Family Trip to The Texas State Aquarium

This past summer we took a family trip to Corpus Christi Texas. The first time I had been able to go (since these trips were a tradition for my brother and sister with my mom and step dad). It was even more exciting since it would be my kiddos first time even seeing the ocean! On the first day there in Corpus my kiddo, sister and I visited The Texas State Aquarium for the very first time! 

If you know me then you know that since I was in elementary school I have been insanely in Love with sea life and to be more specific Turtles! So being so close to the beach mixed with the smell of the sea water I was in heaven! 

I instantly fell in love with The Aquarium. Its a mix of indoor and outdoor areas that are very kid friendly for the littles as well as for the bigs. Its very interactive and education friendly. Its done in a way where as you discover you are learning about sea life and environments and I enjoyed it so much! As for my kiddo... we spent hours there! He loved it and it was the perfect beginning for our Beach trip. 

Here are some photos from our visit to the Texas State Aquarium:

This was the Beautiful ceiling. It felt like being under the sea. 

This is my sister holding a starfish! You can actually pick them up underwater. Just don't take them out of the water! She said it was awesome to hold one.

 Yes I made a couple of coins! I actually collect them from the places we visit. Its a neat thing I want to conserve along with memories.

 My munchkin checking out the sharks!

 Entering the Amazon...

Checking out the underwater Dolphin viewing area

Watching the Dolphin show! 

Hanging out with Stingrays. You can touch and feed them too

We went to go see the Beautiful turtles! 

And last but not least... The Texas State Aquarium has an amazing water play area for the kids to be able to cool off in. Its the HEB Splash park and its a whole lot of fun so pack some extra clothes!

 Hopefully we get to go back soon because it definitely goes on my favorite list! Plus I want to make these beach trips a tradition for my munchkin. Have you ever visited the Texas State Aquarium? 

Here are more Happenings from our Vacation:
Writing my Name in the Beach Sand
Visiting the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi

SeaWorld San Antonio Wild Days!

This past weekend my family and I got a chance to learn a little more about the animals around us at SeaWorld San Antonio during Wild Days. My munchkin probably didn't even notice he was learning about the conservation of animals but instead was having so much fun watching them walk, fly and jump on stage. 

Here's a glimpse of the fun we had: 

We arrived bright and early for our first visit of the new season.

Munchkin posing in front of the fountain. You can see Aquatica in the background! In Texas its Hot almost always so I'm glad its opening March 2nd for its 2nd season. 

This weekend we came to enjoy Wild days! I was excited because I wanted to see what animals they would be showing and I knew munchkin would love it.

While kids were waiting for the Wild Days shows to start there was a big section roped off full of chalk so kids could grab some chalk and draw all over the place. It was a good distraction for the kids, plus they could check out someone making some special work of art.

In the area around the show they also had Live music and characters walking around for people to take pictures with. Plus some special booths with a kids activity where they could learn about an animal, and even one where they had items you could buy to support the conservation of animals.

We then got ready to watch the show! It was fun and informative for all ages. They had professor Globentrotter on the screen sharing his adventures with us while they would bring out various fun animals on the stage. They would let you know about each animal and what is going on with them in the world. Some of the animals are endangered and they were telling us what we can do to help! They ran the show in a fun way so that the kids got great information while never noticing they were learning and a lucky few of them even got to go on stage and say hello to some of the animals.      

After the show we took a walk to see the lake. It is always such a beautiful sight! Munchkin loves peaking over and seeing all the fish. They are huge!

We then took a quick look through Bay of Play and took a picture with Bert and Ernie! 

We then went to go see The Sea Lions! They are so awesome swimming around and catching fish and even some squid! 

We ended our day after eating some yummy pizza and cant wait to head back out there and have more fun! This weekend is the final weekend of Wild Days so head on out and enjoy the animals! Hope to see you out there and especially when Aquatica opens. I will be the one with munchkin playing in the sand.

Central Library Play and Learn 2013

Here we are back again at Play and Learn! We had really been missing our weekly visit downtown to Central Library. A lot had been going on and we had not been able to make it. Luckily we are getting back into our routine! We only got to make it to one session in January and this Play and Learn was under the Sea themed (munchkin loves sea life and I bet your kiddos do too!). 

Here's a glimpse of the fun we had:

Munchkin with Tia reading before Play and Learn starts

At the beginning of every Play and Learn they always read the kiddos a story to go along with the theme of the day. 

Next they bring out the fun and let the kids loose to explore the various activities of the day. They had stuffed animal sea creatures for the kiddos to use there imagination and play with.

They had sensory bottles that represented the beach sand, the waves from the ocean, rocks, pebbles and shells. These are always fun and easy to make at home.

They also had plenty of rubber/plastic sea creatures that munchkin had a blast with! He was playing with the shark while doing the Jaws theme. 

They had a boat made out of a cardboard box and had an area for the kids to go fishing for the alphabet. This is lots of fun and a great opportunity to do some letter learning in a creative way. 

They had it so you could match up the lower case with the upper case letters

This giant sheet of paper was set up so you could make your own seahorse and put it in the ocean along with its buddies. It was very cute! 

On our way out from having fun each kiddo could pick up a treat (treasure) to take home with them to keep! My munchkin was so happy with his treasure. 

We had lots of fun and were sad to go home. Munchkin always feels bad when its over but hes happy when I tell him we can go again next week! Play and Learn is Free to all! There is no registration so just show up ready to have fun with your kiddos.  

Right now there are Play and Learn sessions going on every Tuesday 10 am- 11:30 am through March 12 at The Woodlawn Lake community Room and every Friday 10 am -11:30 am through March 15 at Westfall Branch library. 

Check out our Play and Learn visits at Central Library from 2012: (They each were a different theme to learn that day)

Visit #1 Welcome!
Visit #2 Body parts, bones themed
Visit #3 Animal themed
Visit #4 Music themed
Visit #5 Halloween themed
Visit #6 Home themed
Visit #7 Dinosaur Day!
Visit #8 Building themed
Visit #9 The 5 senses themed