Sunday, April 29, 2012

Spring Vacation: Day 3 (April 13, 2012)

If you've sensed the theme of this vacation is no rest for the weary, you'd be right.

We woke up early on Friday and headed down to Sea World!  Unfortunately, it was not a gorgeous day- quite drizzly...but we already bought the tickets and decided to make the best of it.

Now, we had a really nice day, but having been going to Sea World for over 20 years (since it opened!) I have to say: it isn't worth it in the spring.  There were only 3 shows: dolphin, orca, and pinniped.  Contrast to the summer when there is also water skiing, and then all the animals have a second night show, and then there is an "educational" show on the pinnipeds, it just seemed really expensive for a fairly short day.  So for us, a couple who has been there a lot- it was probably the most "meh" visit.  Maybe for kids, they don't see the difference.


It did drizzle all day, but I think that may have been a good thing.  The rain was  never bad- and there was never too much heat.  It was only chilly when we just got there.  So I think overall, a dreary day works for something like Sea World.
The best part of the day was definetly hanging out with C. and R. in a kid friendly place.  C. had a blast- though I'm not sure at the shows.  He loved the rides, and the kids play area.  The kids play area is built for up to 61", so I went up with him!  I'm only 60"!  That was SCARY!  I don't really like heights, and I would have been fine but there were some amazing bottlenecks in some of the hanging climbing elements.  I kept wondering what the max weight load was.  The problem:  there are signs everywhere that say "enter" and "exit".  The kids up there were mostly in the "I can't read yet" age group or the "I don't care to bother reading because I'm 7" age group.  Eek!   That said, it doesn't appear that anyone from Sea World was watching the area, so there weight limit must be massive.   I did have fun running around with C. on the giant Cargo nets too.

Kevin and Jill went on Sea World's two big roller coasters, but I got to go on a coaster too this time!  The Shamu Express with C.  We didn't pick our seats well, as Kevin got this fantastic picture of me on it :)  I promise C. is right next to me having a blast!

Other than playing with the kids, my favorite part of the day was watching the Sea Lions.  At one point, a pacifier got thrown in there, and the sea lion who found it was having a ball!  (They retrieved it pretty quickly- I think a ball can quickly switch to "choking", so they really aren't supposed to have it.)  I can't wait to go to the Galapagos!  My favorite small animal is the otter, and I love this picture.  Kevin took like a thousand pictures last time we went to Sea World, and since it drizzled all day (and he had done it before) he didn't take as many this time.)

The kids (and Kevin's parents) got tuckered out around 4:00, so that is when we headed home.  We caught a Shamu picture opportunity just before we left and then headed home.

That is when we finally got to go and meet V! We headed over to Kevin's brother's house and had a light dinner (thank you! This vacation was non-stop eating) of sandwiches and fruit salad and visited and played with the newest member of our family. She was such a doll, and totally worth 17 hours of driving!

 
  

When we got home for the evening, we packed for the cruise, and Kevin grouted the tiles he had laid, and then finally, after a very long day, we went to sleep!

1 comment:

Kristen said...

Look at that sweet baby! i'm glad you got to meet her.