Easter 2008

My mom had a method of planning her visits to Austin. Since my in-laws often visited the boys for their birthdays, my mom decided she'd come for the closest holiday to their birthdays. This meant Easter, Labor Day, and Halloween. We discovered that going to amusement parks on Easter Sunday was a brilliant idea! There were no crowds and the springtime weather was great. So this year we decided to go to Mass early and take the boys to Sea World in San Antonio. My first thought of the morning as we were walking towards the church in virtual darkness at 7:00 a.m. was, "Jesus hasn't risen yet...the sun isn't even up!" It was really early for us and it was unusually chilly for Easter since it was so early this year. I actually took a short nap after we got back home. Finally, we got organized and headed out to San Antonio.

We were surprised to realize that although we had been there twice before, there was an entire section of the park we had never seen. First up were the dolphins. There was a huge "swimming pool" edged with angled cement for leaning over and petting the many dolphins. They were so friendly and would come right up to you! So close you could put your hand in their mouths (not that we did). We were able to pet them, though, and get lots of up close pictures. This one being my favorite.

Next was the Sharks/ Coral Reef exhibit. A diver was in the water feeding the rays and talking to the crowd. Ian was totally fascinated!

Spring was definitely in the air and the flowers were in bloom. Kerry and Ian were attracted to this planter full of Indian Blankets and buzzing bees.

Hallelujah for the Hospitality House! The best way to begin your day at an amusement park is with free beer! And at Sea World San Antonio you can do that. The Hospitality House offers two free "samples" per guest. Surprisingly the samples are full glasses of beer! Nice.

After our morning brew we bounced around from attraction to attraction, seeing animals and riding rides. Kerry nominated me for the "wet" ones, of course. The log ride was simple and fun for the two big boys. But the Rio Loco raft ride was absurd! Not only did the entire raft pass under a huge waterfall dumping 80% of its water into the back of my jeans; it also came equipped with bystander spray guns, which Kerry and Ian happily used to drench us even more as we passed. Everyone exiting the ride looked like freshly bathed Chihuahuas, wringing wet and shivering cold.

The cold wet jeans prompted us to wrap up our day shortly after. Luckily we saved the Rio Loco for last. All in all it was a great day!