I took a quick trip to San Antonio earlier this week. It had been over 2 weeks since I'd seen my sweet Sack 'o Sugar, except on Skype, and I was feeling a little hypoReidcemic. Kenny had to work, so I enlisted the help of my 9 year old "grandma internship" buddy. He was more than happy to make the trip with me.
We started the trip with a stop at Sonic for provisions (diet cokes) and made a quick stop in Waco for Orange Chicken at Panda Express (his choice, not mine!) Our goal was to make it to see the bats fly out at the Congress St. Bridge in Austin. We, along with Flat Stanley, made it in plenty of time.
The next day we headed to Sea World. Sea World is $60/person ($59.99 but I'm not fooled, it's $60). $50 for kids. That's a lot of money, and when you add $15 for parking and not being able to bring in your own food, it makes the fun to dollar standard tough to meet. I am nothing if not cheap and resourceful. We considered season passes since I figured we might go back again, but what if Reiderbug didn't like it? It could be a bust. After research, we found that Meg could get in free one time a year for being active military (Go Army!), Reid would be free anyway since he was under 2. I called to ask if they had a "disability" discount and they did! Seems like being deaf makes them want to let you in for 1/2 price AND they let one other person with the said disabled person get in for half price, too. If you have ever met my little partner in crime, you would know that there is nothing disabled about him. Don't waste your time feeling sorry for him. I feel certain that if there isn't already one by then, he will be the first Deaf president. Or he will have a cult. That's how charming he is.
But I digress. Maybe SW thinks that "disabled" can only access half the fun and thus discounts them. If that were the case, every parent of a 2 yr old should also have to only pay half, because judging from the crowd there, very few parents of toddlers were getting their full allotment of fun. Regardless, thank you Sea World for making it possible for us to get in without breaking the bank. In addition, since Peanut also has Type I diabetes, we were able to take in all the food necessary for him. (Please insert foreshadowing music track here).
We got there right before the gates open and wait in line. You know, the line where everyone who wants to get there early does but can't get in so is waiting. And waiting. In the Texas heat. On concrete. Babies and toddlers begin to scream and arch their backs and parents try to rub them down with SPF 50. If this is fun, they want no part of what is coming next.
We finally get in and head to the dolphins. Finally some fun. We stand there and look at them. The boys LOVE it...for 10 mins. Then it's time to move on. I test Peanut, who is at a good number (140ish I think), and Meg feeds Reid. We go to the aquarium and see the fish, which is in a nice, cool building, so that's fine. Things go down hill after that. Reid decides hats are not for him and throws it on the ground and then throws himself down for good measure. When we finally get him pulled back together, we head for the Bay of Play. Sounds fun, right? Forgetting of course, that Reid does not like water splashed in his face. It's a splash park. Hmmm. Well, Peanut might enjoy it and the giant kid sized habitrail they have constructed over the Bay. Oh, wait. We forgot the waterproof wrap we need to wrap the site he has on his leg for his insulin pump. uggggghhhh. We walk BACK to the park entrance, find First Aid and score some from them and then hike back to the Bay of Play. He takes off his "ears", making him unable to hear anything, including nuclear attack, and heads off the to play area. I really didn't want to let him go, but I didn't want him to feel like he couldn't do what other kids get to do. So after a lecture about where to find me (standing in the middle of the splash pool so I could be easily spotted from all areas) he took off. Apparently you are supposed to wear shoes on the habitrail (which makes NO sense because it's in the water), and folks were blowing whistles at him to get him to stop and get shoes. He had a great time climbing, sans shoes, and finally realized what they wanted later. This place was too baby for him, anyway, so off we go to the lazy river.
soooo tired!
Reid has still not reached the full fun potential of this place, making it impossible for us to reach it ourselves. We were hoping that lunch and the lazy river would do the trick. Peanut didn't want to wait, but I made him test again, anyway. He was a 29!!!! He seemed fine! I promise you (and his parents)!!! He was walking and talking and wanting to swim. Unlike most adults, who at 29 would be unconscious. He took a look and said "wow, that's the 2nd lowest I've ever been! I was almost knocked out." I started shoving food in him and making a call to his mom to help me with my plan of action. We got him pulled up and trotted off the the water 45 minutes later. Reid said "no, thank you" to the life jacket. I decided I'd had enough of his fun resistance, held that screaming baby down and put it on him. It took me and Peanut to accomplish this, but we did it. He continued to scream and people started looking at me. Meg had gone to change so I got in the river with a SCREAMING baby and a completely deaf 9 year old, who may or may not pass out on me, and continued my quest for fun. After a couple of minutes, Reid looked around and found out he was having a good time and started laughing. Stinker. Meg joined us and we had a delightful time. The rest of the day was much better. We went to the wave pool area, which also had a kid activity pool. Both places not suitable for a kid who doesn't want water in his face, so he sat in the beachy part, splashing carefully with his mom. This was when Peanut discovered the very best part of the Sea World water park, the place that made the $59.99 tickets all worthwhile. Basketball hoops in the water. wow. I sat there forever watching him shoot baskets, over and over. We stopped every 30-45 mins to test (79, EAT kid!, 49 OMG eat more!, 112 eat anyway, your numbers will fall), but he had a blast. We finally had to leave, though, because of some jerk.
The 3rd or 4th time back in the kid pool after testing, there was a man, about 275 lbs, height/weight NOT proportionate, straggly hair and a green life jacket (it's the kiddie pool!). There are 3 goals set up above the pool that have a ramp like thing under the net to roll the balls back down. There is a net across the bottom where the kids can put there arms in to get the ball but not climb up. There are about 6 kids and an adult across the bottom, shoulder to shoulder, mine being one of the smallest. He held his own the first few times we went, rebounding more than the others and sharing the ball with the girls and the smaller kids if he had already taken a shot. But Big Man, he wasn't letting anyone get the ball. He was sticking his hairy arms in, grabbing the ball from the little kids. He would then feed the ball to his kids who where standing back some or take a shot himself! Really! Then Peanut got hit in the face with the ball because Big Man crowded him out so much he couldn't lift his arms. Big Man looked at me and said, "He shouldn't stand so close. That's why I wear this life jacket, so when the kids elbow me, it doesn't hurt. hehe". Moron. I got Peanut's attention, signed "let's blow this joint, he's an idiot" (conceptually, of course) and left.
He really wanted to go back to shoot more baskets, but we convinced him that the Shamu Show was the real reason that you came to Sea World. We had to walk all the way to the other side of the park. As we made our way across the (Sea) world, Megan made the observation that everyone under 4 looked drunk in their strollers. The parents didn't look much better! When we got there, the place was full, but we made our way to the splash zone and found seats. We were a little worried about Reid and his splash aversion, but we had to do it for Peanut. When all the Shamus came out, mouths were hanging open. Reid was clapping and clapping and saying "whale, whale!" They absolutely loved it. When the inevitable splash came, Meg tried to cover Reid's face. He jerked down the towel and looked at her like she was crazy and that he loved being splashed in the face, where did she get the idea he didn't?
We ended the day with a trip to the Main Mast to pick up some souvenirs. Peanut found a life size Shamu and Reid got a sea turtle. What's a trip to an amusement park without that? Earlier in the day, when Reid was throwing fits about everything, Peanut's numbers were all over the map and her 4 1/2 months pregnant self was about to have a meltdown, she said "didn't we have fun here when we were kids? or was it like this?" I told her to look around, did anyone look like they were having a rip-roaring blast? No one is having that much fun in the sweltering heat, paying $8 for a hotdog and soggy fries and throwing fits. But you sift out the bad part and only remember the good. When we finally found our car and were all buckled in, Reid was all smiles, talking about the whales, dolphins, and his new turtle. Peanut buckled in Shamu and said, "This was the best day of my life." Meg and I looked at each other and smiled.
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