Family Vacation!!!

This year we couldn't really decide what to do for a vacation, so we decided that we would just schedule a few weekend trips. We asked the kids where they wanted to go and Ethan was quick to answer "Sea World". In April of last year when Eric switched jobs and had a month off work, we took the kids to Sea World. It was a perfect time to go because spring break was past and school wasn't out for the summer yet. We went on a Thursday and Friday and missed all the crowds and the heat. So we decided to go at the same time this year. It was a little hot, but still not too bad and there were absolutely no lines! We had so much fun and even ran into our friends The Kirkham's from our old stompin' grounds!! So hold on tight and once again, grab some snacks and enjoy the million pictures to follow.

The first day we dined with Shamu for lunch. It was really neat. The food was great and the kids loved being able to see Shamu so close.

This was the view of Shamu from our table. At one point he swam up to the side and was spitting water right at our table. Luckily we were far enough away that it didn't get us.

After the meal they did a little show for us. Here is Shamu posing for us.

Emily was still too short to ride a lot of the rides, but luckily she was able to go on the Texas Splash Down with mom or dad. She rode it 3 times and was scared every time, but still wanted to do it again! This next picture us hilarious! I love that Emily has her eyes covered and Ethan looks so freaked out!
The second day the kids wore swim suits and spent quite a bit of time on the little spray ground. Emily didn't want to get real wet, but she still had fun getting her feet wet. Ethan wouldn't get his head wet, but he still had fun!

I love this next picture of Emily! She was so excited to pose in front of the horse. Ethan didn't want his picture taken but I thought Emily looked so cute!!

In the afternoon they somehow convinced us to buy cotton candy. They made such a mess, but loved every minute of it!

Emery was such a trooper. He spent so much time in the stroller and missed lots of naps over the two days, but he was so happy most the time. Here he is just chillin' in the stroller with Ethan's sun glasses on.

We also got to feed the dolphins on Friday. The kids didn't really like touching the fish, but they loved that the dolphins swam right up to them. Ethan was so excited that he got to touch one of them and see what they felt like.

This was the last show we went to and the one Eric and I liked the best. They had lots of acrobats and divers and this was the show with all the dolphins. It was a really cool show. Here is one of the dolphins posing for us.

So as you can see from our pictures, we had a great time! The kids are already asking when we get to go back. The one thing I didn't get pictures of was them being splashed by Shamu. They decided they wanted to be really close so they moved a few rows in front of us. All it took was one splash by Shamu and they were running to us crying! It was pretty funny. Needless to say, they wanted to stay clear of any major splashing at the other shows.

Sorry for such a long post again. Next time I will try and keep it a little bit shorter.