Seaworld

 Seaworld is so much cooler than when I was a little kid.

They still have all the cool shows and the animals are amazing, but now they have water slides and roller coasters and Sesame Street!!

I bravely took the kids to experience this amazing place by myself this week, and we had an awesome adventure.

We saw a walrus and seals, dolphins and whales.  We saw stingrays, turtles, and alligators. We also saw a show where they trained domestic animals like dogs, birds, rats, pigs and cats.... I have never seen a cat be so obedient!

And of course, there was Shamu.... and her baby....Shamu jr!!

There is something about that whale that just make you want to take 100 pictures!!

In between all the shows we hung out at Bay of Play. 

It has kid shows, splashpads, playgrounds and carnival like rides.

We went on all the rides and then we played in the splashpad.

Then we went on all the rides again, and again, and again!!

We went on a Monday and Tuesday, so there were no lines and plenty of seats at all the shows.

The next day we checked out Aquatica, the water park side of park.  I did not take in my camera, so you will just have to imagine the fun.  They have one ride that has a tube that goes through the stingray tank.  Malia and I could have ridden that one all day.  

We are going back in August to celebrate my birthday and introduce Ryan, who was out of town, to all the fun.

The kids and I are already planning out our schedule for next time.

4th of July

This fourth of July  was pretty special.  We had a BBQ with our neighbors and shot fire works in the street.  That doesn't sound too exciting, but we were with really good friends.  And since we are moving in three weeks, spending time with them made it a great evening.

These are Kai's best buds.  Jacob lives next door and Lukas lives around the corner.  He is going to miss these boys something crazy!!

This is our super awesome neighbor Amy (Jacob's mom) with her younger son Jared.  I have never had a neighbor like her.  We eat together at least once a week, we watch each other kids, we borrow each others things and we talk all the time.  

We started a tradition of the dessert plate.  We have a special plate that goes between each others house, but it must be returned with a special treat.  Even though the plate is hers, she told me I could keep it in the move and start the tradition with my new neighbor--- she is pretty amazing!!

I hope we are as blessed at our new home to find neighbors and friends like these.

Until then, we are going to continue to make memories.

Happy 4th of July!!

Catch up time!

 I was browsing through my blog and I realized that I never made a post on Andrew's first T-ball experience.  (once again, he has suffered from middle child syndrome)

So I thought I would play catch up on this and a few other things I have neglected to report on....

Andrew played t-ball through Spring Baptist Church.  He was a Ranger and he loved every minute of it once he realized he wanted to to play.    

At his first practice, he refused to participate.  He sat on the side line and made snide comments about the other kids claiming to be "faster than that kid", or that "he could throw farther that that kid.

  Before the next practice we bribed him with ice cream, and he found his love for the game.  He actually was pretty fast and could throw pretty well (for a four year old, that is)

Ryan was an assistant coach for the Rangers.  At this age, that pretty much meant he cheered them on as they ran around the bases, but I think he enjoyed it.

I love the picture above, because I like to pretend Andrew (number 1, of course) is talking strategy or sizing up the other players with team mate here... in reality, they were probably talking about bugs.

I think Andrew will continue to play ball.  He has the advantage of being a southpaw, and is a pretty competitive kid.  I am so glad the ice cream bribe worked!!