Deep in the Heart of Texas... Day #3

Riding the Tubes- Aquatica (Sea World's Waterpark) 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015 

After a good night's sleep we were all up at 7:30AM and ready to face another full day at Sea World's Waterpark Aquatica. Chris had hurt his tail bone on the Shamu Express kiddie roller coaster the day before so we stopped at a Target close to Sea World on the way to get him some painkillers. We did not arrive at Sea World until nearly 9:50AM on this day since we already had the passes and knew the park did not open until 10AM. We got into Sea World and then got into the Aquatica park line and waited for the 10AM opening. This is where we heard the playing of the Star Spangled Banner which was very impressive to us!

We are excited for Day #2 at Sea World! Plus it is Natalie's 1st waterpark experience! 

Chris and I both love waterparks but knew that you have to beat the lines and ride as many rides as you can before the park fills up. With this in mind Chris took the kids to the famous Stingray Falls, a large raft style slide that featured the Aquatica sting ray exhibit at the end of the ride as you literally ride underneath these sting rays! Meanwhile I waited in line for a locker and got us some wave pool beach chairs. Natalie LOVED the Sting Ray Falls but Luke did not AT ALL! This ride is geared towards the whole family and 36" is the minimum height requirement! 

A view of the Stingray exhibit from the line of StingRay Falls. 

A view of the waterpark from StingRay Falls. 

Another view of the park from StingRay Falls. I was highly impressed with this waterpark, especially since it is a 2nd thought of Sea World and not a stand alone park! It is definitely worth the extra $$ to get this park ticket! 

The rest of the morning Natalie and I tried to ride as many slides and rides as we could. We got into the Cove Area near the wave pool and Natalie was able to slide down 2 separate slides but herself and did very well. Then we went to the Twister Tube slides and rode these inner-tube style slides about 4 times before heading to a unique drain-style slide and we waited in a rather short line before being told Natalie was about 1" too short to ride the ride. I would advise parents to double check their kids height before waiting in line. Chris and Luke checked out the Walkabout Water area of the park which featured a 2' wading pool area with 4 small kiddie slides which Luke rode continuously. This is a GREAT place for 2-5 year olds and parent friendly!  

Natalie riding the kiddie slide at The Cove all by herself! I was very proud of her! 

Ride line Selfie at StingRay Falls! 

Natalie on StingRay Falls! 

You get to ride underneath the stingray exhibit at the end of the ride... SO COOL! 

This was Natalie's FAVORITE ride of the whole day! 

Natalie having fun carrying her own inner-tube! 

We met up with Chris and Luke for lunch at WaterStone Grill around 12:30PM and so did the rest of the waterpark guests. This was the longest food line we stood in the entire trip and it still was only about 10-15 minutes long. The food was standard and nothing to write home about but it got the job done. 

We then went to Chris's favorite waterpark attraction, the "Lazy River". This is also a favorite of mine and I was looking forward to a relaxing spin around the rolling current... yeah, that DID NOT happen! Instead I had a screaming 3 year old in my ear all while trying to keep an eye on my other kiddo who was peacefully floating down the river. Needless to say, Chris stayed with Natalie while Luke and I went to a different area of the Walkabout Waters featuring a large bucket splash-pad area. Luke absolutely LOVED this entire area and we literally spent the rest of the afternoon here with him. Chris and Natalie ended up riding that Lazy River a total of 7 more times before heading to different water slides on the other side of the park. They ended up riding 4 different slides for a total of 6 rides. I think we have at least 1 "Waterpark Child".

This was at the beginning of the river and Luke was not sold but not screaming just yet! 

The boys faces say it all... GET ME OUT OF HERE! 

I was LOVING it! 

We snacked on some footlong corny-dogs as well as drank well over 6-10 bottles of water EACH but we survived the rest of the day at Aquatica and once again we were there from OPEN TO CLOSE! Once again, the process of getting dressed and clean after a day of water play (Rather it be at the beach or the waterpark) was a COMPLETE DISASTER and a hassle. Why does it always have to be this way? Anything and everything went wrong, from a #2 accident for Luke to Shampoo in Natalie's eyes to me not being able to find my panties... It was terrible!

Luke loved the baby whales inside the Walkabout Waters section of the park! 

Luke riding the slides all by himself! 

He did these slides about 20-30 times for me during the afternoon! 

More of Luke riding the slides. 

Right before we left Natalie joined in on the kiddie slide fun! 

She loved them too! 

Luke was tired! 

We had a lot of fun at Aquatica... Until next year! 

We then headed over to Sea World so Luke could get more time on the "cargo net" and for Natalie and I to ride some more rides! Luke spent nearly an hour on the cargo net play area while Natalie and I rode the Shamu Express roller coaster and several other kiddie rides. We then said goodbye to Sea World and headed to North Star Mall to see the World's Largest Cowboy Boots before the sun set. The kids absolutely LOVED this and as cheesy as it was I loved it too! We then found a local favorite called Sea Island Shrimp House which turned out to be a great seafood place! 

Natalie and I riding the Shamu Express kiddie roller coaster! She LOVED it!

It wouldn't be an Amusement Park trip without a funnel cake! YUMMY! 

The day wore him plum out... This was at 7:30PM! 

The World's Largest Cowboy Boots at North Star Mall.. A real hit with my kiddos! 

All of us had developed some pink areas from the damaging sun rays while at the waterpark, despite applying and re-applying sunscreen every 80 minutes. Actually, we ran out of our 3+ bottles of sunscreen around 5:30PM. Four red-heads at a waterpark is a very dangerous thing! With that being said, we made a trip to Walmart to get additional sunscreen and some Aloe Vera burn relief. It wouldn't be a vacation without a stop at the local Wally-World! 

We made our way back to our hotel for another late night of 11PM bedtime but everyone fell asleep easily and fast! We were ready for a more relaxed day #4 at the zoo and Children's Museum. 

Next Up... Day #4 and the San Antonio Zoo

GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!