Sea World!

     Shad was very excited to get to Sea World and see the whales.  As I mentioned before he had seen several youtube videos and had some idea what it would be like.  Unfortunately, he is very sensitive to suspenseful music and the Orca show actually made him pretty nervous.  He still thought it was pretty cool, but was a little anxious.

Beautiful morning, it actually got hot watching this show.

Next we headed off to see the Otter show.  He LOVED that.  The Christmas themes made it especially fun and he loved that the otters and sea lions were silly.

Waiting for the show to start.  Maybe Bailey will go into Dentistry. . .

      He also really liked the dolphin show and watching the divers.  I didn't remember it being quite so  umm. . .theatrical, but it was right up Shad's alley.  After that we wandered around to the arctic exhibits, aquarium, and the pet show.  He really loved the pet show too of course.  We grabbed some dinner and stopped to see the Sea Lions.  I love that Dan doesn't hesitate to give our kids experiences.  I remember going to Sea World as a kid and my parents refusing to pay the few dollars to let us feed the dolphins ( you use to be able to do that) and being so disappointed.  One minute we were standing there and the next minute my husband was holding a container of fish and enthusiastically sharing a moment with Shad.  I am not sure which one thought it was more fun.

Feeding the Sea Lions

Shad loved how noisy they were.

 Next Dan and Shad went back to the Sea Lion show while Bailey ate and had some down time.  She was an ANGEL the entire day.  Considering she was either packed around in the Bjorn or the stroller for a solid eight hours I was amazed.

Enjoying a Rice Husk. . .  Thank you Santa!

     Next we went and saw the rays.  It was fun to see Shad get excited about them and we actually got to pet them quite a bit.  The last thing we really wanted to see was the Shamu Christmas show.  Since the whale shows had gotten busier throughout the day we really didn't want to miss it or get stuck in the very back.  We decided one of us would wait in line with Bailey and the other would wander with Shad.  Dan took the first turn with Bailey while Shad and I took off.
     We headed over to the under water viewing area of the Orcas.  It was perfect timing.  Everyone else was either in line, getting dinner, or watching the dolphin show.  There was literally about three other people down there and the whales were coming right up to the window.  It reminded me of the commercial with the whale coming right up to a little girl's face.  Shad loved it.  It was pretty awesome.  Sadly, I had left the camera with all of our other gear so I didn't get the incredible pictures I could have.  We just hung out watching for about twenty minutes though.  We then switched and Bailey and I hung out while Dan and Shad went and watched some more.
     Finally, it was time for the Shamu Christmas show.  I am so glad we stayed for this because the Christmas music was obviously not as intense or dramatic and Shad was in heaven!  It was so perfect for him and made me so glad we went when we did.  It was probably his second favorite part of the day after the sea lions.  Headed back to the car Shad was still super happy and excited.  I was so glad both kids did so well the whole day and we were able to have such a great time.

We had such a fun day!