SeaWorld Surprise!

As we all know, It is that time of year that Sunday has now become the day that most Men and some Women want to sit in front of the TV and watch their Football games and most would like to watch them with minimum interruptions.  This is no different in my house.  Every year when Football season comes around, my husband tries to talk me into going somewhere with the Kids so he can watch his game in Peace.  It usually does not work, but when he said, "I'll watch Kinley if you want to take Colton and Bailey to SeaWorld", it was an offer I couldn't refuse.  It's been a while since the Three of us have gone and done something together without Kinley.  Greg's big plans on Sunday were to go to Sam's for some bulk shopping, come home, sit in his chair and watch some Football.....oh yea, and watch a Two Year old.  The night before,  Kinley and I decided to play dress up so I figured why not have a dress rehearsal for Football Sunday. 

GO TEXANS!!!!!

This was actually Colton's shirt when he was little.  She was very pleased with herself and her outfit........until the next day when apparently she was bored with this shirt and refused to wear it. 
She settled for one of Bailey's old shirts and set out with Daddy to do a little Shopping before the game.

                         She was obviously in no mood to pose or even smile for that matter.

After they were gone, the kids and I headed out the door.  They had no idea where we were going and kept reminding me of what movies they have been wanting to see.  They thought we were going to the movies up until we got to the booth to pay for SeaWorld Parking.  They were very surprised and Happy!  We live about 40 minutes away, but haven't been in a few years.

 

Bailey is my little thrill seeker so of course the first thing she wanted to do was jump on the first ride she saw.  We got to the entrance of the first ride we saw,  just to be told that it was experiencing some difficulties and they were correcting the problem, and to come back later.  I don't really like to hear the words ride and difficulties in the same sentence.  

 

 

We walked on and noticed the majority of the park was headed in one direction and figured there must be a show about to start so we followed along.  Sure enough we were just in time to catch

the "One Ocean" show.  Of course we chose to sit in the Splash Zone but unfortunately I think we were the only section in the Splash Zone that didn't get wet.  The Kid in me likes to be Splashed so that was a little disappointing but we knew we had plenty of other opportunities to get wet.

 

Even though I've seen this show several times I am still amazed by this!

 

Next up, the Rio Loco.  Apparently Sundays during the School Year is the best time to go because there were NO LINES which was AWESOME!!!!!

 

 

There is nothing scary about this ride, but it is fun and there is a little anticipation when you see the waterfall at the end and you secretly hope it's your side of the tube that ends up underneath it.

 

As you can see, Colton was the winner!

I wish I had a nice waterproof camera so I could get pictures of the real action.

 

                                        After that was over, Bailey wanted to ride the two scariest roller coasters they had.  Colton had no problem telling her that there was no way he was getting on those rides.  I was in a bad situation because I wanted to share the experience with Bailey even though I was a little scared myself, but I didn't want to leave Colton standing alone outside the ride.  I hadn't completely decided what I was going to do when we arrived at the first one and saw that she was too short anyway.  Problem solved!

We headed back to the first ride that we had attempted and they had fixed the problem and it was running good.  Of course when I'm sitting in that seat and the ride starts going up the rail, I will admit I get a little nervous and I have a million butterflies in my Stomach.  I could tell Colton was feeling the same way I was, but Bailey had nothing but pure excitement on her face.

 

 

                     The anticipation of the fall is the worst yet most exciting part of the ride.
  I told both of the kids as we were sitting at the top waiting to fall that when I said go, to take a deep breath and then hold it as we were falling.  That all went out the window when we dropped.

                Check out our faces!!! I love this picture!  It cracks me up everytime I look at it.

                     Needless to say, after it was over, we got off of the ride, and got right back on again.

 

We got ice cream and headed towards our next adventure when we ran into some of the Sesame Street Characters.  Colton was not up for getting his picture taken with The Cookie Monster and Big Bird, but Bailey begged and he gave in. 

 

We checked out the penguins and the way they were staring at us made me feel like maybe we were the show and not them.  I guess that's a win win for both sides of the glass :)

 

 

The Azul is my Favorite show.  These people are incredible and the dolphins are unbelievable.

 

Bailey and I waiting for the show to start

 

 

                                  Bailey said this is what she wants to do when she grows up.

The park closed at 5:00pm which was fine with us.  We had done all of the walking and all of the rides that we cared to do so we headed home.  I had a Great Time with my "Babies" and look forward to the next time we can spend this kind of quality time together.  Needless to say, I was a little suspicious that maybe Greg let Kinley take an extra long nap because she did not want to go to bed last night.  When I asked him about it, he gave me a Smile that confirmed my suspicions.

Random Acts of Kindness.....

A couple of months ago, I was having one of my many restless nights so I decided to get up and get caught up on the blogs that I like to read.  Somehow, I got off track and stumbled onto a blog that I had never read before.  The Title of the Post caught my eye because it said,  "How I Celebrated My Birthday (aka 38 acts of Robyn).  As I began reading, I was pleasantly surprised that this Woman had decided to celebrate her 38th Birthday by Completing one Random Act of Kindness for every year of her Life.  It was Great!!!  As I neared the end of her post, I noticed there were a ton of comments from People who had stopped by her blog and like me, thought HOW GREAT IS THIS!!!!  As I read their comments I began clicking on their names which led me to some of their blogs.  Before I knew it, I was reading blog after blog of People that celebrated their Birthdays by Showing random acts of Kindness throughout their Birthday Month and some of them did them all on their actual Birthday.  I went to bed excited that night because I knew this was something I would love to do.  My mind was going crazy thinking of different ways that I could show kindness.  The next day I got up and told my Daughter Bailey about it and she was all in.  She has a big Heart and would love nothing more than to help me spread a little Kindness around.  I sat down that day and researched Random acts of Kindness on the Internet so I could see what popped up.  I had no idea there was actually a Random acts of Kindness website and  numerous blogs dedicated solely to acts of Kindness.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading about and looking at pictures of People all over the World spreading Kindness.  I meant to get started 36 Days before my Birthday and dish out one act of Kindness a day, but the days flew by and now I'm on a Time Crunch to get all 36 acts done before the 21st. (36 for the number of years I've been on this Earth and the 21st of September is my actual Birthday) Luckily for me, this is a FUN time crunch situation.  I was going to wait and blog about this experience after it was said and done, but then I decided to blog along the way in hopes that maybe someone reading this will decide that they want to follow along too.  It doesn't have to be your Birthday to go out of your way to show someone a Random Act of Kindness.   O.k. so with all of that being said, Last night I decided to get this Party started! 

1.  I decided to check out a few charities online and pick one that really touched my heart.  I didn't realize how hard it would be to pick one.  I ended up on the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Website and I was surprised at all of the things they do for these Kids.  For Instance, I had no idea that once a Child is done with their Chemo, they throw each child a No Mo Chemo Party.  How Great is that!!!!  Once I saw this picture, it took me about a second to hit the donate button.

I LOVE IT!!!!

 2.  I started thinking about last year when my Kids had their Boosterthon and were asked to get pledges. I blogged about the Boosterthon because I thought it was a Great idea to have the Kids so involved and actually doing something active, instead of selling the same old $15.00 tubs of cookie dough. We had some Family Members and a few close friends along with a few People from Greg's work donate money, but when I received an email from one of my Mom's Childhood Friends who I have never met telling me that she along with her Sister would like to donate money to the Boosterthon, quite frankly I was touched.  I remember thinking that it was so nice of her to help my kids who she only knew through pictures.  I decided to pay it forward and last night while checking things out on facebook I noticed there was a child who I have seen in person once, but never really met  having a fundraiser.  That was it!  My way of paying it forward. I know it's not life changing or anything, but hopefully it will help out and it made me feel Great!!!  This really is a fun way to celebrate my Birthday!

3.  Right before I went to bed last night, I decided to see if I had any loose change in my purse and if I did, I wanted to somehow use it for my Random acts of Kindness project.  I dug out four dollars, four quarters and two old gift cards which by the way didn't have a whole lot left on them, but enough to do little things here and there.  After I dropped the kids off this morning, I went to the Gas Station and bought 4 Lottery tickets.  I plan on leaving them in random places for others to find, but I'll post about that later when I've actually followed through with it.  I did take one of them and put it in a little card for our mail carrier and left it in the mailbox. 

4.  I randomly leave notes in my Husbands pockets or drawers (dresser drawers that is) so I decided why not include this as one of my acts of Kindness.  I didn't really want to include things that I normally would do, but in case your reading and you don't already leave random notes for your Spouse, maybe you will now.  He gets up a lot earlier than we do and is already at work before we even get up so instead of leaving a note in his pocket that he may or may not find right away, I decided to write a note that he would see first thing in the Morning. 

In the shower....(of course in a ziploc bag so it wouldn't get wet)

 

 

So, that is 4 down.....32 more to go.  I have so many things I would like to do and I'm really excited about it.  Some small, some not so small, but all rewarding.  I would like to take this opportunity to urge you to think about little things that you can do for others to make their day just a little bit brighter.  I would love to hear your Random Acts of Kindness.

 

Here are some other ideas.....

 

-  Donate School Supplies to those in need.

 

-  Take a Goody Basket to your local Fire Dept. along with a Thank You Note for all that they do.

 

-  Donate items to a Children's Home.  (I looked into this and was surprised to find out there was a home for abused Children not far from my house)  They even had a wish list posted online and the items they are asking for are simple items that we take for granted. Their website is www.stjudesranch.org if you want to check it out and see if there is one near you.

 

 

-  Tape Quarters to a vending machine

 

-  Put Quarters in gumball machines

 

-  Buy a gift card to a fast food place and as your walking out the door, hand it to someone walking in

 

-  send a little gift to your child's Teacher

 

-  send cards to friends or family just because

 

-  Leave quarters at a laundromat

 

-  donate to a food bank

 

-  pick up the tab at a Restaurant for someone that is sitting alone

 

-  Become a Chemo angel..... www.chemoangel.net  (5 minutes of your time could mean the world to someone else) 

 

-  Pay the toll for the car behind you

 

-  Donate dress clothes to www.dressforsuccess.org  (This is to help women who may have had to leave an abusive situation or fallen on hard times and need nice clothes to go on job interviews so they can get back on their feet) 

 

-  Leave a deserving waitress or waiter an extra large tip or if you don't have the money for that, write a nice letter to the Manager telling them what a Great Job their employee did.

 

-  Put all your loose change in a jar and donate it to a Charity or a friend or family member in need once it is full

 

-  Give a Stranger a Smile....It might be the only one they get all day.

 

-  Take flowers to a Hospital or nursing home and give them to someone who doesn't get visitors.

 

-  Leave Random "Happy Notes" on car windows.  You never know what kind of day someone is having and you have the ability to possibly turn it around.  There is also an actual website dedicated to this....  www.operationnice.com

 

-  Leave a diaper and wipes in a ziploc bag on a changing table in a public restroom....You never know when someones baby might have a blowout and they have forgotten their diaper bag.

 

-  Call a local animal shelter and see what you can do to help. 

 

-  Write a letter to a soldier or better yet send a care package...check out.... www.anysoldier.com

 

-  Send a "Happy Card" to a child who is fighting for their life..Seriously, this is such an easy thing to do and it could make their day!  check out....  www.hugsandhope.org

 

- Pack a backpack full of snacks, soap, deoderant...whatever you want and give it to someone that is homeless.

 

There are so many things that can be done to help others or just make their day a little brighter. 

My hope for writing this blog is that you might have the opportunity to show a little extra kindness to someone and then they in turn will pay it forward.  To walk away with a feeling that you have made a difference in someone else's life is priceless and if you ask me it's a Great gift to give yourself. 

 

I'll end with a quote that I saw on another blog that I thought was simple but true....

 

"Wherever there is a human in need, there is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference."