Two Day Getaway

Schlitterbahn Baby!!

We packed up the kids and all the necessities and drove down to San Antonio for a day at Schlitterbahn (water park) and a day at Sea World. Riley was so very excited to go and even told a stranger at Albertsons that she could come if she wanted to. We got down there on Wednesday at around dinner time and went to Rudy's BBQ for dinner. SO YUMMY!! The potato salad was to die for!

We got to Schlitterbahn right before they opened on Thursday and stayed until about 6:30 or so that evening. Riley and Carey had a blast! They were able to ride a few rides and played for a while in the pools. Victoria wasn't able to do very much, so her and I just kinda hung around the pool, browsed the gift shops, and took a nap (her, not me) in a lounge chair pool-side. She isn't big on cold water and didn't play much unless Riley was around. She was probably a bit young for it, but it was worth it for Riley. Of course, the lily-white members of the family (me and Riley) got sun-burned (even though we applied sun screen) and the other two just got more tan. Oh well. We ended the day with dinner at Los Cucos and the fajita meat was mouth-watering!! By the time we got back to the hotel, we were all pretty tired ... except for Victoria. She giggled and babbled for about 30 minutes in the pack-n-play before she finally gave it up.

The next day we got to Sea World when the gates opened. I must admit that I walked into the park with the attitude of "You better impress me because we have spent a small fortune on this day." We did get the double stroller so the kids could ride all day ... good move (Riley was still so exhausted from walking around Schlitterbahn the day before). And we were able to make it to the shows, but we had to book it at times and it seemed like we did alot of waiting ... waiting for rides, waiting for the shows to start. It was also a tad warm for us ... Victoria started the day off in a cute outfit and ended it in just a diaper. We did save money by picnicing it outside the park, but since we couldn't bring a cooler in and we weren't going to give them anymore of our money, well .... we were a bit dehydrated on the way home. No pit stops for the Thompsons from San Marcos to Saginaw ... that is some sort of record! We did like the Sea Lion show and the Shamu show was like totally awesome, but the water ski show was lack-luster and the beluga whale show was not performing because of the new born calf. So we tried to feed the dolphins and looked at the sharks and stingrays (one of my favorite parts - air conditioning!!) and then we called it a day.

So ... what did the Thompsons learn from this vaca? (1) Stay at the Schlitterbahn park motel/cabins that are located in the park so that naps and breaks are more comfortable, (2) don't take 18 month olds to theme parks when it is a thousand degrees outside, (3) when taking summer vacations, go some place cooler ... just because we are Texans doesn't mean that we like the heat ... we like our hot summers with air conditioning thank you very much, (4) vacations need to be a week long, not just 2-3 days, and (5) Rudy's has the best potato salad in the world!! We know that Riley had a blast, so it was worth every penny and every moment.

As you can see, Victoria was not having a good time.

Riley on the other hand was having a great time!

Riding in the stroller at Sea World (Victoria fully clothed).


At the end of our day at Sea World (Victoria in diaper and sandals).

Oh and also, there is a Mervyn's in San Antonio. Mom and I have been mourning the loss of Mervyn's for the past two years. She is so excited that she didn't throw away her Mervyn's card. Looks like we will be trying to find an excuse to go to San Antonio when ever we can. We love our Mervyn's!!