Sea World

In celebration of our anniversary, we took the family to Sea World in San Antonio this past weekend. It took us about 2 hours longer to get there than it should have because poor little Nathan had just started potty training and therefore needed us to stop frequently - we were lucky if we could drive 20 minutes before making another pitstop. I learned quickly how much McDonald's franchises can vary, in not only cleanliness, but also service. We actually had a McDonald's employee come to our table and ask us if we needed any refills on our drinks. Should have starred that one on our map! Anyway, we did eventually get to Sea World and it was packed! Not a big surprise since it was Spring Break. I guess I was hoping maybe it wouldn't be too crowded, though, since it was, afterall, the end of Spring Break. No such luck. We had a long trek through the massive parking lot to get into Sea World, but the kids were real troopers and didn't complain... at least, not on the way in. I can't say they didn't complain a little when having to make that same walk on the way back out!

The first day there we saw the dolphins and sharks and penguins and of course, Shamu. The kids seemed to enjoy the big whale show, though they were so tired by this point that both Alex and Nathan weren't too enthusiastic during the 45 minute wait for the show to start, or even for the show itself. Amy, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the show (she was, afterall, the only one to take 2 naps on the car ride there). She watched the entire time and clapped, even when the audience didn't. She even did the wave thing with her hands that the divers had taught the audience to get Shamu to splash them. Amy only briefly took her eyes off the show to talk to the little girl next to us, who looked to be about her same age. I never dreamed she'd like it so much!

Throughout the day, Alex would frequently ask if it was time to go to the hotel yet. For whatever reason, Alex loves to stay in a hotel. I guess in his short life he's stayed in a number of hotels on various trips and he just has fond memories of playing in the hotel rooms. And on our first day at Sea World, that seemed to be what he was looking most forward to. But I do think he had fun. We saw the Pirate 4D movie before leaving and I think he enjoyed it, even though he was the only one to get wet!

The second day we saw the sea lion show and then the boys got to feed the sea lions. They really enjoyed that. We also saw the alligators, fed the fish, and revisited the dolphins. Most of the day, however, we spent playing in Shamu's Happy Harbor. Alex and Nathan especially enjoyed this. They had a blast climbing along all of the netting and through the tubes and especially on the pirate ship. And the rides, games and gigantic sand box were also hits with the kids. It was quite apparent that Shamu's Happy Harbor was the winning attraction at Sea World for the boys. I'd still have to say that if Amy could tell us, she'd say her favorite part was seeing Shamu.