Weekend by the Sea...

Sea World that is! We were San Antonio bound this past Thursday evening with the Splitt family. Kipp's sister, Robyn, and her hubby, Derrick, & 2 girls, Bethany & Tori, came to visit from Nebraska and soak up some of this Texas sun!

Here's the girls the first night at our house. Since Kella has a queen size bed, we thought the girls could try sleeping together, so we laid them side-ways in her bed and the three fit perfectly! See how Kella is all smiles to have company join her.

We didn't actually think they would make it through the night, but after about 30 min. Kipp went in to check & this is what he found... each one was quiet.sleeping.peaceful.ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! (notice Tori & Bethany's ADORABLE pillowcases I made for them for Christmas... what!what!) Kipp worked almost a full day on Thursday, we loaded our car for an evening drive to have plenty of time Friday, Saturday & Sunday in SA!

We put all 3 of the girls in the 3rd row.... this seemed like such a good & fun (for them) idea in the beginning.... The what-should've-been-4 1/2 hour-trip-took-6, but HEY, who's counting? We made it to our hotel sometime just before midnight, got settled and headed out to Sea World Friday morning.

Here we are waiting for our first ride....we couldn't start the day with anything other than the Shamu Express!!! Kella thought this would be "scary", but I assured her it wouldn't. I reminded her of the "Dragon Wagon" she rode a few weeks earlier and how she was a rock star, but she insisted, "yeah, this is scary!" She made it through and was proud to look back at her accomplishment the rest of the day!

Tori & Bethany getting cooled off after the coaster.

I didn't ever think I would be "that person" that dressed my kids alike, but I have to admit... I think it's adorable (now that it's my own, of course!) Robyn brought Kella a matching cover-up & Grandma Dottie was nice enough to buy them all crocs with matching rhinestone butterfly's (although T & B preferred flip-flops in this pic)!

The Streff's

The Splitt's

Ya know those gi-normous boat rides that come plummeting down a 50 story+ hill and splash enough water on on-lookers to water a small village.... well...this is it! The little ones could not get enough of it. Kella would come across so brave , but as soon as the boat picked up some speed, she bolted from the fence! We would ask if she wanted to ride and her typical response was, "no, not right now!" You can't really tell from the picture, but that's a wave over every one's head, not clouds!

Finally.... SHAMU!!!!

Ryan was, once again, such a trooper. She giggled and squirmed watching the ''big girls'' and you could tell she wished she was right there getting in on the action! Bethany was such a mother hen to her, it was really sweet to watch.

As we made our way to the penguin exhibit the girls got their picture made with this life-size, or adult sized penguin (pic is on Derrick's camera) and luckily it was time for his/her break as we made our way onto the conveyor belt (think airport moving walk-path), Kella was so excited to get the penguin all to herself!

Ryan & Kella in their matching swimsuits.... I'm telling you, this having two girls thing is going to get me in trouble!

Another show we watched was "Azul", think Cirque De So lei meets Sea World water acts. It was hysterical, beautiful, really just amazing. I loved it! This is sort of a weird picture, but the beluga whale is pushing one of the acrobats underwater while he stands on his nose.

There were divers during most of the show and one of my favorite things.... wait for it.... synchronized swimming! I am truly amazed by this! How.in.the.world do they do it??!! One of the cool things about this show was the open-sided tank. You could actually see the swimmers, divers, whales, dolphins, etc. underwater! Also, part of the act was trained parrots that flew over the crowd. They flew so close that everyone was ducking... not sure if that was intentional, but exciting nonetheless! One got really close to Robyn, probably too close if you asked her! If you're heading to Sea World this summer... this is a definite must see!

Okay... this pic is priceless! We HAD to purchase if from the photo booth kiosk. Kella had already ridden this ride with me earlier in the day and wasn't too happy by the end of it... but Kipp wanted his turn and, pretty much made her ride it again, with him. Tori, on the other hand, well, the pic speaks for itself on how she was feeling! I told her that if she wasn't good the rest of the trip, THIS would be this year's Christmas card!!! Sorry T, even though you got a copy, I had to post it!

So, with a 7 month, 3, 4 and 8 year old in tow, we made it through the park for 2 full days. We stayed right on the Riverwalk, so dinner & evenings were spent having dinner and taking a gondola ride. We slowly made our way back to Dallas on Sunday and the Splitt's headed back to Nebraska on Monday morning.

Me & my punkin' enjoying dinner at Hard Rock on the Riverwalk!