Sea World - San Antonio

Finally made good on our promise to take Cali to Sea World for her birthday. This is our 3rd visit since living in Texas. And as I realized toward the end of the day my first time NOT pregnant. The first time I was 8 months pregnant with Cali, in AUGUST, in TEXAS. Talk about hot and exhausted. The next time I was only 4 months pregnant with D so not as bad but I did miss out on the free beer samples.

We all had a great time this year, and the kids are at a great age to enjoy it all. Cali couldn't wait to go on the rides and kept asking us to find the "kid rides" for her. She was tall enough for the kiddie roller coaster and the paint mixer rides - she did both twice.


They fed the dolphins and watched them come up close and personal. Very exciting! We made sure to see the Shamu show (the best I've seen in the 3 years) and I loved seeing the look of amazement on their faces. Then my favorite the Viva! show with dolphins, belugas, diving, and acrobatics.

Oh and I can't forget the log ride! We weren't sure what the height restrictions were but we saw a kid as small as D sitting with his mom so we went for it. It was basically a roller coaster on water, and it was pretty freaky having my babies that high up in the air on that rickety thing. Cali was a little scared after the first big drop and said she wanted off but before we clicked to the top of the next hill she was asking for more! And after the second great big drop she wanted to do the whole ride again. Dave and D sat up front and got pretty wet on the splashdown, I'm not sure what D thought. He was so tired by then I don't think he cared what we did to him.

This is the first year we've gone in the off-season and we decided it was much easier to do the park in one day with the water park closed. They have a great water park but you have to really rush to do that and the shows and see the animals all in one day, its nearly impossible. Not all the shows are open right now but we still got to see our two favorites. And of course the crowds and lines were nothing compared to summer season. Besides when its 80*F in November and military families get in free, why not go? Oh and if you are military and headed that way DO try to get a room at Lackland AFB, we paid under $100 for two nights in a family suite and its about 15 min from the Sea World entrance.

"Smelly" Cleaning Tip

As a mom of two little messy munchkins I'd have to say my favorite invention right now is the Dust Buster! I realized about 6 months ago that I needed one and wanted to check around garage sales, etc. for a deal. I found one that same weekend: a nice powerful yet small enough to mount on the wall model, brand-new, never opened. I think I paid $25 or $30. Money well spent! I use it multiple times a day, every day. Well I made a pumpkin pie last week and spilled some nutmeg, actually I think it was Cali but either way I sucked it right up in the Dust Buster. Then after two or three uses I figured out why my house smelled like Nutmeg. It wasn't the house, just the Dust Buster because even though I've emptied it 10 times since then there must be some in the filter so now I get a nice little Nutmeg smell every time I use it!

Halloween

My mom just reminded me I hadn't sent any Halloween pics yet. It was the first time since Cali was a newborn that Dave got to be home for trick or treating so that was pretty exciting. We did just a few blocks then came home to pass out our candy. D was a bit confused but figured out to walk up to the people and they'd put candy in his bag, only he'd just keep standing there waiting for more. Cali did a block or two then just wanted to ride in the wagon and didn't care to get any more candy. Fine with me! I think they both had more fun back at the house. Cali was eager to hand out the candy to the other kids and D's buddy Zander had come over to trick or treat with us so they ran around the yard like wild boys roughhousing and laughing hysterically. After we got the kids to bed our neighbor Stephanie came over to sit so we could walk over to our friend's party. We had a great time and Dave even won the prize for "Most Original" costume -- he didn't wear one at all.

She's Hello Kitty but didn't want to wear the ears because "they hurt a little bit".



He loves his hooded frog towel so much he cries when we take it off, so I figured this would be the perfect costume. He says "ERR ERR ERR".

My old standby: high school prom dress and crazy witch hat I found on clearance @ Hallmark 3 years ago. I need to update my accessories for next year though so I don't have to raid Cali's jewelry stash.

Science on TV

Our family spends a lot of time outside, learning about science and nature the old-fashioned way but we do have our downtime and these are two great kid's science shows we enjoy.

Sid the Science Kid - We had stumbled on this awhile back and saw it maybe twice, then this week Cali started talking about it so I set it up on DVR as her new favorite show of the week. Its on PBS at 8am Central. "Sid" is a fun, upbeat, curious kid who looks to his family, friends, teacher, and his own observations to figure out questions like "why do my grandma's glasses make my vision worse, but it helps her to see better?" or "why can I still smell my baby brother's diaper even after he left the room?"

Bindi the Jungle Girl - Another one we'd seen a few times and just discovered again. My kids both LOVE animals and this is basically G-rated Discovery channel (ok it IS on Discovery Kids so duh). Lots of fun info, lots of animal close-ups. Diego especially loves all the creepy-crawlies. Drawback: they have commercials on this channel. Its on at 4 Central.

Free Starbucks After You Vote

Banana Waffle-wich Towers

Just a fun little creation I whipped up for dinner. We were trying to get out for a bike ride before it got dark!

You can use any toppings you want but I went with a bit of honey and banana slices. Served with a side of scrambled eggs, with fresh cut spinach and chives from the garden.

Learn to Read

If you have preschoolers check out this website: www.starfall.com. "Where children have fun learning to read." Recommended by librarians, used by teachers. So many fun, cute games to teach letter sounds, letter recognition, alphabet sign language, for those just learning their ABCs all the way up to "I'm reading!" Also notice on the ABCs page there are great printables for each letter.

If you're still in the spirit, go to the main page and click the pumpkin to create your own little pumpin face that will do a little jig when complete.