Vacation - Day #3 - Sea World

We got up and ate breakfast and headed to Sea World! When we got there, the girls started begging to go swimming. They didn't want to see the sharks or Shamu or do ANYTHING before swimming! We went ahead and rented a stroller and headed to the water park. We hadn't planned on spending much time at the water park, as people had told us it wasn't that great. It wasn't as big as White Water, but it was definitely bigger than the Springdale Aquatic Center. It ended up being perfect for them! There was plenty for them to do, but not so much it was overwhelming! We were at the water park until 2:00, and then we ate lunch over there, too. There was a performance while we were eating. It was pretty cheesy, but it was for kids, and kids loved it. They invited kids up to sing/dance in front of the stage. Ryan & I were both surprised when #1 jumped out of her chair and ran up there! That isn't like her...she usually stays back and watches to see what other kids do and then decides if she wants to join in. #2 was a little more cautious. She ran up to check out what her sis was doing, and than ran back to her seat. After a little while, she ran up there again and danced for a minute and then came back to the table. It was so cute to see them up there! Ryan got a great picture of #1 that really captures how much fun she was having!

For some reason that Ryan and I still cannot figure out, the girls kept fighting over the seat on the left, that #1 is sitting in. They would race back to the stroller and try to be the first one there to claim that seat. They did that both days we were there. We are still clueless as to what was so great about that side.

The "cheesy" show...when the boy came out on stage (he is at the far left in the picture above) and started the show, Ryan and I looked at each other and said "I hope they pay him well! You couldn't pay me enough to do that!"
#1 having fun dancing by the stage...#2 checking it out to see what is so great about it.

#1 getting her picture taken with some of the characters. #2 wouldn't go up there with her.

At 3:15, we FINALLY saw a show. It was called Waggin' Tales and had all sorts of animals in it...dogs, cats, birds, a kangaroo, a skunk, a pig, ducks, and a shetland pony. It was pretty cute. The animals all did different tricks. The girls got to pet one of the dogs at the end of the show.

We head off to see Shamu and on the way we heard the girls saying something, but couldn't make it out. We listed really hard and then had to tape them! #1 must have made up the chant and #2 picked up on it! I don't know why Ryan felt the need to rotate the camera...he said he wanted to get me in the video, too. I don't know why....sorry!

We stopped to look at the flamingos on our way....the girls thought they were pretty neat.

These 2 pictures (above & below) crack me up! We got some ice cream on our way to the Shamu theater. All three of us were eating our ice cream (above) and then we were all focused on the same thing (below). It just reminded me of a "like mother, like daughter" moment. Ryan always says "They are just like you!" For the first time, he has a picture to prove it!

We finally got to see Shamu! We had seats that were really close...4 rows back from the platform that the lady is on (below). I was kind of disappointed in the show. They had too much "story" with it and not as much information. The last time I was there, they talked about how they teach the whales and showed us what the different hand signals meant, etc. This time just seemed kind of "choppy" and random. They had a video playing on a big screen, so you were watching that and then it would stop and you had to look back to the water to find the whale. It was a lot of back and forth between the water and the screen. They did have some cool tricks. #1 was pretty bummed that we didn't get splashed. We sat in the splash zone, but didn't get wet.

It was pretty cool seeing the trainers ride on the nose of the whale! You can tell from these pictures that the park wasn't very crowded. We decided that early in the week, and early June, is a great time to go to Sea World! The crowds are pretty thin on Monday-Wednesday and then start picking up Thursday-Sunday. We didn't have problems finding seats at any of the shows, and most of them were only 20% full.

After Shamu, we saw the water skiing show. It was my favorite. Here is a picture of the 12 person pyramid. They ski-ed (sp?) like this all around the lake, so they were able to hold the position for a long time. #1 had her picture taken with some of the girls that were skiing. We tried to get #2 in it, but she didn't want to.

#1 was bummed that she didn't get wet in Shamu or in the water ski show (they have jet skis that come by and purposely spray people). We were on the front row at the ski show, just not centered good enough! We went over to a platform by one of the water rides and let her get soaked! I got a picture before the boat came, and one before the tidal wave hit. She LOVED it! #2 didn't think that was much fun. I think that #1 ended up getting splashed 4 times! She had to wait for the ride each time, but was having so much fun, she didn't mind to wait.

On our way to see the sharks, we found the dolphin cove. It was late in the day, so you couldn't feed the dolphins anymore, but you could still try and get them to come to you. #1 wanted to touch one SO BAD!!! We never could get them to come over to us. There was a 9 day old dolphin in the pool. I don't think we got a good picture of it, but it was so small! Relatively speaking...

BELOW - We looked at the aquariums in the shark area. #2 kept pretending to grab the fish as they swam by. Then she would pretend to eat them. She would make a noise - similar to Cookie Monster eating cookies - and then say "I eat them up!" She had a great time doing that! Still don't know why...but it if kept her entertained, it was okay with us.

We had reservations at a Residence Inn, but after our first night there, we checked out and decided to find something else. It was just kind of run down and didn't feel very clean to me. When we got to Sea World, we saw a van for a Radisson hotel. It was dropping people off at the entrance to the park. They didn't have to pay $12 to park and then hike to the park...it sounded great to us! We got a business card from the driver and called later to see if they had any rooms. I went in to see a room and scope it out before we decided for sure to stay there. It was SO NICE! Then we found out that they have a big courtyard area that has fire pits in it. Every night, they sell smores kits and you can roast marshmallows in the fire pits! And after being totally ripped off at Sea World all day (a bottle of water for $3, a bowl of strawberries for $5, etc) we were pleasantly surprised that the smores kits were reasonably priced. We bought a couple of them and had smores! At dark, they also showed movies on the side of the hotel. Our room had a balcony (only one story up) that faced the movie, so the girls got to go out and sit on the balcony and watch Antz. We were really happy with the hotel and would definitely stay there again when/if we go back. If anyone is planning a trip down there, let me know and I'll give you the info for that hotel. Here are some pictures of the mess from the Smores...but it was worth it! #2 didn't want to have her picture taken, but I took it anyway!