Splashway Funday

After a long first week back at work, we decided to brave the crowds at Splashway for one last hoorah before the official end of summer.  We got there around lunchtime and had a great day.

Because I don't have a Lifeproof case, I didn't take very many pictures.  We just enjoyed our day.  We floated around about a hundred times on the lazy river.   We took Emmy to the toddler area so she could slide down slides and play.  Bradley braved the big slides and took them down one by one.  After about four hours, Emmy was falling asleep in the water on her float, so we decided we had had enough fun.  We all got out and had some lunch.  The food was delicious and exactly what we needed after a day in the water.

 After changing into our dry clothes, we made our way back to the car.  We had only been on the road maybe two minutes and Emmy was sound asleep.  It was definitely a fun day, and I foresee many trips back in the next couple of years as Emmy gets older.

Tales From Daycare

 Here are a few shots of Emmy on her first morning going to back to daycare as a two-year-old.  Isn't her backpack precious?









She was fearless when it came time to walk back into the school.






These are things that Emmy's daycare teacher's told me she said or did her first week back at school.

Day 1:

Emmy's new class gets to watch TV in the morning until their other classmates arrive.  They usually watch Disney movies, but they have episodes of shows as well.  Well apparently they were watching Diego the first day sometime before lunch, and Emmy didn't appreciate it.
Emmy (to her teacher): I don't want to watch Diego.
Teacher: Well why don't you come sit by me?
Emmy: I don't want to sit by you.
Teacher: Okay well it's only a little while and then we will eat lunch.
Emmy:  I don't want to eat lunch.  I'm not hungry.
 Luckily her teachers though it was funny.  I told them they needed to let me know if she started to not be a riot anymore.

Day 2:

Emmy apparently has been practicing her alternative religions at school.
The teacher is standing in front of the class helping another child while the other kids sit at the table doing an activity.  Emmy stands up and points her finger at the teacher and starts whispering things while scowling.  She then puts her fingers down and goes and sits.
They are convinced that she put the voodoo on them.


Day 3:

I got to school to pick Emmy up and she didn't really care to come home.  She was too busy playing with her best friend Abby.  Apparently they had spent the entire day doing activities while holding hands.  It really must be a cool feeling for life to be that simple.  Your only responsibility is to hang-out with your BFF.  Her teacher even said that they tried to drink each other's cups and refused to participate if they couldn't be in the same group.

I am sure that they will continue to give updates on the escapades as they ensue. :)

These are a few iPhone shots that I took when I went to pick her up after school the first day. Notice that Abby and Emmy are right next to each other playing.






After a long day at school, she still wanted to jump on the trampoline.

Last Fling Before the (School) Bell Rings {Part 3}

When we got back to the hotel, we took the girls swimming again.  They deserved it after such a long hot day.

That evening, we headed down to the River Walk to hang out like tourists.  We did the night River Boat tour which we had never done before and was really cool.  The girls loved all of the lights and music coming from the restaurants and bars along the bank.















It's really cool how you can see the same sights in a differnt light and it's light they are brand new.
(I know.  I'm really deep. LOL)







We ate dinner at the oldest restaurant on the River Walk.  We had to wait an hour and a half, but the food was pretty good.

That night, we were all pretty tired, but we stayed up talking well into the night.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel before saying our goodbyes.  Emmy cried becuase she wanted to go with Marlee.  It makes me feel really good that she loves her little cousin so much already.









On the way back home, Brad and I decided to detour and visit LuLu's Bakery another stop on the Man v Food SA trip.  We got two cinnamon rolls to go and got back on the road.  Those things were huge!

















We had such an amazing time, and it was just what I needed before going back to school.  

Last Fling Before the (School) Bell Rings! {Part 2}

The next day, we got up sort of bright and early to head to Sea World.  There was slight confusion with the hotel breakfast crew about the need to replenish everything close to the end of the morning, but we came away satisfied and unscathed.

When we got to SeaWorld, we were met by a line all the way out to the parking lot.  We had already purchased our tickets, but this was the bag line.  Everyone had to funnel through two small lines with a couple of guys checking bags for outside food and weapons.  It was hot.  It was humid.  It was miserable.  Luckily it only lasted about 30 minutes.








Once we got inside, we made a beeline for the noon Shamu show.  The crowd was pretty light since everyone else had gone off to ride the roller coasters or had stopped at the Azul show.  While the boys grabbed us seats, Wendy and I went to get something to drink.  Of course we had to buy souvenir mugs for ourselves the kids to drink out of.  Wendy also bought some rainbow dip-n-dots for the girls to try.

























The Shamu show was great.  They had four Killer Whales performing and the crowd was going wild.  Underneath the pavillion it was fairly cool as well.  The girls watched the show for a while, but in the end, it was the dip-n-dots that really captured Emmy's interest.








We walked around and took in the sights for a while.  The girls were really warm, so Jason and Brad took them through the Sesame Street Bay of Play to cool off.  They loved it!













We made an appearance at the Elmo Rocks show.  Marlee LOVED it because she loves Elmo and watches him on TV.  Emmy was about ready for a nap so she was more interested in lying down on the dirty ground.  She did eventually get up and watch a little of the show.  They had fans going that circulated a nice breeze, so we all really enjoyed it.













After a couple of attempts, we finally got seats at the Azul show.  This is probably my favorite show at SeaWorld.  The combination of birds, divers, synchronized swimmers, and Beluga Whales is mezmorizing for someone of any age.  Any show that can keep a rowdy two-year-old transfixed for twenty minutes is golden in my book.





















After this show, we decided to find something to eat since it was already late afternoon.  Imagine our surprise to find all of the restaurants packed with lines out the door.  At this point we made the decision to go see the dolphins, sharks, and penguins and go back to the hotel.  The girls only had a little while left without a good  meal and we were all a little hot and tired by that point.

We hit the dolphin bay first.  This is Bradley's absolute favorite part of the park.  If we let him, he would spend his entire day laying on the side of the pool reaching into the dolphin pond trying to coax them over to the side.  I think he was secretly thrilled that Emmy seemed to really enjoy it as well.  She laughed and giggled as the dolphins swam by and she shrieked when they threw their ball near her.

























She had everyone around us laughing when she looked up at Bradley as a dolphin swam by and said, "that dolphin bit me Dadddy!"  Brad tried to reason with her and explain that it never touched her, but she stayed firm in her story.  She even tried to show him the part of her finger that was hurt.  We may need to have another serious discussion about why lying is a bad thing.



Next we all headed over the penguin building.  Unfortunately, I did not read the fine print on our park map, so I did not see that they turn the lights out in the penguin building at 3:30 for the day to simulate their natural habitat this time of the year.  So...we spent about fifteen minutes soaking up the cold AC and watching a dark aquarium of moving objects.  Did I mention that they had cold air conditioning?


Our last stop was a visit to the shark aquarium.  It was amazing.  Every time we go to SeaWorld, I am taken aback when we walk in and I see how tall and wide the aquarium is.  Emmy remembered Shark Week so she was quick to say, "Here Sharky Sharky."









She also spotted a clown fish in one of the little aquariums on the way out and yelled out Nemo until Bradley took her over to see him.  Such. A. Sweet. Girl.

Once we had our fill on gazing upon the majesty of the sharks, we made our way out of the park.  Some of us traveled a little faster than others.  We also had to take the obligatory group picture at the entrance.  This would have been a much nicer picture if we had sunglasses and not empty stomachs. 







SeaWorld was a much longer post than I had expected, so we will have to do a Part 3 of this series I guess!  Stay tuned.