so annoyed.  Why would they dangle the idea of BABY penguins in front of me and not let me see them!

 Brent with his recyclable shark!

 They have a ton of shows and this is one of the little stages that currently wasn't being used.  WE wanted to get a really cute picture of the kids, but apparently none of ours were meant to be models.

 Doug and Kara have been to seaworld enough times that they know where to sit if you want to participate.  Doug sat with two of the boys in the right spot so Braden was chosen to help this detective sea lion solve an important case.

 Overall it was a great day at seaworld.  We ended the day at the orca show.  Brent and I were going to sit in the splash zone but at the last minute I decided to sit with the others on higher group because the idea of a wet Harper wasn't thrilling.  I am glad I did because Brent got SOAKED!  It was fun to see him and the others sitting below enjoy their torment but overall the show didn't impress me.

San Antonio was hot and humid (especially for february) but it had so much to offer! I can't wait to see where Kara and Doug end up next!  Of course I love exploring the country but I think getting together with Kara, Maren, Blake, Doug and all the kids is my favorite!  I think if we could follow them around the country more permanently we would!

Zoo

Brent doesn't get a lot of time off work, so when there is a family vacation I often leave a day or two earlier and he catches up as soon as he can. This was the case when we went to San Antonio TX to visit our amazing cousins!  On the first day, Kara (Hostess extraordinaire) chose to go to the Zoo.  Great activity for the kids and not something Brent would be bummed about missing.

Five Seconds after entering the kids (all including Doug) found stuff to climb on.

 Harper really enjoyed being out with mom.  Now that she is five months older I think she would really enjoy looking at the animals.

 The three girls.  Note:  Maren is notorious for going on vacation and deciding she hates all of her clothing.  This is why she is currently wearing my shirt. I am also totally envying Kara's long hair, which is why I am growing mine out.   

 All of the boys found the weighted rope that keeps birds in their sanctuary. I actually think they found the true use. 

 Doug and Blake playing the dutiful dads.

 Look at all the BUGS!  Devin was not thrilled about actually being that close to bugs real or fake! 

We kinda stayed longer than we thought so Kara and Doug had to rush home to pick up Evelyn from school.  Doug said we should stay and look at the giraffes.  As we were walking Braden said "Dad, there are no giraffes."  Blake insisted that there were and soon a bet was struck up. 25 cents to the winner...  Turns out Braden was correct.  I don't know how he knew but he did!  For the rest of the trip he was trying to get all of us to gamble away our savings!

River Cruise and Date Night

After the Alamo it was time to hit the River Walk.  This is a San Antonio Staple.  

It is a commercial river area that you can walk or take a river cruise and learn a little bit of history.  Of course we had to try that (Doesn't Harper look SO little?!?!)

Like her mom she wanted to be in the water!

The kids all had a good time, at least for the first 15 minutes.  Kara and Devin looking good!

Maren and Brody enjoy the trip. The tour guide was good but since it was over four months ago I really don't remember anything he said.

After a busy day we left the kids at home with a couple of sitters and hit an adult only date night!  We went back to the river walk and ate at an amazing BBQ place.  There was a little bit of a wait so Brent and I went to explore.

We found an awesome bridge and Brent began to capture the beauty of the river walk.

I think he did a pretty good job.  I was telling Brent that Las Vegas doesn't have something like this.  Yes, we have the strip but it is dirty (physically and spiritually), crowded, hot, smelly, and overall pretty uninteresting if you don't drink and gamble.  

Brent had some fun taking random pictures of me.  It was really fun to remember what travelling without Harper was like.  I find I am a lot more patient now!

Dinner was great.  We had a waiter who found our conversation so interesting he often lingered and offered his own insight... which also gave us a little more to talk about!  After dinner we took a little walk and all had to get our couple pictures with Saint Antonio himself!

Kara and Doug!

Maren and Blake!

Date nights are so fun, especially when they are with the people you do not get to see often enough!