The family and I are just back from our 10-day Texas adventures!  During our recent vacation, we stopped for a couple of days in the festive city of San Antonio, Texas and were able to visit Sea World of Texas in San Antonio.  As many times as we've visted Texas over the past few years, it had been 4 years since we were last at Sea World.  And, WOW!  A lot has changed!

First off, I was totally pleasantly surprised at how many wonderful water attractions they now offer.   We visited on August 1st and it was a blistering hot Texas day.  We found ourselves spending a ton of time in the Bay of Play and Lost Lagoon, where we were able to stay cool while having tons of fun!

I love that park visitors are permitted to bring in bottled water and a small ice chest with half a dozen drinks if they so choose.  While most outside food is not permitted, you can bring in single servings of snacks. 

What we also discovered during our visit is that they will soon unveil Aquatica Texas, a waterpark within Sea World!  This will be a multi-sensory, one-of-a-kind destination spot for families everywhere!  If you thought San Antonio was great before, you'll really want to visit once they open up Aquatica Texas in Spring 2012!

Check out some of the fun from our recent visit:

Giving the carousel in the Bay of Play a whirl.  Who doesn't love a carousel ride?!

This is the only photo with Bert & Ernie where Jacob is actually looking straight ahead.  He was so in awe of them (Ernie especially) that he kept staring them down!  I guess after seeing them so many times on TV, he was like "WTH??!" seeing them life-size!

Cooling off with in the Bay of Play with Grammy!  We were so glad Grammy (my mom) could join us.  And, what's even better is she got in FREE by presenting her teacher ID!  That's right, teachers get in FREE through the end of the year!

All of the water attractions here at Sea World were just as – if not more – superb than at some themed waterparks we've visited!  What I don't have photos of {yet} are all the pics I took with the disposable waterproof camera I picked up at Target.  I was able to take it through many of the rides and even the wave pool and underwater!  I can't wait to see how all of those pics turn out!

Hangin' out with Grammy while waiting to see Shamu!  Exciting times!

The star of the day!  What a show!!  We were there early enough to sit in the splash zone and got sprayed just a bit during the show!  So much fun!

And Baby Shamu!!  My kids were in awe!

Feeding the dolphins.  What's not to LOVE??!!  We had such a wonderful time spending a few moments with these awesomely amazing creatures. 

From dolphins to sharks – my all time favorite creatures.  I can't wait to swim with the sharks off the coast of Florida someday.  My husband is less than thrilled about me wanting to though!

Ending the day with a ride on the Shamu Express!  Grammy was such a sport – riding twice – once with Nathan and once with William!

We all had SUCH a great time at Sea World and cannot WAIT to go back!  The kids loved taking home their plush Shamu, dolphin, and sea turtle and have been sleeping with them every night since we've been back.   A special thank you to Sea World of Texas for having us out to the park to visit and experience all that it has to offer!  We had an amazing time and hope to do it again very soon.  For those of you looking for a last-minute vacay before school starts back up, consider Sea World!  Such a great day of fun for families with kids of all ages!

{Disclosure:  My family and I were provided with day passes in order to review Sea World of San Antonio, however all opinions expressed herein are that of my own.  No one's the boss of me!}

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