Dolphins and Walruses and Whales, Oh My!

We went on our very first official family vacation for Spring Break! The girls are at such fun ages and they were such a delight. Seriously, how did we get so lucky?? We drove down to San Antonio and spent three nights in a hotel and loved every minute of it. I'll just start from the beginning...this is your official warning of vacation picture overload.


We got off to a casual start, eating lunch at Genghis Grill (YUM!) on our way out of town. We hit Austin around 4:00 and discovered that driving in Austin was not pleasant. We went about 3 miles in 40 minutes.

So, we found ourselves making the first detour of the trip and decided to spend some time in downtown Austin. It was great to not be on a schedule and to just do what we wanted. No one needed a nap. Snacks were good enough to get us through until dinner. That is not something I take for granted. It wasn't long ago when skipping naps and meals just wouldn't be an option!


(These next couple of pictures are for you, Grandma :)

We stopped by the State Capitol Building and just kind of wandered around. The girls were impressed!

We were back on the road by 6:00 or so and finally got moving. We ate dinner and were doing great. About 30 minutes from SA Allie announced that she needed to potty.

I will save you the details, but let's just say she's prone to stage fright. She finally went after stopping for the third time, and we pulled into the hotel parking lot around 9:00. The girls were asleep after about five minutes!

The next morning we ate our free breakfast at the hotel. It was one of the main reasons we stayed there (hello...FREE food). I wasn't sure what to expect, but was fully prepared for the typical continental breakfast consisting of a banana and cold muffins. To our delight, it was a stocked breakfast buffet with eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, potatoes, oatmeal, tons of different cereals, a fruit bar...you get the idea. Pure heaven in my book. I LOVE breakfast food!

After breakfast we caught the shuttle at the hotel that took us straight to Sea World! No parking fee or crowded parking lot. The weather was perfect. We needed light jackets in the morning, but it warmed up to around 75 degrees by mid afternoon. Gorgeous!

Our first stop was the dolphins. I think they might be the most precious things I have ever seen. I couldn't believe how gentle they were and just seemed so incredibly happy! The girls loved being able to feed them and being so close.

Next was Shamu! We had tickets for Dinner With Shamu but it was cancelled due to the whole incident in Florida. Luckily the entire trip was a surprise for the girls, so they didn't know we missed it.

Lauryn was completely captivated by the show. I LOVED watching her expressions!

Our absolute favorite show included dolphins, beluga whales, birds, and acrobats! People dressed in amazing costumes diving and flipping into the water...so neat. We saw the same show again on the second day.

I have to say that people watching was almost worth the price of admission. Our favorite was the woman we saw while standing in line for one of the shows to start. She was explaining to her son (who couldn't have been more than 8 years old) that he couldn't have a treat... he should eat fruit instead of candy. It was "better to learn these things now than when you're an overweight adult". And, my favorite part, "if your stomach is big then the guns are small. And you want big guns, don't you?"

Yes, she did.

Poor kid. Can't even have a treat on vacation. I have to say that was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Indulging once in a while seems ok to me. And we did just that with dessert every night, including cookies the size of hub caps. That's what vacation is for, right!?

Anyway, we went to feed the birds next. You hold a little cup full of nectar and let them come to you. I only screamed once, which I thought was quite impressive.

Lauryn did GREAT! This is the same kid who, two years ago, would go into complete hysterics if a fly landed on her. She's come a LONG way!

Allie would still rather just watch from the sidelines, thank you very much.

We went swimming in the hotel pool on Saturday. Not quite as warm as you would hope a heated pool would be! Even thought the sun was out and it was 80 degrees, the wind still felt like early spring, so we opted not to swim the next day :)

On Sunday we left Sea World around 1:00 and went back to the hotel for a nap. After we woke up, we went downtown to explore the Riverwalk.

The girls loved eating on the balcony level and watching the riverboats go by.

We remembered the Alamo.

And we rode the riverboat before getting dessert. A perfect evening!
Monday morning we ate another gigantic breakfast before leaving for home. We stopped at a fun children's museum on the way. The girls loved it!


Now it's back to the routine and before we know it, Lauryn will be back at school Monday morning. But we have so many fun memories from this trip and I am so thankful we had that time together!