Happy Birthday to...

...both of our girls!!! Today is Emma's 6th birthday and tomorrow is Kara's 4th. In honor of their special days we decided to do something we've been wanting to do for a while now...we went to Sea World!

Last Thursday evening, Austin had a football game down in Arlington. We made the trip down to watch and then spent the night there after the game. His team won! They are undefeated for the season with two games left to play. Go Warriors!

Friday morning we headed to San Antonio and arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon. Once we checked into our hotel we were off to the pool...Kara and I preferred the hot tub. Awesome!

That evening we took the girls to PF Changs for dinner. They couldn't have cared less about where we ate but we used their birthdays as an excuse for an awesome dinner. They loved the little desserts that they got for free just because we were celebrating their birthdays. Kara prefers dessert over dinner anyway. In our rush to make our dinner reservation I forgot the camera so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was a great time for all of us.

Saturday morning, after eating breakfast in the hotel we were off to the main event.

It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time. Emma was very excited to ride her first ride with Dad and Austin. Kara wanted to go so badly but wasn't tall enough. She was crushed. When the ride was over, Emma was less than enthusiastic. She thought twice before saying that she wanted to ride anything else.

As it turns out, Kara is our little daredevil. Who would have guessed?! We took her and Emma both on a little kiddie roller coaster and the pictures that the park takes were hilarious. Kara was grinning from ear to ear and Emma had a look of "I'm not so sure about this" on her face. It was a great contrast but the pictures were outrageously priced so we let the park keep them. Here's a picture that Austin took...it's a little blurry but you get the idea.

We took them both on the log ride and Kara loved every minute of that as well although she did say that it scared her "two times". Emma liked that ride too.

Daddy took Kara on another ride that goes around and around...kind of a kiddie version of the "Tilt-a-Whirl" for all you carnival goers. I got nauseous just looking at it and Emma turned it down so SuperDad was the hero. After they got off he commented that he needed to find a bush to barf in. He didn't really but I guess Kara has an iron stomach as well. What a crack up that our little bitty shy bird of a girl would be so adventurous. Here's a couple of shots of the "spin until you puke".

On top of all the rides we got to see our favorite shows.

We saw Shamu...

the dolphins...

and the sea lions and walrus...

It was a full day and when it was over we were all exhausted as you can see.

So, that was our trip to Sea World. We had a great time and I'm so glad that we went. I think the girls will remember it for a long time. I have more to write about their birthdays but that will have to wait for another day. For now, I will leave you with one final picture just because I think it's cute.