Sea World!!

Gogo and grandpa came to visit us and I tricked them into a Sea World trip for the kids' birthday presents :) We hopped in the car and drove there Friday morning. My plan included getting there right at 10 when they opened the gates. You know what they say about best laid plans?? We got through the gate around noon and quickly planned the order of the shows we'd see. 

We headed straight to the dolphin show. When we got to the area they had some "stars of the show" on display. Skylar could not have been more afraid of these birds. Yes, you read that correctly, she was afraid of the birds. Goodness.

 Once the show started we were amazed. There were dolphins jumping and birds trained to fly in sync. There were amazing high divers and acrobats. Each dive they made was higher and higher.  Not only were they diving from RIDICULOUS heights, they were also doing it in total sycronization. Pretty awesome.
 It was magical to see Skylar's face during the show. Jimmy didn't "get" it but he loved all the excitement. I couldn't believe he sat still (or at least a 2-year old version of still) during the show. Next we hit the Shamu show. Jimmy was very tired by this point but once he saw the killer whales do their thing he was all smiles!

I wanted to catch the seal show next but the kids were hungry, tired, and cranky. We took a food break and I was bummed we'd miss the show so I may have pouted a little. Since it was nearing time to leave (yes, we got there at noon and it closed at 5) I wanted to do one last really special thing. We went to see the sea lions and it happened to be their feeding time! We bought fish and everyone got to feed the hungry seals! They were so funny, the bigger ones would push the little ones out of the way and beg for the fish much like Ginger begs for table food. So, of course, we had to try to get the fish to the little guys getting bullied! 

 Earlier in the day we had gone past the Bay of Play area and promised the kids we would go back before we went home. We headed over there and there was SO many cool things to do. There were lots of little rides, a carousel, two different splash pads, and several playground areas. They had a little area under the main structure that was entirely in the shade and it had small equipment for little kids, it also had really comfy adirondack chairs for the moms! 

The larger playground was an intricate web of ropes and slides. It was very high up but designed so kids couldn't fall off of it. Parents were welcome to climb across the ropes with the kids and I would think you pretty much had to because the kids could climb up one rope on one end of the area and come down a slide in a completely different area very far from where they started. Scary to think of how easily you could get separated. It is definitely an area that you have to assign one parent per child.... Skylar went through some tunnels and I didn't follow here becasue I thought she was going to go through the ones set up in a circle and come right back to me. I was wrong! She got out of the tunnel and turned to the right. She ended up going down to the ground level and though I could see her the entire time I was about 3 stories up and could not get to her. I had a moment of panic and considered my options. I screamed her name. She heard me but had no idea where I was. I kept telling her to look up, she was trying to follow my directions but couldn't quite spot me. I finally told her to "STOP, STAY STILLLLLLL. Now, Look up." Phew, she spotted me. I told her to climb back up the rope, climb back through the tunnel and get back to me. I have not been that scared in a long time. Of course since I love shows like Criminal Minds all I kept thinking was someone was going to pick her up and walk away with her while I was 20 feet above watching it happen, unable to stop it. (I know, I have a flare for the dramatic) At any rate, it was a TON of fun once I learned to follow her everywhere!!  

 After we played for a bit the kids wanted to go see the Characters. First we hugged Zoe. Skylar was cool with her because she was wearing a bracelet and a tutu.

Then she asked to go see Cookie Monster. Since we don't ever watch Sesame Street she knew their names but not anything about them. She was scared and ran away from Cookie Monster once she realized he was a boy :( 

Next up was Rosita Once she saw the hair bow, there was nothing but love. I swear, Skylar is a mess.

Next we got introduced to Telly? Again, Skylar was scared. At this point Jim brought Jimmy over and he was scared too. My kids will climb up anything, jump off of anything, ride any ride, etc. But when it comes to costumes, not so much!

 

Our last stop was the splash pad. We had left all our swim stuff in the car because we knew we wouldn't have enough time to do the water park. So, we let the kids get drenched and dried them off when we got back to the car. It was an awesome day and I am so glad we went. Hopefully it can be a yearly tradition! Next time, I would definitely want to get a 2-day pass. There is too much to see and do for just one day!!