What a day at Seaworld in San Antonio. I'm starting this tonight because I haven't posted in 2 or 3 weeks and really want to keep this growing, expanding, and just seeing what happens. Plus, one of my new Twitter friends who has a pretty nice blog sent me a message today asking how the blogging was coming along. Nice to have someone keeping you in check. I've actually gotten a lot out of Twitter and talked with some interesting people, but I'll save that for another posting.
I'm wrecked for several reasons. One, it's almost 11 and I'm digesting a nice rib-eye and grilled shrimp. Two, trying to keep up with my son, Kenny, is getting to be a challenge. Lana, he and I had a real blast today. It's our 2nd "real" vacation as just us, but this one's different. He's growing up so much, travels so much better, and now it's more like we're traveling with three people instead of two adults and a baby.
My hat is off to Lana. I'm thankful that she put this trip together. We're into her 18th week of the pregnancy and she made it through the day with flying colors. She's beat, I know, but she never showed it. She's an awesome wife and Mother.
I really love being a Dad. Don't know how else to put it. The first thing that we did when we hit the park was see the Shamu show. It was incredible. Just looking down at Kenny and seeing the way his face and eyes were lighting up, made that long drive yesterday worth it. So many memories are being made this week. We'll be talking about this trip for a while. He wasn't too sure about Shamu, the Killer Whale, until the show started. He's a fan now. He's always been a very happy and smiley child, but this smile was bigger than normal. There is something about watching him grow up, it seems that I get a bit younger trying to keep up with him. That's a good thing. We hit a couple more shows and I won't bore with all of the details, but what really astounded me about the Ken-man was when we hit this climbing course after Shamu.
There was this area, a BIG area that had some tubes that the kids could run through and play on. Kenny ran straight to it. Where he blew my mind was how he climbed the rope/nets and blew through that entire course. He scampered up what can best be described as a giant net on about a 40 degree angle. It was set so you couldn't slip through it, but it wasn't an easy trip by any means. When he got to the top of the net, there was a small climb to get to the next section. He couldn't get up it. He took a few steps down, went to the other side and tried it. That's when I figured I'd go help him.
By the time I got close to him, he'd made it up to the next platform with ease. I thought, "ok, he did it, now what?" What was next was a series of tubes with sections of those tubes being made of a thick, ballastic type, nylon cargo net. It looked like heavy duty stuff and it was. I had no idea that he'd blow through it like he did. I'm having trouble just seeing where he is, so I figured I'd go after him, just to make sure he stayed ok. I wasn't the only adult up there. I never caught up with him and here's why. A few reasons. One, he could walk through the tubes. They were about 3 feet in diameter, so I was on my hands and knees trying to keep up, and he was flying full speed ahead. Two, did I mention that most of the tubes were made of that cargo net looking stuff? Well, a lot of these tubes were 30 feet or so off of the ground. The first part was over the original rope nets, but after a while I looked down and I'm over concrete, 30 feet or so down.
I'm not real comfortable with heights. Yes, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 10,000 feet last November, but put me 30 feet up in the air climbing over a cargo net and I get tense. What should have been a nice quick bear crawl on hands and toes ended up being a slow, get your grip tight, stay on your knees and pray before you take another step. It was slow. I ran into a few dads, who were probably close to my size. They had a few questions about the weight rating of those nets. It did end up being a nice little workout considering it's my "off day".
I managed to catch up with Kenny, almost. I was almost out of the area and called him back up so we could go down the last little part together. He didn't want to leave. It doesn't seem like that long ago that anything over a foot off of the ground would make him cringe. The rest of the day was incredible. Again, he amazed me when we went on the Return to Atlantis ride. This is a full fledged log ride with the last drop being super high in the air and dropping really fast. I kept trying to make sure he really wanted to go, because it's a ride that makes my stomach flip. He said ok and I reassured him we'd be fine. He took the big drop like a champ. I couldn't believe it. He didn't want to go a second time, but he got through it. I was impressed.
This trip isn't over and I'm already looking forward to our next vacation! I love my family.
I'm wrecked for several reasons. One, it's almost 11 and I'm digesting a nice rib-eye and grilled shrimp. Two, trying to keep up with my son, Kenny, is getting to be a challenge. Lana, he and I had a real blast today. It's our 2nd "real" vacation as just us, but this one's different. He's growing up so much, travels so much better, and now it's more like we're traveling with three people instead of two adults and a baby.
My hat is off to Lana. I'm thankful that she put this trip together. We're into her 18th week of the pregnancy and she made it through the day with flying colors. She's beat, I know, but she never showed it. She's an awesome wife and Mother.
I really love being a Dad. Don't know how else to put it. The first thing that we did when we hit the park was see the Shamu show. It was incredible. Just looking down at Kenny and seeing the way his face and eyes were lighting up, made that long drive yesterday worth it. So many memories are being made this week. We'll be talking about this trip for a while. He wasn't too sure about Shamu, the Killer Whale, until the show started. He's a fan now. He's always been a very happy and smiley child, but this smile was bigger than normal. There is something about watching him grow up, it seems that I get a bit younger trying to keep up with him. That's a good thing. We hit a couple more shows and I won't bore with all of the details, but what really astounded me about the Ken-man was when we hit this climbing course after Shamu.
There was this area, a BIG area that had some tubes that the kids could run through and play on. Kenny ran straight to it. Where he blew my mind was how he climbed the rope/nets and blew through that entire course. He scampered up what can best be described as a giant net on about a 40 degree angle. It was set so you couldn't slip through it, but it wasn't an easy trip by any means. When he got to the top of the net, there was a small climb to get to the next section. He couldn't get up it. He took a few steps down, went to the other side and tried it. That's when I figured I'd go help him.
By the time I got close to him, he'd made it up to the next platform with ease. I thought, "ok, he did it, now what?" What was next was a series of tubes with sections of those tubes being made of a thick, ballastic type, nylon cargo net. It looked like heavy duty stuff and it was. I had no idea that he'd blow through it like he did. I'm having trouble just seeing where he is, so I figured I'd go after him, just to make sure he stayed ok. I wasn't the only adult up there. I never caught up with him and here's why. A few reasons. One, he could walk through the tubes. They were about 3 feet in diameter, so I was on my hands and knees trying to keep up, and he was flying full speed ahead. Two, did I mention that most of the tubes were made of that cargo net looking stuff? Well, a lot of these tubes were 30 feet or so off of the ground. The first part was over the original rope nets, but after a while I looked down and I'm over concrete, 30 feet or so down.
I'm not real comfortable with heights. Yes, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 10,000 feet last November, but put me 30 feet up in the air climbing over a cargo net and I get tense. What should have been a nice quick bear crawl on hands and toes ended up being a slow, get your grip tight, stay on your knees and pray before you take another step. It was slow. I ran into a few dads, who were probably close to my size. They had a few questions about the weight rating of those nets. It did end up being a nice little workout considering it's my "off day".
I managed to catch up with Kenny, almost. I was almost out of the area and called him back up so we could go down the last little part together. He didn't want to leave. It doesn't seem like that long ago that anything over a foot off of the ground would make him cringe. The rest of the day was incredible. Again, he amazed me when we went on the Return to Atlantis ride. This is a full fledged log ride with the last drop being super high in the air and dropping really fast. I kept trying to make sure he really wanted to go, because it's a ride that makes my stomach flip. He said ok and I reassured him we'd be fine. He took the big drop like a champ. I couldn't believe it. He didn't want to go a second time, but he got through it. I was impressed.
This trip isn't over and I'm already looking forward to our next vacation! I love my family.
Sounds like you are having a blast! It is refreshing to hear you talk about your family and the fun you all are having. Enjoy the the special moments.
ReplyDeleteMichael,
ReplyDeleteI love it when I hear a guy say how much he loves being a dad. Your son is so lucky!
Thanks for sharing a part of your life with us.
Take care,
Jeanne
Hey! Thanks for tweeting your blog! So nice to hear you're having such a wonderful vacation! Have fun, enjoy.... cause when you get back, "CRACK!" were going to have the whip ready to get you back on task! LOL!!! or is it that Dr. Evil laugh again?? Wha, Ha, Ha! ;)
ReplyDelete