Vacation: Part 2 (Sea World-The First Day)

We have been so excited to take Andrew to Sea World. He loves animals so much and we couldn't wait to see how he would react to all of the different animals. A few weeks before we left we told Andrew that we were going to Sea World and the Beach. He was also very excited to go. We got up Monday morning and began getting ready for our big day at Sea World. We got to the park around 11am. We took a few minutes to decide what things we really wanted to do and what shows we really wanted to see on our first day there. We knew that we would be going one more time so we didn't want to rush to see everything in one day.

First we went to see the dolphins interact with their trainers.

We then headed over to Shipwreck Rapids, but on the way we stopped to see/touch the Bat Rays and Eels. Andrew said he wanted to touch them, but didn't when he had the chance. They felt really cool.Next to the Shipwreck Rapids there is a tide pool where you can touch star fish and other creatures. Andrew was a bit nervous at first, but he did touch the star fish. We found out a little later that you are supposed to leave the starfish in the water so they can breathe. Hopefully we didn't kill any of them.Nicole and I wanted to ride the Shipwreck Rapids, so my mom stayed with our kids at the tide pool while we went and got soaked on the ride. Colin did not like the ride, so he stayed with us while my mom went on the ride with everyone else. Andrew wanted to shoot them with the water so we let him.Julianne, Dad, Carolee, Malerie, and Kaity went on the ride like six times. They got really wet! This was my favorite picture of them getting wet.Andrew also enjoyed seeing the sea turtles and their babies, the sharks, and most of all "Shamu, Shamu."

We took Andrew to see "Believe." Mamawh wanted a picture of Andrew seeing a whale for the first time...this is it.It was Rory's first time seeing a whale too, but she wasn't as interested in the whales as Andrew was.I love Orcas and I absolutely loved watching Andrew. It was a great experience. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Sorry there are so many pictures, but I told you that I really love them.

Next we went to see one of the aquariums while Andrew took a nap in the stroller. Rory loved it!

She saw Nemo, Dory, a Lionfish, and my dinner.

The next show we went to was the dolphin show. Andrew is so cute when you ask him what a dolphin says. Here are some of the best pics.

One of the cool things about the dolphin show is that they have a family from the crowd work with the dolphins. A member of the family (this time the mom) is actually a dolphin trainer who during the show falls into the water and then rides a dolphin and does some other stuff.After the dolphin show we were headed to the Sesame Street Bay of Play and decided to stop and feed the sea lions. They were HUNGRY! Some of them were trying to climb the walls to get to the fish we were feeding them.

We then continued on to the Bay of Play. There are several rides there, all of which are spinning type rides. I don't do those, but Nicole loves them. So she went on Abby's Sea Star Spin first. She took Andrew on Elmo's Flying Fish. And then she finished off with Oscar's Rocking Eel. My niece Kaity also went on all these rides, but they didn't sit too well with her. After playing in the Bay of Play we went to eat dinner. Kaity ended up throwing up in the parking lot of Sea World. Shortly after that we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel, but not before we let Andrew get a souvenir. He chose a tube full of little rubber sea creatures. He loves animals! We still had some things that we wanted to see at Sea World, but you'll hear all about that in the Second Day blog.