Fun in the Sun!

Last Friday we drove down to San Antonio with some great friends, and spent the day at Sea World. Although we had a blast, our morning didn't start off very well. Mac has decided that riding in the car is not so fun (I guess she takes after her momma here). So from about South Austin on she cried on and off. And therefore was grumpy up until about lunch. Go figure, give the girl some food and she's happy. =)
I have been to Sea World several times. And I must say that these animals NEVER cease to amaze me. It is so soothing to watch them glide through the water. The next few pictures are from the dolphin and acrobat show.

The big highlight for both of the girls was the Shamu Show. Again, I find whales such an incredible animal. The fact that they can get their bigger than giant bodies out of the water blows my mind. Plus the fact that they follow commands of their trainer. They did say it takes a trainer 3 years to train for a show, where it takes the whale/dolphin 2 years. I thought that was a fun fact. I can remember as a kid the trainer would swim with the whale and then ride out of the water on the tip of Shamu's nose. Unfortunately we noticed the trainers never even entered the water with the whales.

Another fun show is the walrus and otter show. It was pretty comical. Aby really enjoyed this one.

Here is Seymour and the Soda Jerk, Clyde.

One thing about amusement parks that Chris and I are in agreement about are the Roller Coasters. At Sea World there is a super fun roller coaster called The Great White. Chris and Tom rode it together while Susanne and I watched the girls, then we switched. This coaster is sooo smooth. I loved every minute of it. Of course the getting to the top of the first drop is always the worst. Aby has never enjoyed being held up high or upside down. So, from the beginning we put Mac on our shoulders or upside down. She doesn't seem to mind. Both girls seemed very excited about this penguin ride. Susanne and I were the "lucky" ones to take the girls up. This of course was the worst ride EVER. Well, actually once we were on the ride it was fine, it was getting on it that took 1/2 an hour. All 4 girls had a ball though. So, it was worth it. I was glad that Mac liked it. It was her first "coaster".


After this ride we found Shamu's Happy Harbor where the girls stripped to their bathing suits and had a blast in the water. It was definitely a hot summer day, so the water felt wonderful. We finally stopped for some lunch and everyone seemed in better spirits after that. Earlier we had walked by a water ride called Journey to Atlantis. Chris finally talked Aby into riding it, so we went back to try it out. Of course it was being worked on, so we went off to ride a boat ride. McKinley finally fell asleep and got herself a short nap while Aby and Chris rode the ride. Aby had a blast on the boat ride.

We walked back over to the Atlantis ride to find it up and running. So, Chris and Aby ran to get in line. Here is the ride.

Aby didn't quite know what think when she got off. She liked it, but didn't at the same time. She was proud she did it, but didn't want to ride again. =) She did however like standing on the bridge and getting soaked as the boats came down the slide. I think after this day she decided that roller coasters were loads of fun. This is great since we'll be taking a trip to Disney in the near future.