Sea World!

The BIG adventure of our trip was our day at Sea World on Wednesday. We got there nice and early to get good parking and a spot near the front of the entrance lines, which was good because it was crowded. But we were prepared this time! And we had a beautiful day - warm and sunny. Here's Naomi waiting patiently and studying her map.


Our first stop was a new show that included beluga whales, dolphins, tropical birds, synchronized swimmers and divers. The kids loved the animals and the divers - it was so fun to watch their reactions.


We hit Johnathan's highest priority next - the penguins. He loved them and was so excited! He told me that when penguins walk, it's called "tippy-top." Johnathan is known to make up his own funny phrases to repeat over and over, and "penguin tippy-top" is a current favorite. Try it - it is fun to say!



Next, the much-anticipated Shamu show. While we waited for the show to start (and in the days leading up to our Sea World trip), Naomi and Johnathan worked on remembering Shamu's name... I think we answered the question, "What's that whale's name?" at least 20 times! For some reason they couldn't get it to stick! But they have it now.

Due to recent events, the trainers didn't get in the water with the whales, but it was still pretty amazing.



Our favorite part was seeing the baby killer whale (named baby Shamu) who was born two months ago. He swam along next to his mother during the show while she did her stuff. Watch the video below to catch a peek of him!

(hmm - video not working. I'll try again later)

We checked out the flamigos, ducks, and crocodiles.



And we took in a Sesame Street show.

Kevin tried to talk Naomi into going with him on her first log ride since she's tall enough now. But the ride looked a little intimidating, so they waited patiently in a long line to ride this Shamu kiddie coaster. Naomi found it quite thrilling! Johnathan and I were to small or too pregnant (respectively!) to ride, so we shopped for a little penguin figurine that Johnathan played, slept, and ate with happily with for the rest of the week.

By this time we (especially Mommy) were ready for a break and some ice cream. Then we went to our last show of the day - the sea lions, which were fun and silly.

My favorite part was the walrus doing sit-ups to work off all the fish he ate.

We stopped by the dolphin pool right at feeding time, and Daddy (we'll call him the dophin whisperer) was able to get dolphins to come up to him without even having any fish to offer.

Our last stop was at the shark and coral reef exhibit.

Though it was an exhausting and packed-full day, we had such a fun time at Sea World together. It's funny how, as the kids grow, the fun of vacations shifts from doing things that the grown-ups find relaxing to the joy of watching Naomi and Johnathan experience and thrill at something new. I think I spent half the shows watching them watch, and training the camera on them, trying to capture the magic of their child-like reactions. I guess that's just being a mom who can't stand the thought of them growing up so quickly. We're thankful for the fun memories of this day.