San Antonio Trip

The Flowers Family took a trip this past weekend. I think it's the first time we've been on a "vacation" since Luke was born (excluding trips to see family). Dave had to go on a cross-country to San Antonio which is only about 2 1/2 hours from us (I know, that's really "cross-country" isn't it?). For the non-military, that's where he takes a student on a trip so they learn about planning and traveling to different airfields. They have two full days of flying (Friday and Sunday) but typically have nothing to do on Saturday. I was supposed to be playing in a soccer tournament that weekend so I was kind of conflicted on going, but at the last minute (Friday afternoon) I decided to do something spontaneous for once and packed up the boys and hit the road. We got up to San Antonio Friday evening and met Dave at the hotel (Grand Hyatt on the Riverwalk - beautiful). If you've never been to San Antonio, the Riverwalk is awesome! It's down below street level, a small "river" which is paved on both sides with shops and restaurants all up and down it. I'm not sure how long it is, but we walked at least half a mile. It was really, really neat. I lived in San Antonio for two years and never really went down there (probably because I was in college, no car, no money...). Anyways, we walked right out of the hotel and down to a restaurant, not having to worry about traffic or anything.
On Saturday we took the boys to Sea World (which offers military and their dependents one free visit a year). We had such a great time - saw some neat shows, rode rides, and fed some animals. Here are some pictures I got.

Dave and Luke, waiting for the "VIVE" show. This has beluga whales, dolphins, synchronized swimmers, and divers putting on a very neat show. Both boys loved it. Luke kept pointing to the whales and dolphins when they jumped, and then he was saying "more, more". It was cute.

After the dolphin show, Calvin wanted to ride a roller coaster. Luckily, they had a great kids area. He got to go on a Shamu coaster, which was just a small ride for little kids, but he loved it. While he and Dave rode, Luke and I walked around and took some pictures. There were Halloween decorations all around. Here's Luke posing with some:
There was a huge sand pit for the kids to play in, as well as all these tunnels and ropes to climb through. Here's Luke's first carnival ride. Waiting for the Shamu show to start. We were in the splash zone, which Calvin did not like one bit. In fact, he insisted on sitting elsewhere and he and I had to move.
A picture of shamu jumping out of the water.
Here's Calvin feeding the seals and sea lions. You could buy a little basket of fish to drop down to them. Calvin was all for this until he saw the little fish. Then he had to be coaxed into picking them up. But he did it. You can see the fish falling, just below the railing.

And here are the sea lions, waiting for the food. That seal in the back actually jumped over the sea lions to steal the fish!
The dolphin interaction area. You can stick your hands in the water and you can feed them too, but we weren't there at the right time.
The dolphins are so close to you.
Calvin didn't make it to see the dolphins. I let him ride in the stroller for a bit and by the time we got to the dolphin area he had passed out. Well, who could blame him after that exciting day.
That night we went back to the riverwalk and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. The boys weren't too sure about all the animals and noises at first, but ended up having a great time. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm glad we got the chance to have a little family getaway.