Spring Break-Trip to TX-Part 3...Sea World/Mikkele's Birthday

FRIDAY
Was Mikkele's 10th birthday. We started the day out with some birthday spankings from Grandma and Papa.

After a birthday breakfast of strawberry waffles, we got the kids all dolled up and took some cousin pictures in the blue bonnets. It's really hard to get 7 kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time. These are 2 of the better shots that we got. Not too shabby.

After pictures, we changed and drove over to Sea World.

We rode rides.

Mikkele

Emma

Christian

Mikkele was terrified to ride the bigger rides. She kept saying she was going to die. I told her I would not let her die on her birthday. After riding on the Great White once, she changed her mind and started saying AGAIN...AGAIN! Jeremy on the other hand was sick for days after riding this ride. It was decided then and there that we would not be going to Six Flags the next day.
All strapped in and ready to go.

The Steel eel also looked a little scary to her. She did not love this one as much as the Great White, but still figured out I was good on my word to not let her die on her birthday.

The little kids stayed in the kiddie area while we went on the big rides. Hallie got her first feel of sand. We found sand in all sorts of places afterward.

They had a 4D pirate movie. Each of the chairs were equipped with air and water that would blow at certain points in the movie. We left a little wet.

And of course we saw the different shows that they have.

SHAMU

The sea lion show. Hallie really liked the shows and watching the animals perform.

Azul...the new dolphin and beluga whale show.

It's kinda hard to see, but there are 3 dolphins jumping in this pic. Click to enlarge. You can also see baby Ronnie in the bottom right hand corner.

We saw different animals.

We saw alligators. I asked Mikkele why she would touch an alligator, but not a butterfly. I still don't understand that girl.

And fish in the aquarium.

And dolphins. We didn't get to feed them. We got to the pool during a non feeding time. :( Hallie still thought it was neat to sit next to the water and have them swim by.

And we saw the penguins.

And got a stuffed penguin for Hallie and Grant to play with. The hair is stretchy. Good sensory toy. I don't know why, but we somehow didn't get any pictures of Grant. Woops. Sorry buddy!

After a long day of walking around the park Mikkele hitched a ride with Hallie.

Mikkele wanted Chinese food for dinner, so we got some take out and brought it home so we could put tired kids to bed. What a fun way to spend Mikkele's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday to my awesome daughter. She is such a great big sister! We couldn't ask for a better girl. Love you Kell Bell!

Spring Break-Trip to TX-Part 2...The Zoo

THURSDAY

We went to the San Antonio Zoo. Christian and Emma came along with us. Audrey was getting the pins taken out of her thumb and a new cast put on, so she wasn't able to come with us. It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better day. This zoo runs circles around our zoo back home. It is probably 3 times bigger and a ton more animals.

They had a butterfly exhibit that was really cool. You went into a building that was filled with different types of butterflies. You could get them on your finger and hold them, and some would just come and land on you. They really liked to land on Hallie and Grant's head. It was pretty funny. We found out that Mikkele has a HUGE fear of butterflies. She ended up running out bawling. So no pictures of Mikkele and the butterflies, but there's plenty of pics with everyone else.

Mikkele liked the aquarium house much better. Everything was behind a glass and wasn't flying toward her head.

I have figured out what one of my traumatizing moments was from my childhood that has scared me for a good part of my life. When I was a kid, I always wanted one of these plastic zoo animals. It makes it right in front of you. Because I was a deprived child, I never got one as a kid. The smell of the melted plastic is still etched in my mind. When I saw that the zoo still has them 20 years later I jumped at the chance to get one for myself. I got $2 from my sugar daddy (Jeremy) and got me a polar bear. It is a proud moment in my life. A check off on my bucket list you might say. Some emotional scaring has been healed. I can now move on with my life. :)

We told the kids we were going to leave them in the monkey cages.

Pucker up Christian!

This animal looked like it was part zebra, giraffe, and horse. It was really weird looking.

I told the kids to show me their best alligator face. At least Emma and Mikkele cooperated.

The description of this bird was kind of funny. It said that it eats berries off the trees and then when it poops out the seeds of the berries it helps to plant new trees and bushes. Seeds and fertilizer all at the same time. Awesome.

Mikkele decided she wants one of these types of monkey's as a pet. They are pretty cute.

Best flamingo impersonation that she could do with a dress on.

Not quite as big as the California Condor.

Train ride around Breckenridge Park after the zoo.

We ended the day with having my friend Traci and her family over for dinner. We were friends when I lived in TX as a kid and we have kept in contact all these years. It's always fun to see her and catch up. (Forgot to get pics of that. Woops.) What a fun day!