The funniest thing...

I was talking to Karsten about his daddy coming home tomorrow and asked him if he was excited about that...he replied NO! I asked him why not and he said "I don't want Daddy to come home because you love him more than me & I want to be your favorite!" I called Steve & told him & then when Steve tried talking to Karsten - Karsten said he didn't love Daddy anymore because Daddy was Mommy's favorite! After talking to Steve & me for a while and reassuring him that Mommy loved him so very very much, he eventually reconsidered and decided he loved his Daddy after all and wanted him to come home tomorrow even if Daddy was my favorite! 

pics of the water slide!

more pics!

More Sea World & vacation pics!

Sea World 2008!

We had such a great time at Sea World! It was a very long drive to get there, but interesting all the same! We had Karsten, Rob, Nanny, Poppy Uncle Greg & me in my SUV and Aunt Suz, Uncle Steve, Taylor, Katie, Makenzie & Sydney in Suz's car...We made a pit stop at Baylor University & Suz showed us the sites (she graduated from BU) the best was the Bear Pit where they keep a pair of  bears. It was so hot that we really could only see one of them - the other was hiding in a nice cool cave! Oh well! Dad drove my car & almost ran out of gas in the middle of Austin on I35 in the middle of rush hour traffic! It was a little dicey, but we made it and over $100 for the gas bill! Ouch! 

Friday morning we made it to Sea World only to realize that 4 of the 6 adults left their ID's at the hotel...(with tickets printed from home you must have a DL!) so after dropping off Suz & Lefty with the kids (yes, all 6) the 4 of us drove back to the hotel to get our ID's! In the mean time Suz found out that the cabana we rented has a 8 person limit! So she was trying to get another cabana rented and try to get them together (it was first come first serve...) and keep an eye on the 6 kids! After making it back to the park and getting in...we made it to our first long line...the one to get into the water park area - the Lost Lagoon - fortunately it opened at 11 so we didn't have to wait that long! We snagged our cabanas only to find out that we were to have gone to a different area of the park to check in for them & someone else had already reserved one of the ones we laid claim too...so after getting that straight & finding 2 cabanas in the same area we proceeded to have some serious fun! The kids all rode this one water slide - one person on one tube - and after sending dad & then all the kids down I went - it was a wild ride! Dark all the way down with lots of drops and I thought I was going to flip over several times...all I could think was that I was going to run over Sydney any minute as there was no way she was going to be able to hang on! And that Nanny was going to run over Karsten in the other chute! After making it out, I saw Karsten & Sydney laughing their heads off! They loved it! Sydney gave it 2 thumbs up and pointed to go up it again! I couldn't believe it! 

From there we hit the wave pool, a few more water slides & the lazy river...all of which were a big hit with my kids! Karsten even took a short nap with Poppy in the cabana! Around 4pm we headed over to the dolphins, sharks, ski show. All the kids are ready to learn how to water ski now! Then it was off to the Shamoo rocks Texas show! It was great and the kids were going nuts! Of course, we sat in the splash zone & got completely soaked with salt water but it was worth it to see those little faces lit up like a Christmas tree!  Later we went back to the hotel and cooked out & made s'mores and then went to the hotel pool & lazy river - no lazy to that river...it was smokin' fast! I have the shredded fingernails & scrapes on my knees to prove it! 

Sat morning after my brother & I worked out - yes, I worked out on my vacation! I'm so proud of myself...but I digress...we went back to Sea World to see the animals & other attractions. We loved the pirate show (well, all but Katie she didn't care for that at all!) and then went to the Happy Harbour where the kids all rode the Shamoo roller coaster (except Katie - she didn't care for that either! Reminds me of trips to amusement parks with my sister when we were little!) Sydney was NOT crazy about the roller coaster & gave it 2 thumbs down! Karsten & Makenzie liked it so much they wanted to go ride the big roller coasters! Unfortunately for them, they were too short to ride the big ones...in the mean time, Greg & I got to ride the Great White Shark (a dangling legs roller coaster with lots of loops & twisty cork screws! Very fun!) and then we all had lunch - the kids got commemorative Shamoo lunch pails with lunch so they were happy! We then saw the seal show - excellent! - and then got to feed the seals! I thought my kids were going to fall into the pool while feeding the seals! They loved that! Then we saw a show that starred rescued animals - ducks, geese, dogs, cats, kangaroos, pigs & skunks! It was very amusing & a hit with the kids! Then Suz, Greg, Rob, Mak & I rode the Journey to Atlantis ride while the others saw another Shamoo show. I was a little nervous for the kids, but as it turned out Suz turned the greenest (thankfully Greg was sitting in front of her! LOL!) but Rob was the most upset! He didn't like that at all! Mak was not crazy about the height but loved the ride! Then it was back to the hotel for more pool fun! They had 2 water slides & we finally made it back in time to ride them! Couldn't keep the kids off them! They LOVED those water slides & the fast lazy river! It was so much fun to watch them!

Sunday morning, after Greg & I worked out AGAIN - yea me! We packed up and hit the road. This time with Taylor, Nanny, Poppy, Greg & me in my SUV and Suz & Lefty with the other 5 kids in theirs! About half way home Karsten moved over to our car so he could nap next to me! We finally made it home and after getting them all to bed Karsten actually stayed in his bed all night! It was so great! I got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! What a great way to end vacation! The only way it could have been any better was for Steve to have made it! Unfortunately, he was flying and didn't get to come with us...