San Antonio....Part II. {Sea World & Such!}

So, on Saturday morning, we woke @ Mark & Jana's.
We had Shipley's donuts for breakfast & planned our day.

Where to begin???
Sea World!





{Gage was nervous about riding the "whale-coaster," but reeeeeally wanted to give it a try. So, he powered through it. And---he reeeeally wanted to sit in the very front. It must have been the lucky pennies that Darnin' gave us for our trip---because the line worked out PERFECTLY & we got to be in the very front for our very first ride at our very first time to visit Sea World.}





Waiting for Shamu to start & eating frozen lemonade (which sounds a lot better than it tasted)...



The Shamu Show was AWESOME!







Daddy was so cute to "talk to the trainer" & get Gage a whale-tail neclace, just like the one the reeeeeal whale trainer wears!


Gage & Daddy also had fun in the kids splash-park play area. {it was still just a bit too chilly for this mommy.}





In the end, when I do it all over again, I will: take a hat (we each had to buy one there), take an umbrella stroller (even though a 4 year old doesn't really belong in a stroller---walking all.day.long all over Sea World is asking a bit much according to the whine-meter.), buy the all-you-can-eat-all-over-the-park wristband (because we easily spent $50 for lunch & a couple of drinks...for $25 more we could've been eating turkey legs, and junk food left & right!). And---no, you cannot do all of Sea World in one day. Or rather---we couldn't. There are so many shows & things to do. It's just nuts to try to fit it all in in one day!

At the end of our day:



Gage of course had to have a stuffed Shamu that he sometimes calls "Shamu," sometimes it's "Whaley" and sometimes it's "Love" or "Lovie." So cute. He loves that thing!

Before we ever even made it out of the Sea World parking lot:


....and then, it was hotel time.
We could have stayed with Mark & Jana for the whole trip, but Gage has never spent the night in a hotel. We thought he'd enjoy it, so we booked 2 nights of our trip at the Courtyard Marriott at Westover Hills. Where I really wanted to stay was the new JW Marriott there in San Antonio. It is OH-MY-GOODNESS gorgeous, but the Texas Open was being played there & we couldn't get a room. They were all booked up.
:(
But, we really enjoyed our stay at the hotel...
After Sea World, we checked into the hotel & happily rested before dinner...

{Gage was watching cartoons, but I assure you---he fell asleep.}

After we were all a bit more rested, it was time for dinner.
We ate here:


I loved my dinner. Well, I loved my steak. It had some kind of lime or lemon butter. It was wonderful. My green beans had red pepper flakes in them & they were too spicy for me. Jana's fish wasn't all that stellar, and I don't think Hubby liked his steak as much as I liked mine...but whatever. I loved the artichoke dip, the signature salad called "the wilt" & my steak. It was yummy. The restaurant even has a tree growing up through the dining area & out the roof. It's pretty neat to me.
:)
These people didn't think so (of course they were seated outdoors). They looked like they were on the worst date of all time. Each of them were so into their phone and I never saw them speak to one another.
Hmmm....good times.


Ok, Ok...WE were having a good time, so here are some pictures from our dinner:




So then, leave it up to Mark the Architect to show us this gem: The Leaning House of San Antonio. Apparently it's structurally sound---it's just...leaning.



After that, it was back to the hotel {if you just heard the back-beat to that 90s song in your head---you're not alone. I did too.}
Swimming for me & Gage! The pool is half-outdoor & half-indoor. The outdoor portion has a shallow kiddie splash-park area, and a swim-up bar, and a hot-tub. The indoor portion had a hot-tub too. Good times.






It was soon bedtime...and Gage got his own bed there at the hotel.
Not that he slept in it...
It was just a nice crashing spot for eating popcorn & watching Dumb & Dumber before bedtime.
:)


Okay, so are you tired of reading & looking at these pics yet?
I'm telling you---each & every single day was full of fun & adventure. We were busy from sun up to sun down. We all had so much fun.
So, that's why I've warned you all that the posts would be lengthy & have lots of pics.
:)
So.Much.Fun.