A Sea World Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we stayed in town again. And, if you haven't noticed, sometimes when a holiday isn't going to be "normal," like going to be with the family, I like to just make it all crazy. Part of me doesn't want to make a big holiday meal for the four of us, and part of me knows I'll just be sad if I do and we have no one to share it with. So, this year we headed to Sea World on Thanksgiving.

It was a perfect day. Lucas was such a good boy in the morning, helping as we got ready. He even cleaned up an entire bag of trail mix that Evan spilled on the floor. And once we got to Sea World, both kids were still really well behaved. We had nary a fit to deal with, and only a mere whimper at the suggestion that Lucas try a big roller coaster (which would have been a horrible idea).

The boys loved the animal shows. My favorite was the dolphin show where there are people performing - divers, acrobats and synchronized swimmers.

The boys loved the little Sesame Street land where they could climb to new heights and crawl through tunnels that freaked out the bravest of claustrophobic moms.

For dinner we didn't break Thanksgiving tradition too much. Well, sort of. The four of us, like a little lion family, dined on one turkey leg. Yes, the same turkey leg I usually scoff at. It was my first turkey leg ever, as I am usually disgusted by the sight of people, like cavemen, gnawing on a huge hunk of meat. But, it was quite an economical decision, as it did feed all four of us for $8. And it also provided for some excellent photo ops. We also ate at a perfect little spot, by the river ride under some beautiful trees.

Evan was really sad that he couldn't go on the roller coasters. He thought they were trains. The boys did go on a little train ride, though, while I was in line at a roller coaster. Then later, I told him that the little Shamu roller coaster was a train... it wasn't really. It was a lot faster than I thought it would be. Oops.

Ben and I did get to go on a ride together. I was in line and he waited at the exit for me, so we could switch when I was done. A lady next to me in line, who wasn't going to ride with her kids, volunteered to watch our kids while we went. So, she and her family stayed with ours at the exit while we road. She told us she didn't want any more kids and wouldn't steal them. But, I knew they were good people because before I ever talked to them, her husband reminded me of my very own brother. And, yes, Evan cried a little. But Ben and I had fun riding a roller coaster together and it was terrifying, so I'm glad we could scream together. That was our anniversary date!

I loved that they had all their Christmas lights up. It was so pretty. At the end of the night we walked by the Candy Cane Forest and there was a quaint little concert going on. We sat at a table and enjoyed the show, while Ben went in search of a funnel cake. He was successful in his conquest and we enjoyed funnel cake while we listened to a really good local musician.

 

As we left the park we swung by the aquarium and saw some sharks. At the car we put the boys in their jammies and they were both asleep within minutes of driving away.

We tinkered with the idea of staying the night and going back on Friday, but instead we drove home and finally stopped at Buc-ee's. Yes, it was as amazing as legend tells. Both boys slept most of the way home. Evan was starting to get sick, which began our next adventure - 5 days of croup.

I sure love my boys and I'm glad we had such a fun Thanksgiving adventure. I liked it so much I think we'll go back soon. Like maybe tomorrow!

(And yes, we had a real Thanksgiving/family anniversary dinner on Friday since we were stuck home with a poor sick baby. It was great. And Saturday was my birthday. The boys made a lovely breakfast, then Ben and Lucas went to a fun run our friends organized while Evan and I stayed home sick and sad. After that Lucas was at a friend's birthday from 11-6! It was a lazy day for us at home, which was nice.)

Christmas Vacation

We had a super-fun Christmas break. We took a road trip to Florida for a week of animal adventure!

We left the Thursday before Christmas. Ben got the car all packed, I got food ready, we loaded up the kids, and both kids were crying by the time we reached the mail boxes. I think one wanted a movie and one wanted fruit snacks or something. That day was a long day, but we survived and stayed in a lovely little hotel in Daphne, Alabama. We got in at 11:00, thinking the kids would drift of to sleep peacefully. Instead they both got hyper, jumped on the beds, had a raucous bath time and then Lucas went to sleep. Evan on the other hand, wanted to stay awake until 1:00.

We headed out the next morning by 9:30 for Tampa. We drove and drove, got an oil change and lunch in Tallahassee, had a few fits, and made it to Tampa at 7:00. We met up with my parents, Carrie and Maddie at the Embassy Suites, where we would be spending the next three nights. It was lovely. We had connecting rooms, which was fun.

On Saturday we headed to my favorite amusement park ever, Busch Gardens! Why is Busch Gardens so awesome, you ask? Because not only does it have awesome roller coasters, but awesome animals, too! After getting in, getting the kids tagged (after I wrote Evan's contact info on his back), and finding our bearings, the boys watched the cheetahs and the girls went and rode roller coasters. We finally hooked up around 2:00 for lunch... then I took the kids so Ben could ride coasters with Carrie and Maddie. It was a lot of fun. Also, somewhere in there Lucas asked what the date was and I told him it was Dec 21st...

That night we headed back to the hotel and ate junk at the hotel happy hour. Evan sported a plate on his head the whole time and we nibbled on food before putting our exhausted kids to bed and some of us in the hot tub.

The next day we were up and at it again at Busch Gardens. It was great, once again. Carrie, Maddie, and I got stuck on the sky ride at one point for a few minutes, but had a good plan to jump to a passing safari truck if we didn't start moving. Luckily we didn't have use our backup plan..

The boys spent a long portion of the day in the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. It was AMAZING there. You should go.

My dad left early to go rest his sore hip, and by the end of the day we were exhausted. Ben and I rode the River Rapids and got soaked. Thank goodness Lucas refused to ride or he would have froze. We took our last sky ride across the park and found our shuttle to the airport, where Evan dined with a plate on his head while we enjoyed happy hour goodies and ordered a pizza. It was a good day.

Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and Mom and Dad headed to the farm, while the rest of us took a detour to Clearwater Beach. Lucas and Evan had a great time running and playing on the beach. The water was chilly, but they didn't mind. Then they played at a cool playscape, too.

We ate a yummy lunch and then headed to the farm, a two-hour drive.

When I was little we spent a lot of time at my grandparents' farm each summer. To this day its still one of our favorites places to be. We have such happy memories there. My grandma passed away in November, but we decided to go anyways. It was still nice to be there and make more memories.

At the farm we got to pet lots of cute cows (we were lucky enough to have three new calves born), we ate yummy food, and had a great Christmas, celebrated Carrie's birthday, had a silly string fight, played games, and went on lots of walks. My aunt, Carolyn, even came! It was lots of fun.

One morning Ben and Lucas went on a walk in the pastures and found a brand new calf all alone in the grass. The closest cows were 200 yards away, so they actually went up and got to pet him for about 10 minutes. Then Ben wanted to make sure he was ok, so he helped him stand up. Then the little guy called his mom and she came over. The boys moved out of the way and they got back together. I guess the cows leave their babies alone sometimes thinking they will draw less attention if they're not with the herd. I'm just glad they didn't get trampled by an angry mom. But, seriously, little calves are so stinking cute.

Lucas and Evan were seriously spoiled for Christmas. The Harmans and my mom both went home with new Kindle Fires, which we've enjoyed, and there was lots of other fun stuff too.

We started our drive back to Austin on New Year's Eve. We stopped in Pensacola, FL, to play at another beach. We did this two years ago and Lucas had a blast. He still had a blast this time, but it was colder, foggy, and we were at a different beach in a residential area. Some really nice people let us use their outdoor shower to rinse Lucas off, which was really nice. We had dinner at a fun restaurant on the beach, complete with a playground in the sand.

That night we stopped in Gulfport, Mississippi and stayed at Quality Inn. QUALITY OUT, more like it. It was so disgusting. Our room smelled like smoke, The shower was too short for Ben and he hit his head so many times on the ceiling over the sink, that he was bloody. (Needless to say this wasn't our first hotel choice, but a lot of places were sold out). We survived the night, leaving with sore throats, a smokers cough and maybe a disease or two. We drove pasts the beach on our way out.

We made it into Austin by about 7:30. The kids were great on the way home. I think they had finally accepted the fact that they weren't getting out of the car. The DVD player was the best thing ever, as were yummy car snacks. Ben bought some of that disgusting cheese in a can and we played cheese Pictionary. It was fun.

We had such a great trip and had so much fun with the fam. Thanks Mom, Dad, Carrie and Maddie for the fun time!