Sea World / Aquatica

We finally made it to the "new" Aquatica. It's a little disappointing because there were really only 2-3 new slides and then a few upgrades and now they charge an extra $20 per person admission if you want to go into the waterpark. We still had fun even though we spent the entire day walking around like this........

Not 100% sure when we lost my sandal but more than likely it was around the first slide we went on. It was one of the new ones where the family can ride down and at the end you go through a tunnel with the sting rays swimming around you. Well, since it's basically the main attraction of the waterpark we were in a hurry to go on that one before lines got long. Derek and the girls went and when they were walking back I started taking all of my non-swim apparel off and sloppily threw it into the stroller. I realized it was gone about 3 hours later when Avery needed to go to the bathroom and I wasn't about to walk in the bathroom barefoot. We spent a good 30 minutes or so walking around the park looking for it and asking around --- no luck. So the above picture shows how we walked around all day. Allie loaned one of her sandals to Derek while Allie rode in the stroller. Whenever she got out Derek had one sandal on. What you can't really tell from this picture is that one of Avery's sandals are broken too. What a sight we were!

We were having so much fun we didn't really take many pictures. This was also probably the longest we've ever stayed there too. We were there from 10 - 5:30!

This slide has always been here.......first time Allie rode it. I was nervous for her b/c she definitely can't touch in that water. And it's the first tube slide she's ridden by herself. She was all smiles afterwards though and said, "it was long and smooth!"

holding on tight!

After the waterpark we went to the regular part of Sea World so the girls could ride the Shamu Rollercoaster and Merry Go Round. Then we went to the Bay of Play for a little bit. Blake was extremely tired here but loved playing with the water.

Allie was so brave to ride this! We've tried to get her to ride every time we've been. I went to give her a hug before we got on because I could tell she was really nervous. Her heart was beating out of her chest! As soon as we sat down she said, "it's so high!" I think I did a pretty good job of keeping her calm and easing some of the fear. Once we went down she said, "that wasn't big!" I think she was relieved that it was over and that she didn't get soaked. When we asked if she wanted to go again she said, "no it almost broke my back."

 

our little fish!

Swim Lessons

A few weeks ago we signed up the girls for their very first swim lessons. It was a great deal (actually ended up being free!) So for the past two weeks they've been little fish. Allie has progressed SO much. She was doing things she feared doing by the second day. She easily moved up to level two. Avery progressed a lot too. She is still a high level one and the only thing holding her back was that she wouldn't go under water. I know that's scary.......we're working on it.
They loved their instructor and I'm even thinking about calling her to have her come out here and give them some private lessons. We've tried doing it ourselves but they just don't listen to us as well.
At any rate, they loved going every day for two weeks. It was the highlight of their day.

 More practice at home..............

And just for kicks. Something the girls rigged up while we were working outside.

Blake ~ 11 Months

Holy cow! Blake is going to be ONE next month. Craziness! We have been so busy the past couple of months I never documented anything at his 10 month mark. So, in the past two months a lot of things have changed with Blakers.

• He now has SIX teeth (the two middle-top and the two middle-bottom and one to the right of both of these sets)
• He's "walking" all over the place with help from furniture, toys, mommy & daddy, etc
• He's getting brave and will stand without holding anything for a few seconds. He always has the biggest smile on his face when he's doing it and probably gets a little too excited and that's probably why he falls so quickly. :0)
• Is starting to wave "hi" and "bye" but he waves with his hand facing him. It's so cute!
• He loves to clap
•  He also loves to do the Indian chant thing with his hand and mouth
• He's a huge flirt and loves to be the center of attention. When all eyes are on him he'll start laughing, and in return, make others laugh.......and he'll keep laughing his very fake sounding laugh until he's not the center of attention anymore
• LOVES food.......and just about any food at that. If we put anything in front of him he will shovel it all in his mouth.
• Unlike the girls he loves meat. Our girls didn't eat meat for the longest time (except for hot dogs but I don't know if that qualifies as meat!) Makes meal time so much easier (when we're actually at home) because he can just eat what we're eating.
• He's not a big fan of pasta. He'll eat it but we can still tell there's something about it that he doesn't care for. The girls aren't big fans of pasta either.......
• He is such a jabberbox! This is fairly new. He'll just jabber away like he's having a real conversation. It's so fun and extremely cute!
• His favorite toys are balls and cars. No matter how many girly toys are around he always manages to find those. He's all boy!
• He's a great sleeper. It took him a while to get used to his bed after being gone for so long but I think he's finally back to (or almost back to) his usual sleep habits. Before we left he knew it was time for bed and went to sleep as soon as we would lay him down. Now he'll jump back up and cry for a while, but that's gradually slowing down. Once he's asleep he's out for the night. He'll usually go to bed between 7 and 8pm and wake up anywhere between 6 and 8am (depending on how much sleep he gets during the day with naps).
• Ideally he gets two naps a day but that doesn't always work out since he has two older sisters and so much going on. Lately he has only been getting one and sometimes NONE! It's been rough. Just three more weeks until school starts and then we'll be back on a good schedule.
• Oh, and yes, he's already learning how to cheese it up for the camera! ;)

clapping

being loved on by his sisters

playing with a car.....so what if it's pink!

driving around with big sis

Forgot to add that he is such a man.........loves the remote!

Missions Baseball

Last Wednesday night we went to a minor league baseball game....San Antonio Missions vs Corpus Christi Hooks. The Missions won 5-1 but we didn't stay the entire game. We left at the start of the 5th inning.....the game was dragging on and the kids were getting tired. It was still fun to go to.

Phone pics

I was just going through pictures on my phone and realized I have some pretty good ones that are worth sharing. I always forget to get these off whenever I'm posting pictures!

@ Dallas Children's Museum

@ Wegerzyn Gardens - Ohio

Witte Museum - San Antonio

Witte Museum

my first ever picture on the phone --- @ IHOP. Funny story. It was just me and the kids. Derek was out of town. I left the house without my wallet and had no way to pay for our food!!! I had to get a manager and tell him my story. I left my new phone with them while the kids and I left to go get money.

Pizza King - Lafayette, IN

Pizza King. Allie is grabbing our drinks from the train that delivered them to our seats

Blake meeting Jackie @ GG's house

Blake (thinks he's already ONE) @ Mony & Papa's

@ Dallas Airport (awesome USO)

Blake showing off his new skills and pushing around his Great Wolf Lodge animal

this was taken at our most recent camping trip at Canyon Lake. There were SO many deer out.

taking a night walk while camping. The girls were using their new toys to help light the way

feeling the warm water at the lake @ night

Allie captured this goofy pic while on the boat

picture we took before headed out on the boat

Allie!

the girls went to a Princess birthday party. Belle was there! Avery was too nervous to get in the picture

by the end of the party she was ready to jump in

she broke her sunglasses while shopping today. They are still pretty stylish! :)

Canyon Lake

Now that Derek has a little more free time (well, a lot compared to the very little he got before) he's able to take some time off work. He took Monday off so we could get the boat out and take it for a little joy ride. Good thing we started prepping the boat on Saturday because the battery was dead. Guess that's what happens when it's been over a year since it's been out of the garage!

In the end we decided to make a camping trip out of it. We left after church on Sunday and had such a great time. I always talk about how much work a one day camping trip is.......and is it really worth it all. We made this one so low maintenance, which I believe is the way to go on short trips and with little ones in tow. The only thing we cooked over the campfire were some marshmallows! Breakfast was cereal and everything else was just grabbing fast food or easy snacks. It made it much more relaxing!

none of the kids have liked this life jacket

in the end he tolerated it pretty well

someone doesn't want to go tubing

Avery would rather be swimming

we were always going "too fast"

Blakers fell asleep while Derek was driving/pulling Allie & I on the tube

the kids favorite part.......the beach!

I enjoyed the beach too. Loved that we could sit in the water and just relax.

We had a great time. We're planning to go again soon!