SeaWorld - Ho!

We made it to SeaWorld!

We live a half hour away, but it's taken us a while to finally check it out. We originally were planning to go on Matthew's birthday, but it rained and Isaac was sick to boot. Boo! Jonathan suggested going on Thanksgiving since it was unlikely to be crowded that day. He was right. We got there and the parking lot was maybe 1/5 full. We walked right in and checked out the dolphins first thing.

The kids wanted to get a bit closer, so we shelled out only $12 for three tiny trays of sardines to feed the dolphins. Matthew and Melissa loved it. Unfortunately the dolphins and the kids were a bit too wiggly to get a good picture.

Here's the best out of a series of bad shots. :p


We saw the Shamu show and WOW was I impressed! Naturally I left the camera in the stroller parking, but it was amazing. The 3 whales leaped out into the air with their trainers standing on the end of their (snout?). They did flips, "danced" in circles, slapped water at the audience, and carried their trainers riding and standing at impressive speeds on their backs, fins, and snouts. It appeared that the trainers and the whales were having a blast out there together. Very fun to watch!

Matthew and Jonathan rode a splash rollercoaster together. Matthew begged to go on it and he just squeaked by the height requirement. It went up did a backwards dip, rotated frontwards again before racing to the bottom in a splash water fall. Jonathan said that Matthew was pretty whiteknuckled and he asked him at the end, "Did you like the ride?" Matthew hesitatingly responded yes. "Do you want to go again?" "No!" He did like the splash at the bottom, but once was enough! Melissa was insanely jealous that she didn't get to go to, but I think it was just as well.

Instead she rode some of the tamer rides.


Matthew up close and personal with the penguins. He asked a few questions and really enjoyed seeing the penguin up close.


One of the many pictures Matthew took of the penguins.

The aquariums were fun to visit too, and the shark tank was HUGE! There was something for everyone there, even play areas for Isaac. We'll be going back sometime since we purchased season tickets as a Christmas present. Maybe next time I can get some good pictures of the kids!