Sea World

 We headed to Sea World on our last day in the San Antonio area. It had been a l-o-n-g time since Matt or I had been to a Sea World and, of course, our boys had never been. While Ryan has a bit young to really understand what was going on, Ian LOVED it!

We decided to see the Shamu show first, before it would get too full. As it turned out, the arena was HUGE! It was probably only 1/3 full. We both agreed that Sea World has really come a long way since both of us had been there. Their facilities were absolutely beautiful!

 Since it was a cool day, we chose the row immediately higher than the splash zone to watch the killer whales. :)

 Ian was fascinated by the show and kept asking, "Is it over?" after each trick by the whales. He was happy when we told him that it wasn't over yet.

 Next, we headed to the Penguin Encounter building. We rode a moving walkway to get an up-close view of the penguins.

 We just so happened to be there during feeding time. Matt and I were surprised at how well the penguins could swim under the water, how they could float "like ducks," and how they could jump out of the water so easily. Our God is SO creative! What cool creatures penguins are.

 The end of the penguin exhibit featured some puffins -- also pretty cool!

 We saw some turtles sunning themselves on some gators. Ian was a bit disappointed that the alligators weren't more active, but is was neat to be so close to them.

 While Kim fed Ryan, Ian and Daddy climbed around on a HUGE playground.

 Then, we saw the sea lion show. This was one of Ian's favorite parts. He giggled and giggled when the sea lions did silly things, like "steal" fish. In fact, Ian liked it so much he asked if we could see the show again a few hours later. We did ... and Ian laughed just as much the second time around.

 Part of the sea lion show included a guest appearance by a walrus. We couldn't get over how BIG the walrus was!

Ryan enjoyed the sea lion show, too! Ian loved giving the otter a hug!

 While Ryan took a nap, Ian got to feed sardines to the sea lions.

 Ian was big enough to go on three of the rides at Sea World. He wasn't interested in the two water rides since the weather was cool, but he was pumped about trying out a roller coaster. Even though it was a VERY tame kiddie roller coaster -- just some small ups and downs and around the track twice, we weren't sure what our cautious preschooler would think. He. Loved. It. I think he went on it a grand total of FIVE times, and every time was as fun as the previous one. Thankfully, most of the other visitors to the park were standing in line for more adventurous rides, and so we could get on and off the ride pretty quickly.

 We some some otters.

 and some sea lions up close.

Then we attended the dolphin show, complete with acrobats! It was really well done.

We ended our day by going through the aquarium. This was probably Ryan's highlight of the day! He thought the fish were very entertaining.

We had a great day and talked already about going back to Sea World in a few more years, when Ryan can enjoy more of the sights and Ian can ride more of the rides. Hey ... maybe YOU'D like to join us!