News flash! I’m finally posting about our trip to Sea World! Pics and fun stories to follow!

Like how we went not wanting to get too wet and then we got rained on:

Yes, we got rained on at Sea World. But that’s not all there is to tell…

Sea World-alicous!

When we went to visit my mom a few weeks ago, we took a day trip and she treated the kids and I to a day at Sea World. It was so. much. fun. The kids had a blast and I was glad I got to share it with them.

The first thing we did was feed the dolphins – Of course!

I had heard a lot about feeding and petting the dolphins so that was definitely on my want-to-do list. We got there just before a feeding time so it was the very first thing we did. My mom sprung for a couple of trays of fish (Ouch! Side note, if you can, get a Season Pass, it makes everything inside a little cheaper) and the kids took turns feeding the dolphins.

I like how the dolphins always look like they’re smiling. 🙂

The kids toured the aquariums in wide-eyed wonder.

The low light made it hard to take nice pictures, but we actually ended up with some really good ones. Of course, the best pictures have full face views and wide smiles and grins. 😉 Here are some of the I can show you (click on the pictures to see them in bigger detail).

The kids with my mom:

The things we liked:

We thought the manta Rays were cool because they look like they have mustaches. Of course, sharks are always impressive. This was the only good picture we got of the sharks since they moved so fast and the shutter was on a slower speed for the lower light. The poisonous frogs (3rd picture) from the Amazon or something, looked like little plastic frogs from the Dollar Store until they moved – wild! And at the end, shrimp. Bright NAIL POLISH RED shrimp.

Yes, I let my daughter climb on the ledge of the aquarium next to it to see the red shrimp.

I’m classy that way.

And then we went to see the-WAIT… The Clydesdales?

I guess Anheuser Busch is a sponsor of Sea World, so they had Clydesdales. I’ve always enjoyed looking at Clydesdales. They’re so big and majestic and pretty and.. BIG. I mean, SERIOUSLY BIG. Know what this is?

It’s a picture of one of their horseshoes compared to the size of MY HAND. Remind me to not ever let a Clydesdale step on my hand, okay y’all?

And then it was time for the Kiddie Rides! Yahoo!

The kiddos rode in a spinning teacup type ride that looked like giant paintbuckets and then an Easter egg sideways Ferris Wheel type thing. They had a blast! Little Prince got to ride with an adult, so my mom rode on the ferris wheel with him and I rode on the spinning one – which should prove my love for my children and win me some kind of award because I. do. not. like. spinning. I’ll take my Best Mom certificate now, thank you. 😉

Possibly our favorite thing was a show called, “Viva.” (During which it began raining.)

Viva is like a cross between water ballet, cirque du soleil and it has dolphins and a beluga whale, too. The music was entertaining and intriguing. They had people diving from the rafters. At the end they had people swinging on wires. So cool.

It was during this show that the misting and sprinkling turned into a real rain. Not pouring, just more than a sprinkle. Nonetheless, we carried on and went to the next show.

Little Prince’s favorite show was without a doubt, “The Sea Lions! And the Walrus!” Or as it was actually called, “Cannery Row.”

Cannery Row was a lot of fun, too. Set in a 40-ish, Dick Tracy-ish, mystery whodunnit kinda feel.. this show featured a pair of sea lions, a walrus and an otter that kept appearing and running off with people’s hats, scarves and other small objects when they weren’t looking. Little Prince was riveted and really enjoyed it at the end when the walrus did “situps” to work off the weight from all the fish he ate. The whole rest of the day (and the next day and the next day and still today) he kept asking to go back and see. “The SEA LIONS! And the WALRUS!!” So when we go back in October (since we have a season pass and want to make good use of it) we’ll definitely be visiting the sea lion show again. You’d better believe it.

And it kept raining.

While we were watching the Sea Lions the rain picked up even more. The stroller (which was parked with the other strollers near the entrance) got pretty soaked. The girls and my mom had been walking under my mom’s oversized umbrella during all the raining, and Little Prince was partially protected by the stroller canopy – but when he wasn’t sitting in it, the seat got pretty wet. Of course, I was getting wet, too, but I didn’t mind too much. But since the rain picked up and seemed to be continuing on, my mom bought us all plastic ponchos at the gift shop when we were done watching the sea lions.

Of course, then it stopped raining.

For good.

So we folded and saved the ponchos for next time – we can sit right at the front in the splash zone! Hehe.

And of course, we saw Shamu – because I thought I would have gotten picked on if we didn’t.

We were sitting at the very top most of the time, so we didn’t get the best pictures, but these two are a’ight. Near the end when they started splashing each section the kids and I moved to the very back of the splash section. We got “sprinkled” on but not soaked, which was good because we were almost done for the day and had already had our share of being wet.

The Shamu show, called Believe, was pretty good – mainly because they are SO big. But I was disappointed that none of them got in the water and swam with them/did tricks with them, etc. One swam from one side to the other side of the pool, but all the tricks were directed from the side of the pool. There was also a good amount of hype about it being Shamu (as to be expected) and a lot of fuzzy gooeyness about believing in your dream. Not that I don’t agree with believing in your dreams – but I was there to see to see a guy come shooting up outta the water on Shamu’s nose. I’m just sayin’.

Just the same, it wasn’t a bad show and the kids really liked it.

And then there was the roller coaster.

The last thing on our To Do list was a certain roller coaster ride that Princess had set her sights on at the very beginning. When we got there we measured her next to the height chart to see what she could ride. She looked at the map and saw one that said “Journey to Atlantis” and indicated that it involved water.

“That one,” she said. “I want THAT one.”

Mind you she has never been on a roller coaster before.

And she has pretty much never been brave enough to do… anything requiring bravery.

Still, sight unseen, she picked that one. When it rained they shut all the roller coasters down, so we thought we weren’t going to be able to ride it. But by the time we walked back around the big circle of Sea World it was open again. At first she was excited when she saw that it was up ahead. Then as we got closer – “Wow. I didn’t know it was going to be…THAT big…”

Believe it or not she stuck to her guns and got on it anyway, along with Drama Queen and my mom (who earned her Bestest Ever medal that day, also – because she really doesn’t like roller coasters..) while I stayed behind with Little Prince who was too short to ride. I set up a good spot to get a picture and waited. I caught sight of them several times while they were in line and they waved. When it was their turn they actually got on – NO ONE CHICKENED OUT. And then it was past the point of no return.

Though I hear tell that Princess said, “I want off when the roller coaster climbed to the top of the “peak.” Fortunately for her, it was a short ride. It takes you a hundred feet to the top, turns you around, send you backward through a little dip, turns around, and then lets you slide down the big hill with water at the bottom to crash through and slow you down.

The picture that my mom bought from the park store says it all.

T.E.R.R.O.R. Poor thing. My mom was “holding her glasses” – uh huh. Drama Queen was staring adventure straight in the face and soaking it all in, and Princess was sorry she’d gotten on in the first place!

My mom said that when it was over, Drama Queen said, “I want to do that again.” To which Princess replied, “I NEVER want to do that again.” But she survived it and I’m proud of her.

And then it was time to go home.

We realized that it was rush hour in San Antonio so we sat down with some soft pretzels and watched Viva again because it was just. that. good. But when it was over we slowly made our way back to the car. Drama Queen, who is usually an endless source of energy was so tired she was lagging behind. In fact, they all fell asleep in the car. Before we were even out of the park.

Now that’s tired.

They also slept well all. night. long.

They really had a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to going back in October. There were several things we didn’t get to do or see. And a few things we’d like to see again. Besides, as I mentioned, my mom bought us season passes (which again, I highly recommend if there’s any chance you’ll be able to go at least twice in one season.) So what kind of daughter would I be to turn down a second trip when she went to all that trouble? 😉

And by the way — THANKS, MOM! You’re the bestest!