Friday, June 27, 2008

Our First Family Vacation!

Well folks, we survived our first vacation as a family of 4! On Tuesday morning we headed out to San Antonio and went to Seaworld. I crammed myself into one of the 3rd row seats so I could entertain Landry in the car. It worked pretty well - no screaming meltdowns or anything. I was just super uncomfortable. My knees were pretty much at my chin! Anyway, we got there without any major issues (one stop for a leaking diaper - and it wasn't pee!).

It must have been 8 million and a half degrees there. Wow, it was hot! We survived, though. Drank lots of water and spent a good deal of time in the aquarium, penguin exhibit and water park. Bethany looooooved it! I think her favorite things were the penguins, the sharks and getting to feed the seals and sea lions. Landry didn't love it so much, but she was very good. No break downs or anything. What a great baby!

We spent Tuesday night in a hotel. It was our first hotel experience with Bethany and she thought it was great. Probably because we let her order an ice cream sundae from room service before bed. Hey - it's a vacation, right? Both girls slept great in their own beds and didn't wake up until 8:30 in the morning. Well, Landry did wake up to eat, but not for long. When we got up Wednesday morning we went back to Seaworld until about 4:00 that afternoon. Needless to say, there were some sleepy girls in the car. Bethany actually slept for about an hour and a half and she NEVER sleeps in the car anymore!

I am pretty irritated with our camera, though. I'm on a mission to get a new one, so if anyone has any reccommendations I'll take them. Half of the pictures we took turned out pink. I don't know what the deal is, but it made me very sad! Anyway, here are some of the pics that did turn out well.

Landry did great in this stroller! She doesn't like the infant carrier carseat at ALL, so she got to be a big girl and ride in the actual stroller.
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This is one of my pictures that turned out pink. Isn't that weird? Anyway, Bethany was "navigating" and telling us where everything was on the map.
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This marching band goes around the park all day. Bethany thought they were the greatest.
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Waving at them.
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Playing "limbo" with them. She actually got scared and started crying for me after she went under. Oh well.
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Shamu!!!
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Are we done yet? I'm hot.
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Me too.
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Day 2!
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Bethany feeding the seals.
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Sucking her thumb. Doesn't look too comfortable, does it?
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Well, these were taken in the aquarium and didn't come out well of the fish and sharks. Oops.
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While Bethany and Daddy swam, Landry and I chilled on the deck chairs. Well, we weren't close to really being chilly, but we were at least in the shade.
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Bethany played this game and won a big stuffed penguin. Then she wanted to dunk her penguin in the water.
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My sweet girls.
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7 comments:

Amanda said...

I love that picture of Raymond with Landry strapped to his stomach! Hilarious!

Also, such cute pics of Landry in her hat and sunglasses.

Glad y'all had fun, but just looking at your pics made me tired and hot!

Becky said...

YOU DID IT!!! Your first vacay is complete for the record books...the first of many to come I am quite sure! How did all the tips work out?
Saw Bethany won the penguin...and looks like ya'll ate at the Happy Harbor place!
We have 2 cameras and like them both: the Fuji FinePix E550-compact, easy settings, just does NOT take pictures quickly or when kids are moving...like um...in their preschool program! That's when I got FrUsTrAtEd and asked for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel Xti for Christmas. Love it, but it's more like a professional camera-not compact but super fast to catch all those moments that you can't rewind...ie: action shots & programs!!! Anyhow, Melissa Trcka has the same one and has AMAZING pics on her blog! I'm taking lessons from her this summer to improve! If you want to see either I'll bring them and you can try them out! Okay, I will close now and stop taking up ALL your comments space...HA! Hugs!!!

dougnlarry said...

You have a beautiful family. I'm glad y'all had a good time, even if it was so hot. I can tell from the pictures that Bethany had a good time.

kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor said...

Hooray! You survived...and looks like you had a blast! We've never done Sea World (I haven't been there since junior high--sheesh). I'll have to get the 411 from you and we may head there next year. Looks like a lot of fun. Sorry about the heat...I guess that's what we all get for living in Texas, huh? But, I wouldn't trade it for anything! Your pictures look great, I couldn't even see pink. I love the one of Landry "sucking her thumb"-- what a hoot! Can't wait to get more details! See you in the morning.

A Crafty Mom said...

I'm glad it went well Amanda!!! We're heading out in a few weeks for our big summer vacation - first time in hotel with FIVE of us, lol. I'll let you know how it goes :-)

The pictures are great, even though they're pink. I don't have a lot of camera advice, but if you can, get one of the new SLR cameras - the photos are stunning (ask Rebecca for advice) . . . I know Sony and Canon have great ones. We have a nice Canon but not SLR (that's my next big purchase I hope, now that the Wii is behind us!!!).

The girls are beautiful, and I think you look just terrific. I can't believe how many ladiers have that green turtle shirt - I've seen 5 or 6 with it on the CB, and Leah has it too. I'll have to post some pics of her in it too - it's a bit cuter on an older girl like B though, IMO.

I can't imagine the heat. I used to go to Dallas sometimes for work and I really couldn't fathom it could get that hot. We are wimps up here (although it's pretty hot here lately too!).

Rebecca said...

Man I can't see the photos again...I am totally bummed (and don't know what the deal is with that?).

Well it sounds like your vaca was a great success, YAY for 2 such good girls, and wow on sleeping in till 8.30am - how nice is that!!

As for camera recommendations, I definitely 100% recommend the Canon Rebel XSi, it is somewhat pricey but man is it a fabulous camera, the photos it takes are AMAZING!!!
If you buy it as a kit (the best way to get it) the lens you get is suitable for everyday shooting so you would not have to get another lens if you did not want to.

I am going to mess with my settings and see if I can see these photos, I love seeing your beautiful little girls. :)

Jennifer said...

Hey girl! I meant to tell you this tonight while walking...But, we have a Nikon SLR D60. We love it! You can use the "point and shoot" feature obviously, and it's so much faster so that you don't keep getting all the blinks and sides of heads when you have to wait on your other camera to take the pic. It also has all kinds of other features that I'm going to learn how to use. I really want to take a class or get some gracious friend to give me some pointers. But, the pics are so much clearer and the colors brighter. We also got ours as a package deal, so other things came with it. Good luck in finding something you like!