Sea World

Wow, I'm still amazed that our family went Sea World!  And it was a success!!!  Jeff took a day off so we could go in the middle of the week, which worked out wonderfully!

This is our travel from now on.  Not a squawk. 

  We got there early, had time to apply sunscreen, etc and we were in the gates!  I thought it was nice that at the entrance, the attendant took a picture of the kids after he scanned their ticket.  It gave me a little extra peace of mind about security.

They even played the National Anthem at the opening. 

We didn't really know what to do at first because we'd never been there (I have, but it was a really long time ago) so the kids (and I, because they didn't want to do it alone) went to a huge play area.  Zane and I both decided that we didn't care for the tunnels way up in the air that looked like they were made out of seatbelts.  But what were we to do but keep going because how was anyone going to get us out?!?  haha!  I was actually surprised they held me, but I didn't see a sign one that said for kids only.

 
Next, we opted to go to the first show-a behind the scenes look at how sea lions and otters are trained.  It was very interesting and very surprising how large the sea lions, Salsa and Hans were.  They are very very fast swimmers too!

Waiting for our show to start!  We were in the shade!  Some people wanted to sit right up front, but they were in the sun and some ended up moving back.  Whew!

This girl loves her snack and it always brings a smile to her face.  :)

Next, pizza time!  There was another really neat sounding show at noon, so since it's best to keep everyone happy, we decided to eat!

That's my huge fanny pack on the table...the only way to go.  :)

Next we went to the buluga whale and dolphin show!  It was fantastic!!!!!  Really really cool.  They trainers swam with the dolphins and whales and did fantastic tricks.  We all wanted to go see it again in the afternoon, but it started pretty late and it was best if we left while everyone was happy.  It was so enjoyable though.

It's hard to see in the pictures, sorry.

After that show, we had time to spare before the killer whale show, so we got to ride on rides! 

Cheese!  A nice lady offered to take this picture.  You may not be able to tell, but we are taking pictures in front of...lawnmowers!  They had them on display as the ones taking care of the lawns at Sea World!  :) :) :)

More snacks!!!!

 Next, the killer whale show!  It was unbelievable how huge these animals were.  HUGE.  Jeff didn't think I noticed, but I did, that we sat in the splashzone.  They splashed just when they were swimming-just the first couple rows, so we really didn't think we would get that much on us.  Well, for the finale, the trainers signaled the whales to splash with their tails.  So they did it section by section, two whales using their tails, to splash GALLONS of FREEZING SALT water on us.  And by freezing, I mean 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  I didn't think it would be too cold, but it was FREEZING!  And we weren't the first section to be splashed, maybe the fourth??  I'm writing all this because it was very dramatic for the kids.  So first, it made me realize how powerful the animals were.  One splash of their tails sent up GALLONS of water.  It was like a wall of water coming to us.  I had turned my fanny pack around, Jeff had put his phone in his shoe, and it was a totally shock because it was so salty and SO COLD.  Zane and Rachel started wailing and they weren't the only ones!  A little boy in front of us was wailing too!  But, that was just the first splash.  We knew from seeing it done before that two more were coming!!!!!  I tried to shield Zane but it was practically impossible because gallons of freezing water just absolutely covered us.  We were soaked.  It took a few minutes after it was over for the kids to realize they were alright.  Oh wow.  It was so cold.  I'm laughing while I write this because it was so fun and so hilarious and just left us speechless all at the same time!

So cool, one of the killer whales jumped waaaay in the air to touch a rubber ball.  Incredible!

Uh, Rachel is still unsure, but Zane is trying to smile again!  :) :)  He says, "let's not talk about it" when we bring up the huge splashing.  :) :) :)

After this, we were already soaked, but decided to go to the splash area to play, but to also rinse off the salt water.  It was very busy, but Zane had a fun time and Rachel went too, but she probably needs to go back again to really get engaged in it.  Don't you think, Jeff?  :)  hee hee!

We also rode the carousal! And took lots of pictures.  Haha!  We had so much fun!

Then, drum roll please...Zane and Rachel and I rode the Shamu Express, a rollercoaster!!!  Zane was so funny!  Both kids first said they didn't want to ride.  Then Zane said he would.  I kept asking are you sure?  We can get down, we don't have to do it-but nope, he was going to!  He was straight faced when he rode it, but when we stopped he smiled real quick and said he liked it!  Then, Rachel wanted to go, then she didn't, then she did, so we finally did and she said she had a fun time!  Then, much to my surprise, Zane wanted to go again!  Again, straight faced, but when we stopped it was like a nervous, hee-hee-hee that came out.  :) :) :)  I am glad he enjoyed it.  Then, I couldn't believe it, but Rachel wanted to go again!  And this time, she just let it out-Wow!!!!! WOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!  She just screamed so big!  She said she liked it, so I guess it was another success-first roller coaster ride for both of them!  And it was just my speed.  If they start doing bigger ones when they get older, they might be on their own.  haha!  Daddy took some pictures.

I wish I had put them on the other side, but didn't even think about it for pictures.

Next, we went to Discovery Point.  It had huge aquariums and small aquariums, and an underwater (air conditioned!) viewing area of the dolphins.  It was so cool.

One very special girl.

Looooove this picture.

Love this picture!

I love these three so much. 

Somewhere in here, we went to a really cool penguin encounter and rode a moving sidewalk through the exhibit.  There were all kinds of penguins.  It said that they had around 250 penguins!  Unfortunately, I don't have one picture of them!

Rachel prayed a special prayer for one of our meals.  "Thank you that we can all be together."  Amen.

See you next time, Sea World!!!!!  <3