Summer Vacation: Plan B

After the hurricane evacuation, we headed to the next best thing in the South Texas vacation world: Sea World in San Antonio!

The rain was supposed to be following us there, but we were hoping to be at least a day ahead of it.

And, we were!

It only rained once all day, and we got the whole park practically to ourselves...look at those empty lines behind us!

AND, it was nice and cool from the clouds! So, it was definitely a GREAT plan B. In fact, the kids all thought we were the coolest parents ever for taking them to the beach AND Sea World all in one trip! See how they express their appreciation?!

Cortni found some great deals on tickets, and with two big hotel rooms the night before, breakfast at the hotel, and some park maps (and map readers!), we were all set for another fun cousin day!

Look at all these smiling faces!!

And, let's not forget this little smile too!

It was a day full of sea life creatures: dolphins,

sea lions,

and THE Shamu...who splashed this row of children (and Mark!)

These are the smarter Shamu-show watchers! Sitting where it was dry,

And where there was FOOD!

There were even some tropical birds to see at Sea World! (What? Do they live in the sea?) Oh well. They were loved regardless of their habitat...by everyone except me. (I'm not so much a fan. Notice the cage wire in every single one of my pictures...because I was outside the bird exhibit. :) And, it's a good thing I was. Because these were really friendly birds. They were on heads, hands, shoulders...oh man, just typing it makes me nautious.

Cailee, the Bird Whisperer:

We also found some fun among the small-sized amusement rides (which were thrilling to these little ones! There were many repeated rides on this little Shamu coaster!)

And, of course, we had lots and LOTS more water fun:

We closed the park down, grabbed some drive-thru tex-mex, and headed north to experience Summer Vacation: Plan C. Yes, that's right. We had more fun in store. And, just think....four days of fun in three different cities. And, all that time we could have been just layin' on the beach. Man, how boring would THAT have been. :)

We'd much rather get suntans OTHER more creative ways, right?!