Sea World Texas style

Living in the Sunshine State, we grew accustomed to having Disney & Sea World at our fingertips. We actually spent more time at Disney pre-children but Sea World became a fast favorite when we were Robby & Lauren + 2. Once we twins arrived we basically only left the house if necessary....kind of like the current quarantine ; ) 

Sea World was just perfect though, small & within 15 minutes from the house. I have dreamy memories of Robby coming out of his office at 4 & saying "Let's head over to Sea World & catch the last Shamu show of the day!" We would grab snacks for the girlies, hop in the car and were there in no time at all! Shamu was always waiting for us along with the "rollie coastie" as Charlotte sweetly said. It was no surprise that I would feel great sadness over losing the around the corner entertainment once we moved back to Dallas & hoped that we could eventually take the whole crew back. Since a drive to Orlando was out of the question, Sea World San Antonio was the next best option & my birthday was the perfect opportunity for a fun filled day! It's funny how dreamy memories can be misleading....we had a lovely time but it was far from perfect! It included some rogue (disobedient) Orcas & me coming a little too close to punching a woman in the face in the lunch line.

We thought a slight drizzly forecast for the morning would keep people away but it did not. Humidity was on par for mid May in Texas which actually reminded me of Florida.  First stop was the PERFECT "rollie coastie" for our first time rider, Darling Arlo.  Owen & Anson had PTSD after we made them ride a mini roller coaster at Oktoberfest one year so they were a little reluctant to ride Super Grover's Box Car Derby, sounds incredibly intimidating right?

The best part about the rides is if you have a vertically challenged rider, mama or daddy get to ride along. Guess who accompanied Arlo? None other than yours truly, his favorite person in the world. I didn't mind riding next to him the 10 times we rode over the course of the day. He was so proud to be a big kid! 

I loved that the boys' car they liked best was called the "buddy buggy," perfect for twinkies. 

Another highlight of the day was riding Atlantis! We were shocked that Arlo, at age three, was actually tall enough to ride. It went up, then backward, then forward ending with a 100 foot drop & getting soaked. It might not have been the best idea but he did, twice! First go around, I rode with all the kids & he really liked it so when we were up for round two, Robby rode with a few kids then the rest of us took the next boat with Arlo as my assigned buddy. Once we started clicking up the ramp, he panicked & began screaming that he didn't want to ride & definitely didn't want to go backward. The people in front of us looked back probably thinking that they would call CPS when they disembarked. I wanted to yell in defense, "He already rode it once & was begging to go again!" I felt awful, but by the time we got to the final drop (10 seconds later) he was squealing with delight & afterward said it was his favorite ride ever. We were proud of the kids for trying something so daunting! Here they are looking at it upon arrival to the park.

 

 I took this next picture with our drone ; ) Just kidding, I found it online & just had to include to show how steep it really was.

Rides have always been extremely fun & it doesn't seem like too long ago that I would ride nearly everything. My how the times have changed! I was thankful for the man pictured below as he promised to ride with Eloise on Sea Swinger....the name says it all. It was swinging & spinning simultaneously up 3-4 stories high. Goodness sakes, I felt nauseous watching! Charlotte decided against riding last minute & then when she got the guts to ride, the ride was being tested after not working properly. Bummer for her...maybe next time! I consoled her by saying that I never like being the first rider after a "service the engine" visit from personnel.

All said and done, she loved it but as soon as she was locked in, she was REALLY nervous!

The girlies also rode their first real roller coaster that felt like they were on jet skis. They claimed it was the BEST!

Partway through the day, everyone was depleted & starving. Why do they have to eat so frequently?! We probably should have started finding a place earlier because by the time we had food, some had lost their marbles. This guy recovered quickly after a blast of sugar.

Inside the place where we were ordering food, there were some large school groups of kids in maybe 5th & 6th grade. Robby & the boys went to get those sugar drinks while the girls stayed with me. I think I was hot, hungry & a little grumpy because as one of the lady chaperones let more and more students cut in line just ahead of us, my blood began to boil. I tried to keep my cool but oh my. I finally said, "Are you kidding? How many more people are you going to let in line? I have five little kids I need to feed & you are holding me up!" She stared back at me & responded in a nasty way. I couldn't believe it was happening. I despise conflict & NEVER lay into strangers! All her students were looking at me along with my daughters. I felt ridiculous & incredibly rude. Once we got closer to the check out, I approached her & apologized. I said it was my birthday & I really just wanted to eat. Ha! We all got our food & it wasn't really that big of a deal. Before she walked away, she tapped my arm and said she really hoped I had a wonderful rest of my birthday. I guess she wasn't that bad after all ; )

After some greasy theme park food, we were doing all right again!

There was another tense moment when it was time to board a brand new ride called Riptide Rescue. It spun but I figured I would survive. I got in line with the big boys and when it was time to get on, they let Anson on but not Owen! They are just about an inch apart in height & I guess Anson barely made the cut. I was so sad for Owen & mad at the guy working as I thought, "C'mon man, you can see they are clearly twins!" Anson had a great time though and we talked about the importance of keeping his celebrating to a minimum.

All leading up to our trip, we talked up the Shamu show. It was magical in Orlando & boy was I excited to experience it with the whole crew. It used to bring me to tears & this time it nearly did the same for different reasons. Here are the troopers happily waiting for the show to start. 

This next photo just about sums it up. No Orcas showing their skills! They decided to do their own thing & every time the music came to an exciting part.....NOTHING! It was a little humorous as the show went along.  It was so bad that the employees came to dump buckets of water on those in the Splash Zone since the whales would not participate. Ha! After the show, we made a beeline for the exit. Hungry again, Chuy's was the next stop.  

Chuy's was just down the road & a strawberry margarita was awaiting the birthday girl's arrival. It was perfect after a long, hot day! We scarfed down ten bowls of chips & salsa then Elo's tummy ache began.  We ate as quickly as we could hoping to make it "home" before she felt any worse. Following the kids meal comes our crew's favorite part....orange push pops. We have a favorite video of Arlo at around 18 months battling it out with me when I tried to take his push pop away. Since Eloise was feeling crummy, we took them to-go along with her dinner. 

Robby got her up to our room for a quick bath & helped her into bed while I took the other four kids to the pool area to eat those long awaited push pops! We had played at the pool the day prior & it was super family friendly but the nightlife was a bit different. There were a number of nicely dressed people sitting poolside looking over the Riverwalk, a few swimming and ZERO children. I felt we had no choice though so I opened the bag to divvy up dessert. After our drive and our mad dash to the pool, they turned out to be a little melted...surprise, surprise! It was nothing short of disastrous with melted push pop not only coating the boys faces & hands but all over the table, dripping through the slats onto their legs. Charlotte & I couldn't stop giggling and all the shenanigans attracted more attention than I was expecting. I thought about tossing the boys into the pool to rinse off before heading upstairs but decided against it. I cleaned up the best I could then we scurried to our room in hopes to avoid any further shaming. 

Everybody got showered and sweet Eloise, who continually apologized for feeling sick on my birthday, was feeling a bit better. She ended up eating a burger & fries in bed while we watched a silly, family sitcom. It took us back to the days of Family Matters & Full House with the laugh track. I had my sidekick Arlo snuggled up with me. It must have been a cozy spot because he was looking like this pretty soon after the snuggle fest began... PERFECT end to the day.

After a good night's sleep, Texas shaped waffles dripping in syrup were in order before our trek home. Owen kept his Sea World key chain in his hand all morning. Again, those souvenirs times five kids meant that key chains were an economical purchase!

After breakfast we finished packing up then hauled everything down to the lobby, while valet went to get our car.  There were round metal tables that all three boys were treating as drums....it was time to go! I had been on the couch with my bag when the car arrived. We got all our belongings into the car, five kids buckled & I hopped into the front seat. My heart dropped when I realized my pillow (that I can't sleep without) was missing! I ran back in & lo and behold, there was a man on the couch asleep ON MY PILLOW! I couldn't help but laugh a bit as I tried to talk myself through how I should go about getting my pillow back.  I decided to tap him on the arm. He look surprised to see me & more surprised that he was on my pillow. It was great.

The ride home was complete with a stop at Collin Street Bakery, a bit of whining & a podcast about insects. I'd say it wasn't too bad! We were quite thankful  to sneak away for a few nights and enjoy time with just the seven of us. They are my favorite people. 

The Valentines take on San Antonio

As I begin writing this, we are on week four of quarantine during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Our children will most certainly remember the news reports they have seen & heard, the abrupt end to dining out, playgrounds, grocery store runs, school, etc. I hope they will also note that it is when Mom finally got it together & caught up on the blog! 

As we have spent countless hours as a family playing Skip Bo, racing in the backyard & exploring the woods near our house, we are just relishing in who they are at their current ages. We have watched old videos, looked through pictures & read blog posts from their itty bitty years. It has served as a reminder that time passes quickly & my brain can only retain a certain amount of information and I must record it as soon as possible so as not to leave out something important or hilarious. Life just seems to be in a strange holding pattern at the moment. So while in holding, let's travel back in time 11 months ago....

It was my birthday wish last year to spend a long weekend away as a family. San Antonio was the chosen destination & it was delightful!  Growing up, our family took a number of trips to San Antonio & surrounding cities & if my memories serve me right, we had so much fun. As parents of five children, the understanding of what our parents may have experienced on those dreamy (to an 8 year old) trips is clear as day! We had some tense moments as expected but the enjoyable moments outweighed the stress. 

Here we are, the iconic Texan photo...

This trip had been a long time coming. When I was pregnant with the twins, my mom stocked up the buckaroo bookshelf with all things cowboy. One favorite book is called Hello Texas and we have read it a million times. Here are the pages Arlo read in preparation for our adventure....

Prior to our trip we did a little shopping. Every boy needs a new cap for vacation right? They found these at Target & just couldn't pass them up. I actually forced them to pass them up one trip but on round two they made a bee-line for them in the store, placed them on their little heads & I couldn't resist. Anson's is a shark eating a slice of pizza & says "Snack Attack" which is just perfect for the bottomless pit that he is.  Owen chose the classic Batman, always has.  Nearly one year later & the hats are still gigantic, haha! 

While San Antonio was our final destination, we made a stop on the way at Homestead Heritage in Waco. To quote their website, "Homestead Heritage is an agrarian- and craft-based intentional Christian community. Its literature stresses simplicity, sustainability, self-sufficiency, cooperation, service and quality craftmanship." Bob & Jeannine had first taken the girls there then my mom & I ended up at the restaurant there by accident while headed to the Hill Country for a girls' weekend. We (me + my Valentine girlies) were really looking forward to bringing Valentine boys along. They were certainly not disappointed by all that there was to explore!

The blacksmith was a hit with our crew. We watched a couple men work then got to visit with one for a bit prior to going in the gift shop. For some reason, we bought an iron nail for each boy that was crafted on site.  It was such a fantastic idea to buy nails for two 6 year olds and a 3 year old, right? They were confiscated quickly into the car ride south & I hid them so well when we got home that I haven't seen them in months. Anyway, Arlo kept calling him "Mr. Smith" after we left saying "Mr. Smith made me that nail." Oh my, it made us giggle. Check out how sharp that nail is that Owen is holding!

It was a beautiful day despite being a little toasty. We walked through gardens, along the pasture & to the rest of the crafting areas where we were able to observe the grinding of wheat, basket making, wood working, and weaving/spinning of fabric. We loved it.

There were some stables & pens with animals and all enjoyed seeing the calf in this one.

We scarfed down a DELICIOUS lunch where the only complaint (by Owen) was that the peanut butter & jam sandwich had an entire jar's worth of jam on it. It was comical to watch the globs just plop onto the plate with his disgusted face. Our bellies were full & we were back on I-35 listening to a little Texas Country music which is what you do on a road trip 'round here.

San Antonio couldn't come fast enough with a car full of our favorite children.  Robby was the driver, I was the navigator and apparently there are two hotels by the same name in nearby locations. The streets were super busy & I led him down multiple one way streets to arrive in the valet line at the hotel where we did NOT have a reservation.  I had all the kids unbuckled & we were about to disembark the vehicle when the kind parking attendant confirmed that we did not in fact have a reservation there & gave us the address for the other hotel. We re-buckled, 2 in boosters, 3 in five point harnesses with me climbing through the car. Thankfully, our actual hotel was not too far away & they welcomed us with smiles. I think some people have genuine smiles when they look at a larger family, others fake smile with concern in their eyes. We saw a bit of both on this trip.

The kids were enamored by the idea of staying in a hotel. Charlotte at four years old called it a Hotelf which means that we still call it that. We unloaded the massive amount of things we brought for a four day trip & headed up to our room. The people at the front desk were AMAZING and hooked us up with a room at the end of the hall that had a stairwell separating us from the nearest neighbor. We had a couple big beds, a fold out couch & a pop up bed for baby bear Arlo. We thought he might be jealous of everyone else's sleeping spots but he loved his! Anywhere that is right next to me (his favorite person) is fine by him! The entire trip he called the hotel "the sleeping museum."

Now comes the fun part. They got hungrier by the second & we decided to venture out for some dinner. I made a poor assumption that if you are on the Riverwalk, there are ample restaurants at your doorstep. I was wrong. Those we found had 1 hour wait times, it was SO stressful! Mommy & Daddy were in great moods ; ) We finally got a table at a Mexican place where we were quite underdressed. We didn't care though due to the fact that people were starving. As we walked to our table, Eloise stepped on the back of Owen's flip flops & ripped the strap right off.  That got him all riled up. Once we sat down, it was so loud between the talking and music we had to scream to the kids to get their attention. It was unbearable so we left & headed back "home." This picture was taken before the search started. I did not take a photo of the argument we got into on this bridge 30 minutes later, ha!

We had some snacks available so yogurt & peanut butter crackers were enjoyed as Robby came up with plan B. Surprisingly, there was a restaurant just next door called Mexican Manhattan that had enough open seating for a wedding reception. The staff welcomed us & we were seated along the river. It was perfect & slightly annoying yet funny that we took quite the adventure to not eat then ended up within yelling distance of our room at the hotelf.  Margaritas were enjoyed by those over 21 even though it looks like these three got ahold of one when we weren't paying attention. 

The take away from that night was to make a reservation, so we did & dining from there on out was easy peasy lemon squeezy as Eloise used to say.  Speaking of dining & our little dimpled Eloise....the kids were amazed at the breakfast buffet. The Texas shaped waffles with whipped cream, syrup and M&Ms on top were quite the treat to sky rocket our glucose levels!

After tummies were full, we ventured out to see the sites. We went straight to the Alamo. The lesson on how a cannon works might have been the highlight of the morning.  Charlotte had read a biography about Davy Crockett and loved seeing some of what she had read about. 

Anson found his name on the History of Texas Timeline outside the Alamo. Anson Jones, the fifth & final President of the Republic of Texas. Yes, that was a factor in choosing his name. We of course had to stop at the gift shop & I finally realized why I had a million key chains from vacation. Other than postcards they are one of the most affordable things there. The girls actually chose key chains as their souvenir, yea! Owen had his eye on (pun intended) a miniature telescope. He chose to move on down the road & look for other things but when it came down to it, that is ALL he wanted so he & I took a detour & went back to get it for him. He was extremely excited & proud to have something that looked so official. 

We came across the neatest park in the middle of the city. When we arrived, there were multiple school groups but they soon cleared out & we nearly had the place to ourselves! 

It was full of these beautiful mosaic animals that the kids loved climbing on.

The kids ran like crazy & by the time we were ready for lunch, little Arlo's legs could walk no more. Thankfully, his dad is always up for offering a ride when he says "Dada, can I ride up on top?" Little Arley was overjoyed to see that the trash man comes to San Antonio too! It's the simple things.

That afternoon, we hit up the pool at the "sleeping museum" even though I found the water a wee bit chilly. Kudos to Robby who played & welcomed being splashed by the foursome. Little bit stayed close to his mama & the sunshine. 

Since we goofed on dining out our first night, we were rock stars the next. We made a reservation at The Rainforest Cafe & told the kids we had a surprise dinner after a lengthy walk. It did not disappoint although Arlo was not quite sure about those unpredictable animals! He was giving Rainforest Cafe two thumbs up by the time he had Lava Mud in his mouth. It was the perfect mix of chocolate pudding & Oreo crumbles but watch out for those gummy worms! A certain Valentine child got a little heimlich action at the Orlando location back in the day due to those slippery suckers. Clue- she is the tallest one.

The Riverwalk is so lovely AND a tad stressful with a multitude of children in tow. I was talking to a lady who had been running & stopped to take a break. She said she had been running that path for six years and had never seen anyone fall in. We were nearly certain that one of ours would take an accidental dive!  When we took the picture of the twins in front of the restaurant, Arlo wandered off & stood along the water for what felt like 3 full minutes of panic. His grin was pretty cute when he realized we were looking for him...stinker.  In the end, all swimming was saved for the pool.

Since it was birthday eve for me, my people were more generous with their smiles : )  Plus, they were excited. It was not only birthday eve but adventures at Sea World were just one sleep away!

all treats, no tricks

Everytime I thought about writing this post I kept thinking about a joke that could start with "Two knights & a ninja walk into a bar." But I am not all that creative with jokes so it stops there. Maybe the abrupt ending with no punchline actually makes it funny? I'll proceed. My creativity with costumes ebbs and flows & this year it was at a dead stop! 

Here is the rundown on costume choices- 

1. Charlotte tried on my Kingwood Cougars cheerleading uniform last time we were in the Livable Forest & it happened to fit perfectly. This was a reminder that I was as unusually small 8th grader. I was also quite possibly the worst cheerleader. I reassured her that she was a normal sized 5th grader who looked fantastic. She brought it home & quickly decided she was too old to dress up but by the time Halloween rolled around she came bounding out of the house decked out for a football game. She looks too old : ( 
2. Eloise & Anson were obsessed with being knights. We learned about Medieval History last fall which maybe sparked their interest. We ordered two costumes, but when they arrived it proved to be laughably small on Eloise....especially the helmet! Gaga hooked her up with a ninja costume when we were at Target. It was perfect for her ninja like skills she is perfecting with Taekwondo this semester.
3. Owen wanted to be a praying mantis which was an idea from last year. The requested costume included spikes on the arms so he could quickly devour candy, hahaha! I told him that with 3 days notice I couldn't make it happen this year. He told me Gaga was coming into town. I had to break the news that she wasn't arriving with green leotards & razor blades. Once Eloise finally come to terms with the fact that the knight costume was WAY too small, Owen decided he would look pretty darn tough in it & that he did!
4. Anson was the die hard knight. He was committed from August on & I loved seeing his grin behind the helmet. 
5. Arlo, he is so easy to please. I basically laid out 5 costumes from the bin on the couch & he immediately picked up the fireman costume, put it on & never complained for a second. He was annoyed that the Velcro wasn't holding the accessories on very well but what could I do...it has been worn by many a Valentine. 

Our knights in shining armor..

Ninja girl & Kingwood Cougar circa 1990s ....

Weeeee-ooooo, Weeeeee-ooooo, here comes Arlo!

The Fab Five that keep us laughing (when behaving)

We enjoyed trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with a favorite family, the Hofmanns. We spend a lot of time together between school, church & living near by. Their boys are best buddies with our boys & their littlest adores Charlotte and truly dislikes me, haha!

Courtney & I are almost identical in size & hair color. We happen to have the same tastes in clothes, purses & shoes. Our littlest kids have grabbed the wrong mama's leg when not paying attention. Our husbands find it amusing. There was a Sunday that Courtney asked DJ if what she was wearing looked cute & he replied that she should just ask if it would look cute on Lauren. At this point if one of us buys something we joke that we should have just bought an extra to pass along. Even our wedding dresses look eerily similar! All that to say, we dressed up as each other. Sadly, she had just cut her hair & I wasn't up for bangs on a whim for a Halloween picture ; )

The whole crew & the Valentine crew....

I need to get my thinking cap on a little earlier next time but I fear that Charlotte won't want to dress up. Maybe that's not too bad, one less costume & I'll just promote her to the Assistant to the Seamstress position : )