Fun with Friends at the Kiddie Park

Sidney, Sophie, Abbie, and Caleb

Uncle Phil and Abbie

Caleb and Abbie holding hands (aww!)

Sophie and Abbie riding in a flying saucer

Abbie and Caleb

One of our few attempts at a family picture!

Sophie & Sidney in October 2011

Sidney and Sophie in March 2006

Our kids got along really really well with the Davies children. It was really cool to see Sophie and Sidney together again because they were both born during the year that we lived in Maryland. We were really good friends with Brett and Stacy Davies during that time. Then we moved away and we had only seen each other once when Sophie and Sidney were less than a year old. They are only about 4 months apart and I told Sophie that Sidney was one of her very first friends. Caleb, their middle child, is only 3 months older than Abbie. They were celebrating his 4th birthday while we were there and they invited us to come along. Stacy and Brett also have an almost 1 year old little boy named Tyler. He is so adorable but boy is he a fast little walker! Our girls loved him! On Saturday night, after going back to Sea World that day, we had dinner with the Davies (except for Ms. Stacy). Sunday morning we went to church with them. That afternoon, the kids played some and then we checked into a hotel.

Later, we met up with the Davies and some of their friends at the Kiddie Park. It is a little amusement park with carnival type rides. This park has been open since the late 1920's and all of the rides are old but charming. Sophie and Sidney loved hanging out together and were the best of friends after our visit to TX. Abbie and Caleb became buddies too and they enjoyed riding some rides together. Caleb had a cute monster cake and after the kids had ridden some rides, the kids got to try to knock down a pinata. It was Abbie's first experience with this and she was pretty hilarious! I forgot to mention that my brother, Phil, decided to come down to San Antonio at the last minute and stay with us for a day or two. He decided to go to a baseball game in Dallas where he saw the Rangers play. Then, on Sunday, he drove over to San Antonio and met up with us. I think that the girls were surprised to see him when he showed up at the Kiddie Park.

Sea World cont.

Sophie and Abbie with a mermaid

the girls with octopus woman =)

The girls with the flamingos.

This guy was doing the pre-show entertainment and it was hilarious! He walked into the stadium a little bit ahead of us and I thought "I am not following him." He kept sitting in these areas and then they would become soaked. All of the people around him were getting soaked too. He ended up being one of the actual performers in the show which I didn't expect.

This show was my favorite. I think it was called Azul and it featured dolphins and beluga whales. It also included a lot of acrobatics.

One thing that was funny about trick or treating at Sea World was that they gave you these huge bunches of little bitty bananas. They were the perfect size for little kids. They also gave us fruit snacks. They didn't give you any chocolate though. It was a good thing because it would have melted. During the time we were in San Antonio, most days the high was in the low 90's.

Fall Break Trip to Texas

Matt and Abbie feeding the dolphins!

Abbie, Sophie, & Matt by the dolphins.

Mama and Abbie are ready to ride the Shamu roller coaster!

Here we are riding the carousel.

Sophie and Abbie are ready to go!

Last week was Sophie's fall break. They were only out for 2 days but we took Sophie out of school about a day and a half early and flew to San Antonio. It was the girls' first time to visit Texas. For our first day there, we headed to Sea World. We were ready to enter the park when it opened and we headed straight for the dolphins so that we could feed them. Dolphins are Sophie's favorite animal and Matt had found out that if you want to feed them, first thing in the morning is best. You can buy little trays of fish and feed them yourself! It's not cheap to feed them but it is pretty amazing to reach out and pet a dolphin. I did it (though Matt had to handle the fish). Our girls were so excited to see the dolphins but they became kind of timid when they saw the dolphins with their mouths open wide and all of those teeth coming near them. Sophie was a little disappointed that she didn't touch one but after we had bought two trays of fish (which were gone in no time), we decided that maybe she'd have to work up her courage to do it in the future.

We had a wonderful time checking out the rides in the kiddie area, seeing some amazing shows, the girls trick or treated in the park one day, etc. On Friday afternoon, we headed over to the Davies, friends of ours from Maryland who Matt also went to college with, and we hung out with them on Friday night. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them. We didn't want to wear out their hospitality too much so we spent 2 nights with them and went back to a hotel. We went back to Sea World again on Saturday. Abbie's favorite ride was this boat ride which she was barely tall enough to ride. It's a water ride and if you asked Abbie what she wanted to do, she'd say, "the boat ride." She just loved it! It was hard for me to believe because this boat ride had a huge drop at the end.

Virginia Beach

The girls in the hotel pool

Matt and the girls in the ocean

Sophie and Abbie are so excited to be at the beach!

Sophie's covered in sand! She and Abbie had a great time building sand castles with Paw-paw Tom and Aunt Leia

Sophie and Abbie with the big beach balls.

We rented this big surry bike one afternoon and got a workout. No fair that the girls can't help pedal!

We had a great time spending a couple of days at Virginia Beach with Matt's family while we were up there visiting them. Our hotel was right on the beach. The girls loved every minute of it. We applied plenty of sunscreen and spent a couple of mornings on the beach. When we arrived at the beach on Monday afternoon, it was actually kind of cool outside. It warmed up on Tuesday and Wednesday. Abbie would just scream and squeal whenever she waded into the ocean. She fell down several times when a wave came in but she would just get right back up and play some more. One night, we headed to one of the pavilions on the beach for a little miniature circus show. All of us enjoyed it, especially since it was free entertainment.

Dollywood

Abbie enjoys the Tea cup ride at Dollywood



Abbie, age 22 months, enjoys her first tea cup ride at Disney World in Oct. 2009.



Abbie and Sophie ready to ride with their Daddy.

having fun on the ride

Aunt Leia, Daddy, Abbie & Sophie got soaked on this ride!

After we left the Wilderness Lodge, we checked into a nearby hotel for the next 2 nights. Then, we headed to Dollywood for the evening. The girls had a blast in the kiddie area riding the carousel, the ride pictured above (Star Shooter or something), the teacups, and a few other rides. If you paid for admission after 3 PM one day, the next day was free. We went back on Sunday and had a fun time though it was pretty hot and crowded. There were a few rides that Abbie wanted to ride repeatedly. The mini-drop tower ride shown above that took you straight up and down kind of bounced you as you came down. I rode it a couple of times but each time after I rode it with her, I said someone else is going to have to ride with you the next time. I didn't get sick or anything but my stomach would drop every time. Sophie and I enjoyed riding the swings together. Some of the rides and shows brought back good memories of Opryland for me where I spent a lot of fun times growing up! Abbie was sad that she wasn't able to ride a few of the rides. Sophie rode one bigger indoor roller coaster with me, her Daddy and Aunt Leia. During the ride she said, "My eyes are wide open but I can't see anything" (it was pitch black for part of the ride). After being told that she wasn't tall enough to ride the Scrambler, Abbie said, "I am big because Jesus made me big!" So sweet!

The Atlanta Zoo

Sophie, Abbie, Brodie, and Bradley with the pandas behind

all the kids posing by the gorilla statues

our only good family shot on the trip-Thanks Kathy!

Abbie liked the turtles a lot-she was reaching in and petting them. I guess she wore the perfect shirt that day!

On Saturday, we got up bright and early, stopped to pick up some breakfast and headed to the zoo. We met up with Kathy and Trent Burnett and their boys there. Matt and Kathy attended Harding together. It was the first time that we had seen them in years!  We had only seen each other's kids in pictures so it was wonderful to meet their boys in person.  They are really cute!  Our kids got along well.  Sophie and Abbie were both fascinated with the gorillas and Abbie liked the monkeys too.  We enjoyed being able to see the baby panda as well.   That afternoon, Abbie and Paula both took naps! 

More of the Aquarium

Sophie loved this dolphin statue outside the aquarium.

Our girls would not stand together for a regular picture outside the aquarium. They kept moving and getting into strange poses. Here's one outtake.

Georgia Aquarium

big hug

I sense an orange theme going on here!

me and Sophie with some beautiful tropical fish

Sophie & Matt

This year, we decided to do something different for Sophie's birthday. We headed to Atlanta on Thursday afternoon for a long weekend. One of the main reasons we headed to Atlanta was to visit the American Girl doll store and let Sophie pick out her own doll for her birthday. They also have a bistro there where you can eat with your doll. However, on Friday, we were able to visit the Georgia Aquarium during the morning. It was very crowded though! Abbie was very fascinated when she saw someone in a scuba suit cleaning the glass in one of the tanks. Sophie loved one particular type of shark. They also have dolphins now so we were excited about seeing them.

Fall Vacation-- SeaWorld Day 2

SeaWorld Lighthouse

Katima and her new calf born Oct. 9

We all enjoyed the Killer Whale show.  We sat several rows up so we were out of the splash zone.

The girls loved the rides in the kid's area at SeaWorld.  There were no lines to ride, unlike the Magic Kingdom.

Abbie and Uncle Matt pose for a picture in front of a tropcial aquarium.

Ah! There is a stingray on my head.

We visited SeaWorld for a second day on Tuesday before we headed home.  There are so many shows and exhibits at SeaWorld that you really need two days.  Uncle Matt and Aunt Martha came with us to SeaWorld this time.  Phil decided to sleep in this time at the hotel, but he joined us in the afternoon at the park.  It was exciting to see a newborn killer whale during our visit.  The calf was about 10 days old during our visit.  The baby whale was nine feet long and 350 pounds at birth; it will be a while before we find out if she is a boy or a girl.  After seeing some shows, our family visited the kids' area: Shamu's Happy Harbor while the others in our group rode some thrill rides.  Abbie and Sophie had an awesome time riding the kiddie roller coaster, the carousel, and other rides over and over again.  There were no waits for any of the kids' rides, which was wonderful.  After 1.5 hours of nonstop fun, we headed over to meet Phil, Martha, and Matt on the other side of the park.  The girls enjoyed some cotton candy compliments of Uncle Matt.  We visited one last aquarium with stingrays and tropical fish before we headed back to the hotel.  The girls were tired from three days in a row at theme parks, and they were in bed by 7:30 PM.  Phil gave us a ride to the Orlando airport the next morning and we all headed home.