Having fun at the San Antonio Zootennial Plaza Ground Breaking

This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending the Zootennial Plaza ground breaking and it was a lot of fun! It all started with a postcard inviting us over to the ground breaking (It was an open invitation to all Zoo members) and I was intrigued... 

What ground breaking? Whats going on at my zoo? I called them up and they kindly informed me that the Ice Cream shop was going to be demolished that day right in front of us! A Lot of sad thoughts filled our heads but we wanted to be there to say goodbye. Plus they weren't just tearing it down to get rid of it, they were doing it because the San Antonio Zoo is about to celebrate its first 100 years! Wow! One Hundred years and they are adding some beautiful touches to the Zoo. They are adding a new restaurant and plaza which will be a focal point at the Zoo now, as well as a gorgeous carousel. I am very excited about the carousel and I know your kiddos will be too. 

We got to the Ground breaking a little early Saturday morning so we decided to take a nice walk at Brackenridge Park which is right next to it first. It was a beautiful morning so it was perfect! 

The Zoo finally opened and we grabbed our wrist bands. 

We then walked over to to the demolition site where we were treated with Free Taco Cabana Breakfast! They had a food truck there making tacos and it had yummy salsa and drinks all Free. 

After a quick breakfast we went to go check out what else was going on at the site. Here is the Ice cream Shop before the demolition.  

They had set up some tables near there set up with fun things on them such as:
Face painting, some fun animal toys and huge stuffed snakes!

A very, very long stuffed snake that the kids loved getting to know. 

Bats! A bat home, habitat and how they help farmers produce food.

After a while they announced they were closing off the area and they made some announcements and the demolition started. We watched as they ripped the Ice cream parlor apart until there was only little pieces left. 

My son was so excited watching it all happen, most people don't get to see a building get demolished every day so it was a new experience. Meanwhile I am sure there were others who felt very different. Before the demolition they announced that a couple within the crowd were married on that very deck years ago so I wonder how they must have felt. If it would have been me I would have picked up a piece of the deck to take home. 

We then went to go explore and see some animals.

We had such a great day watching the ground breaking of the Plaza, exploring the Zoo and taking a nice walk at Brackenridge Park. What a great way to spend a Saturday. I cant wait to see the Zoo when all the construction is done. You can check out another fun visit we had at the Zoo here. There sure will be many more to come. If you live in San Antonio head on over and check out the construction. If you are visiting my lovely city then make plans to check it out while you are here. 

Happiness is... {Week 4}

Happiness Is.... (Week 4)

Happiness Is... Family and having a scary movie day. Since its dark and cloudy outside it makes it even spookier today! 

Happiness Is... Having had a great weekend. We went to the San Antonio Zoo and around downtown this past weekend. Lots of fun!

Happiness Is... playing with your pets outside

Happiness Is... enjoying Nature (munchkins hand playing with dirt and shells)

Happiness Is... Munchkin watering the flowers and waiting for them to grow!

Lisa at Crazy Adventures in parenting has been doing a weekly series called "Happiness Is_____" where every Wednesday she will be having a link up for others to share what Happiness is to them. So go check that out and link up! You can also follow others along with the hash tag #HappinessIs on twitter and Instagram. Hope to see you there spreading the happiness!

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

I'm Over at Gummy Lump today!

Hi there everyone! I am so excited to announce that I am over at Gummy Lump Today! I am so happy to be able to share with you my Paper Plate Zoo! 

I am so Thankful to them for having me over to be able to share some fun with others. I made a craft using paper plates to make your own Indoor Zoo! This is a great craft for kids to do when they cant go play outside when its cold but don't let that stop you! You can make your own Zoo and play with it outside too no matter what the weather may be! 

So please stop on over at Gummy lump today and Say Hi! Hope you enjoy the craft and have fun making one with your kiddos!