Cincinnati Trip

The beginning of August we took the kids on their very first airplane flight to visit my brother & family in Cincinnati.  We left late Thursday evening stayed through Sunday afternoon.  They loved the plane ride, it didn't phase them one bit.  I finally got to meet my new niece, Harper, and the kids got to meet their cousins!  It was a reunion long time coming.   The kids played great together and enjoyed staying up way past their bedtimes.  Us parents got little to no sleep.  We had a fabulous time catching up, checking out the zoo & aquarium, visiting with extended family and eating at an awesome German restaurant!

baby Harper!

Visiting with family!

Freunds/Seitz/Maleks

all the littles

Checking out the Cincinnati zoo

they loved the water table

relaxing after a long day

Fun at the aquarium!

Sea World SA!

We finished the busy month of June with a trip to Sea World!  This was Ry's 2nd time and Car-Car's 1st time to take on Sea World.  Thankfully we bought tickets during a flash sale and only ended up paying for 1 ticket and 1 parking pass.  Ry had a free pre-K school pass and kids under 2 are free.  It was a warm day and overcast, hitting 90 degrees.  We left the house at 8am and arrived at Sea World around 10:15am,  after figuring out the ticket situation we entered the park around 10:45am.  

6/30/2015

We started off checking out the flamingos and then headed to the dolphin walk.  This area is new as the original dolphin tank and shark aquarium were under construction until 2016.  Unfortunately we couldn't go right up to the tanks and pet the dolphins this time around, which was a little disappointing as I really wanted Carsy and Ry to see the dolphins up close.  As the dolphin walk was right by Shamu, we made the 11:30am showing.  The kids were impressed when the whales jumped and performed tricks, but didn't seem to care too much for the informative facts.  :)  

dolphins

Shamu show

Shamu

After that we saw the penguin exhibit, alligator alley, animal connection (snakes and birds) and the kiddie play area!  Both kids loved that area the best as it had rides, the splash pad and a huge climbing net thing that Ry tackled with gusto.  Then the rain hit.  Thankfully the kids were in their swim suits and they didn't really care, but we were soaked.  I missed out on a ton of pictures as I put my phone away to avoid water damage.  About 1:30pm we were able to convince the kids to leave the play area and check out the sea lions before heading out.  This time I bought Ryland some fish to feed the sea lions...and I totally forgot to take a picture!  Bad mommy.  Anyways, the kids had a blast and especially loved the kiddie water park.  Carsy fell asleep in her stroller on the way back to the car.  We left the park about 2pm and hit up Big'Z Burger Joint for a really late lunch.  Then the rain hit again!  This time even harder than before, and it lasted our entire 2 hour ride home.  So much for only a 20% chance of rain that day...  I think we made it home around 5:30pm, LONG but FUN day!  :)

alligator alley

Ry on Elmo's drop

Carsyn and Daddy on the big bird ferris wheel

Sea World!

The hubby and I decided to take a last min vacation day this past Thursday so that we could take Ry to Sea World.  It was our first Sea World trip!!!  We figured it would be our last chance to go before school ended and to avoid the crowds.  I'm so glad we went when we did because it was a great day and there were no lines, no mobs, no craziness.  Ry had a blast exploring all the exhibits and playing in the splash pad.  His favorite sea creatures were the sharks, mommy and daddy were pretty excited about Shamu.  ;)  Ry also rode his very first roller coaster (with mommy of course).

We have arrived!  5/30/2014

Dolphins up close

stingrays

and sharks!

pretty color

Happy Feet!

splash pad fun

Ry's first roller coaster ride!  with mommy of course

that walrus is HUGE! 3000 lbs

SHAMU!

worn out

Austin Aquarium

I bought season passes to the Austin Aquarium last summer but they didn't open until November.  We waited a couple months before checking them out in Feb.  Ry absolutely loved it!  This place is perfect for littles.  They had plenty of touch tanks and a small playscape in the back.  Ry really loved the shark tank, he must have stood there for 20 mins watching the sharks, and you could touch them!  We'll definitely take him back again.

Austin Aquarium 2/22/2014

star fish touch tank

Ry really loves turtles

stingrays!

Carsy checking out the shark tank

sharks!