Sea World

We had the absolute best time at Sea World in San Antonio! My parents met us for the San Antonio portion of our trip. It was the perfect day. Just a little overcast so it wasn't too hot and no one got burned. We went on a Thursday while the schools were still in so there were no crowds. It was nice.


I'm not for sure if we could pick what our absolute favorite part was. The first thing we did was go to the bottle nose dolphin tank where we could buy dead fish and then feed them to the dolphins. The kids loved this and would have just stayed here all day and skipped the rest of the park (of course they had no idea what else was out there).

We then visited the Lorikeet exhibit where Grandpa bought nectar so we could go in and feed them.
The dolphin show was fun.

The kids rode the Shamu roller coaster several times!

But our very favorite had to be the Shamu show. We actually made it for both performances. The first show had 3 killer whales which was fun, but the second show had 5 killer whales and it was very impressive. They did all sorts of jumps and tricks. The most amusing part was when they all came over to one side to splash the audience. I'm sure it would not have been as amusing to us if we had been in the splash zone, but the people were warned.

My kids are already asking when we are going to go again. I think next time we might plan for 2 days at the park because we barely made it to every show, rode a couple kiddie rides, saw all the exhibits and ate lunch and still didn't make it to any of the big rides. One day is not quite enough.

If you are ever in San Antonio, we would highly recommend going to Sea World. It was great fun!

Thankful Thursday

It's been a busy week! So much to be thankful for!

1. We found out yesterday we are having a GIRL!!!!!

2. Ben and the kids got to come in and see the ultrasound and the baby looks perfect. 10 fingers, 10 toes, everything right where it should be. What a miracle!

3. They moved up my due date! Thankful for that! It is now October 3rd but probably late September. With my history of big babies (9.9, 9.6, 9.2) and the fact that this one measures at the 96th percentile, my OB said earlier would be better. Throw me in the briar patch!

4. My sister had her baby boy yesterday!!! My nephew was 9lbs 6oz. Her biggest baby. He was healthy and there were no complications. And he is adorable!!!

5. We had the AWANA award night yesterday. I am so thankful for the AWANA club! My kids have memorized so many Bible verses (which takes a lot of participation on the parent's part, but it is so worth it)

6. Thankful for all the rain and the cooler weather. I know it will get hot in Texas soon enough so I'm enjoying this weather while I can!

That's all I've got for now! Have a Thankful Thursday!!!

Happy Birthday To My Favorite Man In Scrubs!

Dolphin Watch Nature Tour

One of our favorite activities on Port Aransas was to go on a Dolphin Watch Nature Tour.

Here we are waiting to get on the boat.


This picture is here purely to document that I was indeed on this vacation. And that my hair type does not agree with humid, salty wind.

We actually asked a man on the boat to take a picture of our family together at the front of the boat. You could see the water and the harbor and I thought it would look nice. He pointed to his wife (who was sitting down) and said "She takes better pictures than I do", so I gave the camera to her. She didn't stand up. And she didn't center it. It was so sad that it was really just funny. All you saw was in the picture was our family on the very right edge of the picture, the rail of the boat and the sky. And SHE was the one who took better pictures. Next time I'll ask someone who has a nicer camera than me. That is surely a sign of someone who could take a good picture!

We were on this boat. This is actually a picture off their website. You can click on the picture to get to the link.

So we finally started off.

We saw TONS of dolphins!
Jumping dolphins.

Several dolphin mothers and their babies.

But the touch tank was where my kids wanted to be.
When we got on the boat, they already had some crabs, fish, starfish, and a seahorse in the tank from the last boat ride.
Halfway through our trip, they threw out the nets and let them drag behind the boat.

They pulled them up and then dumped the contents in a bucket.

They then took the bucket back to the touch tank and took each sea animal out and told everyone all about them. It was very interesting and very educational. The crabs with claws were thrown back in along with any other dangerous animals. They took the barbs off of the little stingray and told us they would grow back and then threw him in the tank.

The kids were then able to pick up and touch any of the animals and fish in the touch tank. There were quite a few crabs with sea anenomes on the backs of their shells and my middle loved to touch all the anenomes and pick up the crabs.

There were squid, several unique fish, a sting ray, and several varieties of starfish and crab that were added to the tank.

There ended up being quite a few minnows who apparently don't survive out of water long. They took them to the back of the boat and let the kids throw them to the seagulls.

The kids had a blast doing this!

As soon as they were done, the kids went back to the touch tank. They absolutely loved getting to see all these animals up close!

This is one outing that we would highly recommend if you are ever in Port Aranasas, TX!

Thankful Thursday

1. Thankful we had such a wonderful vacation last week. It was nice to get away with the husband and the kids.

2. Thankful we didn't get sunburned or stung by jellyfish.

3. Thankful that even though we spent 2 1/2 days in San Antonio, we miraculously avoided the Swine Flu. (which is a whole other topic unto itself)

4. Thankful that SeaWorld wasn't crowded and that the day was nice and slightly overcast.

5.Thankful that we can feel the baby moving. My husband spent part of the evening last night with his hand on my stomach feeling the child doing flips.

6. Thankful school it almost finished.

7. Thankful that my Grandpa's surgery went well and that he is headed home today.

8. Thankful for my new dryer. It's not blue, and it's not a Samsung, and it didn't come with a matched washer, but it works well! And since I've somehow become dependant on this particular piece of machinery, I'm thankful that I once again have one that works.

9. Thankful for my husband who turns 39 this weekend!

Well that's all for now! Hope you have a Thankful Thursday!

A Few Things I Have Learned About The Beach

We've been on vacation.

At the beach.

We went down to Port Aransas, Texas and stayed in a condo within walking distance from the beach with a beach view. I say condo. That sounds awfully fancy for where we stayed.

I think I got the best deal on the island. It was called "Armadilla Villa" and it had a living room, full kitchen, full bathroom, one bedroom and places for 6 to sleep. And a washer and dryer. And we ended up paying about $65 a night.

It was nice for that amount. Our only problem was that the queen bed had broken box springs and was terribly uncomfortable. And most of the things in the condo were old enough that we were afraid we would break them. But other than that we were completely pleased.

The first thing I learned when going for a relaxing beach vacation is that it is important to have a good nights sleep in order to feel relaxed. If we visit "Armadilla Villa" again, we will be bringing our own memory foam pillow topper mattress.

The second thing I learned was that it was very nice to have our own washer and dryer. We washed clothes pretty much every night. Sandy beach water is a little harder to sink wash out than just pool water. And we seemed to go through several outfits a day because it was so windy and wet everywhere we went.

The third thing I learned is that it is very windy on the Gulf Coast at this time of year. I don't think I got a single picture of the kids in which my daughter's hair wasn't blowing across her face. More wind also means turbulent waves. Which leads to my fourth thing.

(I just want to add at this point that I have no idea why my kids pose in just this order. I noticed that they are in the same order in the picture on the side and I think it's kind of funny. I promise I don't do it on purpose, I just told them to turn around so I could take a pic before they got wet)


I learned that it isn't very relaxing to take 3 kids ages seven and under to the beach when it is windy and the waves are turbulent. I had visions of us sitting in our folding chairs, sipping diet cokes while the kids frolicked in the ocean. It ended up that the waves came in and rose so quickly, and that the undertows were so strong that we felt we needed to stay fairly close to the kids at all times.

The fifth thing I learned is that my kids absolutely loved the beach!






The sixth thing is that she loved to sing and dance in the waves! It was amusing. She has a "brilliant personality".

The seventh was that at this time of year, the tide was up so far that there really wasn't room for making sand castles. In fact there really wasn't a dry spot on the whole beach to lay down a blanket, towel or even set up a chair. Just when you thought you had found someplace safe, the waves would roll in and completely cover the only dry spot left. So instead of building sand castles, we bought little fish nets and bucket and the kids caught all sorts of things in them from little bitty crabs, fish, shrimp, and even blue button jelly fish (which are the only ones that don't sting). We also borrowed the boogie board from the condo and the kids had the best time on it.

The eighth thing we discovered is that not every beach has shells. A park ranger informed us that there are only certain areas where the channels are dredged. The shells will wash up on the beaches near these channels. Fortunately the Port Aranasas beach is one of them. We went on several beach combing adventures and found tons of whole shells of every kind and even several halves of sand dollars.

I believe the oldest loved beach combing the best. He loved finding all sorts of cool shells. But he pretty much enjoyed fishing and the boogie board too.

The middle loved the boogie board the best. And standing out in the surf going one on one against the waves. Instead of using his net for a net to catch fish, he turned it the other way and used it as a sword to fight the waves. It was kinda like Don Quixote fighting the windmills.

Her favorite part was just sitting in the ocean and letting the waves crash over her. That and catching fish and other assorted animals. Which I'm sure comes as a big shock. :)

The last thing I learned was the value of having accommodations within walking distance from the beach. We were so sandy and grimy by the time we made it off the beach that I honestly can't imagine the state our car would be in had we rode home in it every day. It was so very nice to walk back to the condo and rinse off outside with a hose.

All in all, we had a great time at the Port Aransas beach. Since we went off season, it wasn't very crowded and the kids had an absolute blast. There were plenty of shells, Marie life and waves to keep them occupied. So it was great for our family.

But if I ever go to a beach with just me and the husband,.... it's Bora Bora baby!

This was our first big trip as a family to the beach and we decided to just go to the closest one, so I'm just curious if you've been to a beach, which one would you recommend?

As Easter Approaches....

We try every year to help our kids understand the true meaning of Easter. Last year we did an Easter version of the Jesse Tree. It turned out really nice and the kids really got into it. We basically got a branch and then made things that were symbolic of Jesus and his crucifixion on the cross and then hung each item on the tree. The kids then would explain everything on the tree to their dad and visitors.

This year we decided to try the Resurrection Eggs. I bought these at CBD.com but I believe they are also available at Christian Book Stores and Mardels.

The kids took turns opening the eggs in order. We would let the child opening the egg tell us what they thought the object in the egg meant and how it applied to Jesus and his crucifixion. I would then read the appropriate verse (provided in the booklet) and we would discuss.

They really loved doing this and have already asked to do it again this weekend and show Grandpa and Grandma. The best part is when the last egg was opened. It was empty. And my middle child who opened it started clapping and then said, "It's empty because the tomb was empty! Jesus rose from the dead!" And then my daughter started clapping also. It was very sweet.

I would highly recommend this set for teaching or reviewing the Easter Story! It is definitely going to be added to our Easter traditions.

So what traditions do you have for Easter?

Speaking of Bunnies.....

We've got Trouble.

Trouble that starts with T which rhymes with B and stands for BUNNY!

One, Two,

Three, Four,

and Five.

This one actually almost hopped right across my feet as I was taking pictures of the other four. He apparently has not a care in the world.

We believe these are actually the baby bunnies from a couple weeks ago.

I do believe we've got trouble!

I couldn't help myself.

I had to do it.

I had to try and make Bakerella's Easter Bunny Cake Pops.

Not because I had the laundry all done, or the house clean, or supper already made for the company we were having over that evening....... but because they were just way too cute..... and I just had to try them.

Now, they're not half as cute or as professional as Bakerella's but my kids were thrilled and thought they were the cutest things they had ever seen.

And the tails were my favorite part. Seriously, could they BE any cuter?

And I even let the kids help. They decorated about half of them. Although several of them had some genetic coding issues and had to be relegated to the yellow plate.

I would have to say that they were a little messy and a little tedious, but the kids had such fun doing them and they turned out so cute that we may try to make some more this week. Bakerella also had several other adorable ideas for the little Easter cakes so if you want to try it out, go visit Bakerella for her recipe and ideas!

Have fun!

Thankful Thursday

*Due October 7th

** My husband has already submitted Omega or Jean-Luc as names for consideration.