Morning at Sea World

Continuing with our little San Antonio mini vacay (yes, I'm really behind!), we hit Sea World bright and early after our evening at Magic Time Machine. The girl wanted to feed the dolphins and sea lions so we got there as it opened so they would still have fish for sale.

This might be where I should tell you we were all tired, didn't sleep well in the hotel, were sweating like mad by 10am and were a wee bit on the cranky side. Just keeping it real...

We do, however, love animals so we were excited about the day regardless of our moods. :-)

So we headed over to Dolphin Cove, Tonto purchased some fish and the girl set about making new friends.

My one good shot of my two favorite people...

Next we headed over to the sea lions. Tay has been talking about this guy for three years (since we last visited) because she felt so sorry for him. He's blind and is very blessed to be at Sea World because I have no doubt he wouldn't make it out in the ocean. He's super cute and is very good at begging for food!

I must say, though, that the girl has a new favorite animal - the otter. She absolutely fell in love with these guys, y'all.

Then we hit the first show of the day - Cannery Row Caper. This was the girl's favorite show last time around...

Her favorite ride is definitely Journey to Atlantis (or at least it was at the beginning of the trip) so she and I cooled off a bit...

...before heading over to Azul, which features lots of acrobatics, dolphins and a beluga whale.

By this point we were sweltering so we donned our swimsuits and hit the waterpark. After playing in the lazy river, we hit some tube slides and the wave pool before heading back into the regular park and going on the river rapids ride. Have to get all of the water fun in at some point, right?

Because we were close to the ski arena, we also had a chance to see that show as well. It was like all the theme park stars had aligned.

Then we resumed our regular Sea World schedule and headed back to the hotel for dinner (Denny's - they have revised their menu and it is AMAZING!) and a shower before returning for the night shows.

All in all, a super successful morning :-)

Happy Monday, friends!

May I Offer You Some Magic, Kind Sir?

After our exhausting, hot, fun day at Fiesta Texas, we headed out to dinner at Magic Time Machine. Neither Tay nor I had ever been but Dave assured it was yummy until he looked up some recent reviews, which were less than complimentary. He balked for a few minutes but, ultimately, the girl and I really wanted to experience it so we headed out...

If you've never been, it's the most eclectic restaurant you will ever see. Each table/booth has its own theme and each server dresses as a different character. Ours was Harry Potter. And it was the night the last movie premiered. The only issue was that none of us know anything about Harry Potter. We did, however, enjoy his card tricks! :-)

It was awesome to just walk around and see the different decorations. I suspect a miniseries of Hoarders  could be filmed here one day but, in the meantime, let the good times roll.

We were in a sunken area that was enclosed. Dave thought it had a bit of Chinese flair; however, the photos on the wall depicted Rome. All I know is that it was super cool.

The ceiling was crackled mirror. There was another server who kept walking by and telling me how much she liked my hair. In fact, she asked if she could have it. Cracked. Me. Up.

See what I mean about eclectic?

There was face painting available but Tonto and the girl opted out of that experience. I explained that mine had already been applied at the hotel. :-)

A nice guy who was making balloon animals came by as well, which is why we left with a duck.

Here's another photo the girl took of us. Let's just say that the fact that our tables were sunken made a good photo challenging...

On our way out, there were some photo opportunities that simply could not be passed on...

And, by the way, the food was absolutely AMAZING! As we left, we all decided the folks from the ol' internet had no idea what they were talking about because the food was soooo good. From the salad car to Tay's chicken fettuccine alfredo to the sampler (steak, Hawaiian chicken and shrimp) Tonto and I shared, it was phenomenal.

We will definitely go back.

Happy weekend, y'all!

Putting the Fiesta in Texas

So this time last week we were taking Fiesta Texas by storm. And by that I mean we were trying not to melt and wither away in the heat and humidity that is San Antonio. 

All in all, we had a better trip to this park than last year for a few reasons: 1) Dave didn't ride so many rollercoasters that he was walking crooked. He paced himself. 2) We knew our way around. 3) We knew which rides were worth it and which weren't...

This was our first theme park trip with Carl the big camera so you won't see that many photos because I wasn't really willing to risk Carl's life on the water rides and it just wasn't feasible to run back to the locker every 10 minutes.

We did see one of the shows at Rockville High (the 70s version) this year and it was super fun. I also wanted to see the flamenco dancing performance but I was overruled and this is all I got...

None of us were willing to risk whiplash on the Boomerang so a photo was taken instead ;-)

My peeps got up close and personal with Taz....

We rode a number of rollercoasters...

...but, after last year's experience, all of us have sworn off The Rattler. No way. No how.

The flags on top of it look nice, though.

No one would ride the Scream with me this year either. One of my favorite memories of last year's trip is Tonto screaming like a girl all the way down but, alas, it was apparently not a moment to be recreated.

Before heading out, we hit the dart game...

...where Slingshot nabbed another prize...

Due to the extreme drought, all of the fountains were dry. They're still beautiful but the dire situation is not...

It was an amazingly fun day but I must admit this was the best investment we made all day. All you can drink Powerade. If you make a similar trip, I would suggest you do the same in order to avoid passing out :-)

After about seven hours of non-stop fun, we headed back to the hotel. We were burning up, sweaty beyond recognition and ready to hit the pool to cool off. And, no, you won't find any park photos of yours truly because I do not have theme park compatible hair, friends. Nothing makes me throw all caution to the fashion gods and don a baseball cap like a day in the sweltering heat. :-)

Happy Thursday, friends!

A Lil' Preview

Last week we headed to San Antonio for a little mini vacation. This is becoming somewhat of an annual trip since summer just seems to beg for more than one fun road trip! Things are a wee bit on the crazy side this week but here's a little preview of our fun. And, because you know me by now, you have to know the full recap is coming - complete with a ton o' pictures - once I have a bit more time. :-)

We hit Fiesta Texas on Thursday and it was so much fun - Tay both got a picture with her favorite character and then won him. Can I just let y'all know that I live with some dart throwing fools? Seriously...

After sweating off nearly 10 pounds, we got all prettied up and headed to Magic Time Machine. Oh. My. Sweet. Mercy. Y'all, this food was amazing and the atmosphere was super fun.

Friday and Saturday we headed to Sea World. As you may know by now, we are some animal loving peeps so it seemed like a natural fit. Unfortunately, we were all tired and a little cranky on Friday but a trip to the waterpark saved the day! :-)

Like I said, this is just a brief glimpse but I hope to have all the pictures edited by the end of the week. My girl leaves for her last camp of the summer tomorrow and I'm going on a work trip that won't have me home until about midnight today so logistics are a bit of a challenge this week.

Also, yesterday was my birthday and can I just suggest that Facebook is awesome on one's birthday? I had about 200 messages throughout the day and it was so sweet and special. My parents came up last night (which I greatly appreciate because their new and amazing home is about an hour from Waco one way) and we ate at Chuy's before hitting 3 Spoons for dessert. 

It was simple and fantastic. And I am definitely praying 33 will be an easier year than 32...  :-)

Happy Wednesday, y'all - try to stay cool!