The kids loved Sea World more this time than last year when we went to San Diego. During the Shamu show, John yelled "THERE HE IS" every time Shamu surfaced. Sydney was enthralled and couldn't believe how big he was. We decided before we went that we would "Dine with Shamu" for dinner. I must admit, we were a bit skeptical as we thought it would be an over-priced, under-delivered event, but we were happily proved wrong.
As you can see, we had an up-close and personal view of Shamu (or Kia, as this whale is actually named). The tables were set up along one of the holding/living tanks and Kia swam around the whole time about 10 feet from us ("there he is" continued throughout dinner). The buffet was awesome, and the trainers were on hand coming to each table to talk to you. They did a mini presentation, had Kia do a "slide up" several times - performing tricks, etc - so you could take photos, etc. We would recommend this experience to everyone.
When downloading the photos I realised I didn't really take that many at the park. This is the kids really excited about feeding the ducks in the flamingo pond. You know, you have to go to Sea World to feed ducks! 
We brushed up on our Texas history at the Alamo. We were within walking distance from our hotel, so we set off early Saturday morning. Whilst it was already stinking hot at 9am, the crowds weren't there yet and we were able to take our time wandering through the main building (above) and the grounds. We had no idea that Davey Crockett was one of the leaders of the last stand at the Alamo, so we learned something new!For some reason I didn't take any photos of us down on the River Walk, where we spent a lot of time wandering. Perhaps it was because the River Walk is not stroller (or kid) friendly at all, and we bumped, carried up & down stairs and shoved our way along with too much focus on keeping the kids OUT of the river (the pathway just runs to the river, no ledge or rail at all) to stop and take a picture. So take our word for it, the River Walk is gorgeous - lined with Cyprus trees that are 100-400 years old. Much cooler than being on street level and very peaceful. We enjoyed a nice Italian dinner and then breakfast the next day all on the River Walk.
On the Sunday we decided to detour home via the Wild Life Ranch - a large wildlife park where you are the ones caged (in your car) and the animals roam free. We, and 2000 of our closest friends) decided this was a good idea. So after idling in the car for a hour just to get in, we idled our way through the 4 mile road to gawk at animals that were over-stuffed with pellets and probably high on exhaust fumes. But you know what, Sydney and John didn't have a clue! Even the ostriches, which we had heard were aggressive and nasty, just meandered next to the car and didn't want any food. At the end of the park was the petting zoo (read: 10 goats) who were more interested in eating Sydney's skirt and the paper bag the food came in than the pellets themselves.
Sydney was not at all afraid to throw the food to the animals even when a few antelope and deer came quite near. She had a good time playing Diego the Animal Rescuer.
Since we were stopped most of the time or crawling at about 3mph, we let the kids out of their carseats (don't tell the authorities) and they took turns "driving". John was much more interested in driving the car than the animals and was none to happy when we put him back in his seat.We got home to Houston about 7:30/8pm on Sunday after three very long days. Sydney and John continue to be old pros at hotel living and both went to sleep really well the nights we were at the hotel. The car trip was pretty pleasant, thanks to built-in DVD, and I think we'll take them on the next trip.
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