San Antonio - Day 2

We woke up Friday morning ready for a big day at Sea World. Before we headed to the park, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast where Julia was terribly uncooperative. She absolutely, positively would NOT sit at the table. After taking turns with Julia in the gift shop while the other ate breakfast, we were finally on our way to Sea World hoping that the rest of the day would go much smoother. Surprisingly, it did, despite the fact that Julia did not take a nap. For anyone who plans on making a trip to Sea World with your little ones, I highly recommend taking your own stroller. We made the mistake of renting one at the park, which turned out to be terribly uncomfortable for Julia. We basically carried her the whole day, which I didn't mind too much, but she does get quite heavy after a while.

We started the day at the Dolphin Cove where you get up close and personal with bottlenose dolphins. You get to lean right over the tank of dolphins. The water is pretty shallow and the dolphins almost come close enough to touch.

Next was the indoor aquarium (forgive me, I don't remember the official Sea World name for it.) The pictures we took in here didn't come out very well, but Julia had a great time inside the aquarium. She was able to get close to the glass and experience the underwater exhibit. The fish in the pictures are teeny tiny, but they also had sting rays, sharks, jelly fish, eels, coral reefs, etc, so it was definitely more impressive than the pictures would suggest.

Julia would just squeal with delight when a fish came close to her.
Then we headed on over to to the Beluga Theater to see the dolphin & acrobat show. I have always had mixed feelings about zoos, circuses, etc because I feel like wild animals should not be kept in captivity, but without them we wouldn't get to experience these amazing animals in real life. Being able to have the opportunity to see these animals in an environment like Sea World makes the experience so much more memorable and amazing that just watching them on TV or reading about them in a book.

I knew the kids would be in awe at the sight of the animals, but I have to admit, that I had a difficult time containing myself each time one of the animals jumped out of the water. What amazing power they have.

It wasn't just the dolphins that made the show incredible. The show also had professional high divers and synchronized swimmers that performed alongside the acrobats of the sea. They would dive into the water from the rafters of the building, performing flips and twirls with ease before plunging into the water without the faintest splash. Amazing athletes.

The acrobats scared Julia a little bit because I think she thought that the people were falling. She did enjoy the Butterfly Lady that floated above the pool, occasionally dipping into the water. It was a beautiful image.

Jordan posing with one of the acrobats after the show.

We wanted to make sure we saw all the shows first before wasting spending any time at the water and amusement parks. Of course, we had to pass ride after ride on our walk to the Killer Whale show, and Jordan pouted and whined asked us politely if we could skip the shows and go to the amusement park. I had to snap a picture of Jordan looking angrily at me longingly at the water rides so that you too could enjoy the look of disappointment from a child that had to spend almost the 'whole day' at Sea World looking at. . .uh. . . sea animals. Imagine that.

Well, sometimes wishes really do come true. The Shamu show was too crowded, so Keith took Jordan to the amusement park while Julia and I strolled through the gift shops. I wish I had been able to see Jordan's face on the rollercoasters, but we will just have to imagine what that was like for him.

Julia loved the Shamu stuffed animals and I had to get her picture with one of the displays. I wanted to set her right in the middle of the display and take her picture but I was too afraid that she would tumble off, so we just took a picture of her standing in front of it. Rest assured, Daddy ended up buying sweet Julia one of these Shamu dolls to take home with her!
And then we had a quick chocolate milk break while we waited for the next Shamu show. This was Julia's first taste of chocolate milk. Yum!

We finally made it to the show we had been waiting for all day - Shamu!! What breathtaking displays of power and beauty.
So cool. Wouldn't you just love to do that??

Jordan is sitting on the front row right in front of the spot where Shamu is in this picture. He didn't want to sit with us because he thought we were sitting too far away from the tank and he wanted to be close enough to get splashed. And "did he get splashed?" you ask. He was drenched from head to toe!

SPLASH!!

How can something so enormous be so graceful?

Julia was very tired at this point in the day because she didn't take her afternoon nap. But she still enjoyed watching Shamu!


Julia stops to smell the flowers!

And the moment we have all been waiting for . . . . well, at least the moment JORDAN had been waiting for . . . . . the WATER PARK!! The frigid water in the wave pool gave him quite a chill. He was able to get a new beach towel out of the deal.

And one last look at the dolphins before we head out for the day. Look at Julia leaning as far over the wall to get a closer look at the dolphins.

What an incredible day! Boy, am I exhausted. Time for a nap!