Sting ray Interaction at Seaworld San Antonio Aquatica

Remember How I shared about all the fun we had at Aquaticas first Birthday? (If you missed it you can check it out here) Well during that awesome day I won a Free Sting Ray Interaction for me and my kiddo! Yep, I know... wow! We picked a date and well we had so much fun during the interaction! We made lots of great memories from that day that I would love to share.  

Here's a glimpse of our Sting Ray Interaction at Aquatica:

We got there early to Aquatica and I was so nervous! I had seen others do the interaction from afar and have even had a couple of blogger friends do it so I had seen plenty of pictures before. But I don't think anything can prepare you for what you will feel when you actually do it. 

My munchkin who is 4 was going crazy waiting for it to start. He had been already touching them by the pools ledge. Its free to touch them from the ledge and you can even buy fish to feed them!

They get as close as possible to you when food is involved.

When it was now time to start the interaction we stepped on to the soft sand and we were told a couple of important safety rules. We walked over to the opening and stepped in to a new experience! 

You look out and you see stingrays and fish swimming around. For safety they have a life guard, But don't worry the water is not too deep even for a 4 yr old. And of course for all the guests safety the sting rays have all had there barbs trimmed. The nice employee who went in the water with us (who is also a school teacher) made us all feel safe and comfortable and ready for what we would experience. He even mentioned Mr Ray from Nemo for the kiddos in the group. 

We walked in (well actually scooted our feet on the pool floor so we wouldn't risk stepping on the sting rays) and the employees handed out fish so off we went to feed the sting rays! This was intense! They really come up against you. So much so that you can barely walk around them because you are so crowded by them. It takes a little while to get use to this feeling. But they will eventually move along to others and follow the food source. 

My munchkin did not like this feeling and pretty soon he was in my arms. Yep, Mr. Brave was not feeling so brave after all. I took him over back to sand where he would go back and forth from the edge of the water back to the sand. But he wouldn't let go of the fish he had been given. When asked why he wouldn't feed the fish to the stingrays he proudly told everyone "Fish are friends! Not food!". 

After a while and me telling him he couldn't take the fish home he started to feed the stingrays the best he could from the edge. 

Once the employees alerted us that our groups time was up it seemed to tell my son well now let me go back in the water. He walked back in and wouldn't leave now. Yep, there came the tears! 

But its ok. He cheered up soon and quickly shared with others his experience in the water with Stingrays. Plus we had pictures! So he made sure to show them off and how brave he was in the water. It was such a fun and unique experience that I will never forget. I mean really, how often do you have the chance to get in the water with a pool full of stingrays and feed them? 

Be sure to check out Aquatica on your next visit to Seaworld! And in case you missed some of our favorite Seaworld Trips be sure and check them out here:

Seaworld San Antonio Howl-O-Scream
Seaworld San Antonio Christmas Celebration
Seaworld San Antonio Wild Days! 
Imagination Movers at Seaworld San Antonio
Seaworld San Antonio's Aquatica

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. 

Pinot's Palette - Paint, Drink and Have fun!

San Antonio has a new venue in town called Pinot's Palette. You may ask what is "Pinot's Palette",  well its an upscale "Paint. Drink. Have Fun." destination in San Antonio where anyone can be a Picasso. No art experience required! In two or three hours you can create any number of our festive, whimsical and pretty paintings. We would love to help you celebrate Girls' Night Out, Double Date Night, Birthdays, Bachelorettes, Anniversaries, Birthday parties and more! It's a BYOB concept so You bring the snacks and wine, beer or cocktails and we provide everything needed for your very own masterpiece!

Bring your friends, or make it a family gathering and open your favorite bottle of wine and get ready to be inspired by our local artists who will guide you step-by-step through a featured painting. At the end of the night...you will leave with your own masterpiece

Paint and wine parties are open to everyone and are perfect for your Girls' Night Out, Mommies night out, Date Night, or just a fun night out with friends and family. Its a perfect way to get your group of friends together for a night of painting and wine to celebrate a Birthday, Bachelorette Party, Anniversary, Corporate Event, or any celebration. We also host Corporate Team Building or a House Party - we can bring the entire Pinot's Palette experience to you. Get your coworkers and friends together for a paint and wine celebration!

We have special Painting Days on our calendar for the younger kids, and our age limits for those classes are as follows: Petite Picasso's are; 5yrs - 10 yrs old, for our Petite Picasso Painting Days. And for our Junior Picasso Artists; 11 yrs to 18 yrs of age. We have two painting Days on our calendar during Spring Break week for the younger kids. So mom's you can have some fun activities for your kids during the day and then at night you can come join us with your friends and or spend a special date night with us while you "Paint. Drink. & Have Fun." We can also plan Birthday Parties for these great Artists, and can help you organize the ideal party for your kids to match that perfect painting that each Petite or Junior Picasso can take home with them as a great memory!  http://www.pinotspalette.com/AlamoHeights/Classes

Discount Code "BLOGSAT" for 25% off any of our Painting classes, 2hr or 3hr, this coupon will expire March 31st. This special discount will also apply for the two classes we have on our calendar for the "Petite Picasso" held on March the 11th and for our "Junior Picasso's" on March the 14th. Plus this is just a ramp up to get ready for our Summer Painting classes. We plan to have a fun filled summer for all Pinots Palette Artists out there. CLICK Here for our calendar

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso

February Play and Learn 2013

In February we tried to go to Play and Learn more often but sadly we didn't get to. We did get lucky enough to be able to go the day before Valentines day and had lots of fun! That morning we woke up bright and Early making our way to our Beautiful Downtown San Antonio. 

Dont you love the Riverwalk in the morning?

We hopped on a trolley and got to The Central Library. 

February Play and learn was adorable! The theme was red (I like to think in honor of Valentines Day). Here is a glimpse of the fun we had:

I knew we were going to be able to make it so I wanted to make a quick treat for the rest of the kids there. The night before I had put a variety of candy in little treat bags and then I made a heart out of cardboard and used it as a pattern to make hearts out of construction paper. On the hearts I wrote Happy Valentines Day and on the back I wrote from my munchkin. I tied them with ribbon and ta-da! Treat bags done. It was cute to see munchkin give them out to the kiddos. 

The play and learn started off with a story and an Ice breaker (Ants in pants game). Munchkin loves it because they make it interactive for the kids. 

We then went off to do the various activities available. 

They had BIG books for the kids to look through and toys that matched that book to make it more interactive such as "Growing Vegetable Soup"  with all the veggie toys. And "The Very hungry caterpillar" along with a huge caterpillar and the foods he ate. It was so cute and even more fun!

They also set up what looked like a car wash except with hearts! They put the blue path so kids would walk on it but instead my munchkin used it as a food conveyor strip. 

We had a great time at the Library (Yes his shirt says Handsome little Devil) and picked up some fun books and even got to take home a Free Book "Baby eye like" for attending that day! How great is that? Its going to our home library! Have you been to your local library lately? Be sure to check out yours and have lots of fun! 

Want to see our other Play and Learn Visits? Here they are with themes:

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
Visit #10 Under The Sea themed

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!