Our Yearly Sea World Trip Comes Again!

As previously mentioned, once a year active duty military can get into Sea World for free. July 3rd was the day we decided to use our 2013 freebie for Sea World. We managed to leave by about 8 AM, but since its a really long drive we got there around 11 AM. A family friend of ours Chris Dingwall (also military and works with Matt in radiology) had never been to Sea World so we dragged him along with us. Our boys were super excited to get to Sea World and it was painful to get them to pose for the initial photo before going into Sea World. In fact, Miles point blank refused to turn around so all you can see is the back of his head.

We first stopped off at the Dolphins and were disappointed to learn they no longer do feeding times. Apparently now you have to pay to go with a trainer for ten minutes to interact and feed the dolphins. Slots are limited and by the time we got there they were sold out for the day. Not that I'm sure I would have been willing to pay twelve dollars a person to feed the dolphins. Next we went to the shark tank which was a favorite of all the boys.

One of our favorite moments at Sea World was feeding the sea lions. There were two brand new little sea lion pups which were adorable, and in our tray of fish were several squid which was sort of awesome. Ian went to town feeding them although he was quite hesitant to pick up the squid.

Liam didn't care for the texture of the fish, but he overcame it in his burning desire to feed the sea lions.

Miles wanted to feed the sea lions but point blank refused to touch the fish. So Matt held him and fed the sea lions for him; that compromise seemed to work well.

I loved the sea lion area. The sea lions were playful, cute, and seemed to enjoy the extra food. We swung by the otters which were so cute I wanted to take one home. Matt refused. Miles loved the otters and kept squeaking out "Mommy it's the baby otter!". It should be noted that none of the otters were actually babies, but they were to Miles.

We ran over to the Azul dolphin and beluga whale show next. Since we got there a few minutes after it started we didn't snap any pictures, but the boys loved it. One of the funnier moments was after they released a flock of parrots; one of the parrots got lost from the group, flew around randomly, and then settled down in a tree on the opposite side of the arena from where his trainer was. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I thought it was funny.

Next we went to the Shamu show. We did notice that it seemed silly to call all four killer whales Shamu. Technically the youngest is called "baby Shamu", but the other three? Nonethless the kids really enjoyed that show.

The empty space in the middle between the older boys and Matt is where I sat. This way I could maneuver back and forth between which group of small children needed me the most at any given point at time. You'll notice that we once again bought some drinks. Our tradition at Sea World has been that we buy two drinks in their expensive cups because then you get free water refills or ninety-nine cent soda refills.

We also spent quite some time playing in the splash pad area of the Sesame Street bay of play. This was somewhat marred by the fact that Ian and Miles hate getting water in their eyes. Overall the kids loved it. I  took Liam on the Journey to Atlantis ride and then Matt took him on the Rio Loco. Matt isn't a fan of roller coasters so while the kids were busy, Dingwall and I snuck off and hit the Steel Eel and the Great White (both of which are truly terrifying and therefore totally awesome roller coasters).

We did get a funnel cake which Ian loved, and Liam loved the powdered sugar part of. I finally had to put my foot down and let him know that he couldn't just keep finger swiping it all off.

Around five in the evening Miles finally passed out. He usually naps around noon so I'm pretty impressed he made it this long before succumbing to Morpheus. We swung by the penguin house, which is possibly the worst smelling place on earth (imagine the reptile house with decaying fish). Then after seeing the penguins we headed back for one last play at the Sesame Bay of Play. Here we came across the whole troop of Sesame Street characters. Miles began shouting for Cookie Monster (his favorite). Sadly this time he'd outgrown his previous willingness to snuggle up to him. Miles was desperate to be near Cookie Monster, but refused to touch him. We did manage to get a picture with though.

We swung over for the final Shamu show this one was at 8PM and featured a rock and roll theme. It was pretty fun. I enjoyed Ian singing along with Queen's "We will rocket you", and Miles just singing "We will we will" over and over again. Ian did asked very concerned what happened to the baby shamu (who was not featured in this performance). I told him it was Shamu's bed time. After the show we swung by a suvenir shop for the promised inexpensive toy for each boy. Ian and Liam picked out a tube of mini sharks, and Miles eagerly picked out a very white and fluffy baby seal stuffed animal. We stopped by the Cheese Cake Factory for a really late dinner on the way home. By the time we finished dinner it was 10:30 PM and by the time we got home it was 1:00 AM. All the boys had slept the entire way home, which was a bonus. Sadly they all woke up at 7 AM the following morning. Once again Sea World was amazing and has become
a poignant place for our little family.