Homework Time

Today was one of those days when homework needed to be attacked right away. Ian was really cute as he insisted on having his own "homework" to do:

Andy's Birthday Weekend

On Sunday, we finished off our trip to San Antonio by going downtown to El Mercado to experience some of the Hispanic culture that exists there. There's lots of shops and restaurants and on this particular day there was some type of event going on, so there were a lot of booths and activities set up. We did enjoy some freebies and also enjoyed a performance by some dancers:

We were hoping to find some yummy Mexican food. What we found was okay... I'm sure there's better if we had taken the time to eat in one of the restaurants. After lunch we then headed back to Houston. We got stuck in some crazy traffic once we got closer to Houston due to I-10 being shut down. Fun times! But luckily Ian slept almost the entire way home. Once we got home we enjoyed some grilled cheese sandwiches and then had the Mackay family over to celebrate Andy's birthday. Andy opened a few presents with lots of helpers:

 

Then we all enjoyed some mint chocolate chip ice cream pie (something that could be made ahead of time and it's also a favorite of Andy's):

 

Andy turned 36 years old this year, so we put 9 candles on his cake, each candle representing 4 years. We definitely enjoyed celebrating Andy this weekend. It was fun to do something a bit different and get out of our normal routine. Happy Birthday and thanks for the fun weekend!

San Antonio - Sea World

On Saturday, Andy's birthday, we headed to Sea World. Unfortunately they didn't open until noon, but we were still able to get in our favorite shows and enjoy exploring the park as well. We went on a few big roller coasters and quite a few of the little kid rides. Since we'd been last (back in 2010) they'd added a whole new section of kid rides and playgrounds called Sesame Street Bay of Play. So, when we weren't enjoying a show, the kids had fun in that area.

For some reason Audrey and Ian were being grumpy right as we entered, so we grabbed a picture of Rachel and then Jace and Weston joined her as well:

 

We went to check out the dolphins first:

 

 

The kids had fun watching them swim and jump around and luckily no one ended up in the water! :) Next were the sharks...

 

At 2:00 we headed to our first show, called Azul. This is always a fun show with acrobats and dolphins. The kids were definitely excited and entertained throughout the show.

Ian really enjoyed his first show. He humored us for one quick picture and then was off to watching again:

 

 

We then walked through Sesame Street Bay of Play and rode some of the rides, including the carousel:

Rachel was the only one brave enough and willing to get a picture with Zoe and Abby:

There was trick or treating throughout the park. We didn't make an effort to go to all the different stations, but if we happened to run into them we got some candy:

Ian is a really good stroller toddler. He doesn't mind his stroller at all and actually welcomes it most times. Here's some fun pictures I took while we were waiting for everyone else to go on a water ride:

Andy was able to convince Audrey and Rachel to go on the Journey to Atlantis roller coaster ride. I was quite impressed they actually got through the line and no one backed out. Here's a video of what the ride is like at the end:

After the ride both the girls said it was fun, but neither of them wanted to go on it again. Here's a pretty entertaining video of the kids watching others go down after their ride:

I love the pictures showing the same thing, but at a better angle:

 

 

 

 

I was glad Audrey was all giggles after this happened. We took off her tights and shirt and laid them out on the stroller to dry for a bit. Luckily we had brought jackets into the park and she just wore that for awhile. 

Love this picture of Weston helping Ian stay hydrated: 

 

We then went to watch Clyde and Seymour. They had a Halloween themed show going on and we didn't enjoy it as much as their classic show. Ian wasn't as entertained this time, but luckily snacks were able to keep him occupied (and I guess the people behind us):

 

Our last show of the day was going to see Shamu, which is always a favorite. By this time though Ian was spent. He hadn't napped and didn't really want to sit. So, I took him out after the first few minutes of the show. Here's Andy trying to take a picture of these cuties by himself:

Then I grabbed the camera:

 

We then had some dinner and headed back to Sesame Street Bay of Play. The kids had fun playing on the playground and riding some more rides. Around 8:00 I got to take the kids on one last ride, their favorite, the kid Shamu roller coaster. So here we are waiting in line:

We definitely enjoyed our day in Sea World celebrating Andy's birthday! We thought for sure at least two of our kids would crash on the way back to the hotel. It was a quick drive, but we thought they would be exhausted. Not so, they were all still wide awake and got baths that night. Sea World is definitely one of our favorites and we're glad we got to enjoy it with the Bills family!

San Antonio - Riverwalk & Alamo

For Andy's birthday weekend, we went to San Antonio with some friends. It had been a few years since we had been to Sea World and we wanted to do something a little different to celebrate Andy's birthday. We pulled Rachel out of school a little early on Friday and made our way to San Antonio. Before going to our hotel we stopped off at the Alamo and Riverwalk. The past few times we've been to San Antonio we haven't visited the downtown area, so it was fun. It brought back memories of the first trip Andy and I made to San Antonio back in 2003 when we had just moved to Texas. Crazy that 10 years have flown by... We decided to splurge and take the river cruise. The girls enjoyed the boat ride for the most part. I think they were expecting something a bit more exciting, but Ian definitely enjoyed the sights.

A bit concerned about our tour guide at first:

Too busy looking around to look at Mommy:

Best I could get:

The girls (getting a bit restless by this point):

Lots to see!

The girls after the river cruise with flowers in their hair:

We then walked over to the Alamo. Due to time we didn't go in, but we grabbed a few pictures in front of the Alamo. Rachel was the most cooperative. The other two weren't interested in taking pictures.

Best picture of the 3 of them:

Rachel trying to get Ian to cooperate:

Cute Rachel in her "Don't mess with Texas" shirt:

We then headed to our hotel planning on getting some dinner on the way there. We didn't think about 5 pm traffic. You tend to forget about those things when you're on vacation. So, it took us quite awhile to get to our hotel. We had promised the kids the chance to go swimming in the indoor pool. So, we ate dinner quickly and then headed to the pool. The kids enjoyed swimming and then we all crashed for the night. We were excited to go to Sea World with our friends the next day...

Crazy Hair Day

As part of Red Ribbon Week, Rachel's school has a different theme every day. Today was crazy hair day and Rachel was pretty excited to do this:

Luckily it was pretty easy to do! Thank heavens for the Internet where we can find ideas like this. What would I ever do if I had to come up with something myself??? :)