SD Day 3--Sea World

We were up early (in vacation standards) to get ready for our day at Sea World! We had some cheerios and fruit in our room for breakfast and made sure we had our hats and sunscreen. When Mark and Chanelle were ready we drove the short distance to Sea World!

As should be expected with a large group, it was a bit chaotic at first to find everyone and get together. We quickly found something to do though with Dennis, Mary Kaye, and Steph. We ended up at the dolphin show and loved it! Rylan and Asher wanted to sit up in the 'Soak Zone' seats so I took them up closer. It was so hot I was willing to get splashed to cool down! The dolphins were fun and cute and the whole show was entertaining. The boys were excited and loved it. Rylan was pretty disappointed though because we did not get soaked! We certainly got splashed but not soaked. I thought it was perfect :)

After the dolphin show we raced over to the Shamu show to meet up with the rest of the fam. Steph held Tyce who quickly fell asleep. This show was okay, but not near as entertaining as the dolphins.Then we all visited the aquarium where the boys got to pet and hold sea stars--cool! Inside there were some sea turtles that Asher loved!

I'm not sure what this was a picture of but isn't he so cute! Hand in his pocket...

The other half of the family went to see the dolphin show so we took the boys over to the Sesame Street part to ride some rides. Mark, Chanelle, and Steph came along with us and rode rides with the boys. I think they forgot the rides were for kids :)

There were no lines for these kiddie rides so the boys got to ride all of them in the short amount of time we had. NICE!

Good thing we don't get embarrassed easily!! But really, Marks' bright pink shirt was helpful since it was so easy to find him. I quickly found the family in the Shamu show after walking in late...because of that shirt!

Tyce was a trooper! Just about the only thing he could do was sit in his stroller! I tried to keep him cool with any shade we could hunt down (it was hard to find) and lots of water. He really is such a good, good baby!

Our Sea World crew! Having those three with us sure made our day fun...and the boys loved having them with us too, of course!!

Sometime during the day we ate lunch (blah) and a good portion of the family went on a ride where they got super wet. Kev took Rylan while I waited with Asher, Tyce, and some other family. Kevin worried about wet shoes before we even left our hotel. He brought along some plastic grocery sacks and tied them around his shoes! Ha Ha! He got teased for that but he was grateful to have dry shoes at the end of the ride!! Mark and Angela bought us some yummy frozen lemonade, I let Tyce crawl around on the ground (he was super dirty but he was having fun!), we chatted, and refilled our water bottles.

Early in the day Asher asked me when he was going to get to see the polar bears. Not knowing Sea World very well I told him they didn't have polar bears. But there are lots of other animals for us to see! He asked several times and I gave him the same answer. He put me in my place after we went to the Arctic portion and sure enough, there were polar bears! Asher said to me "See mom, I was right and you were wrong"!! 

The polar bears weren't out when we first got there but our patience paid off. Asher was thrilled! Dare I say it was his favorite part of the day?! I thought it was very cute to see his excitement!

See the polar bear?

Part of the polar bear is covered by the brim on Ry's hat

We then went to the 'Pet's Rule' show which was also very cute! Dogs, cats, a pig, and even a kangaroo were a part of this show. Again, Asher loved it (he's an animal guy)! It really was a good show. Next it was time to ride 'Atlantis'. Angie and Steph offered to take Asher and Tyce to see the penguins while Kev, Ry, and I went on the ride. How nice! Angie told me that Asher requested to see the polar bears again but she suggested seeing something they hadn't seen. He agreed to that. She said Tyce got very excited watching the penguins, kicking his legs and clapping his hands. Cute! For a second I was sad I missed it :) While waiting in line for Atlantis I had a little talk with Ry. Occasionally he will ask why he has to be the oldest. "I want Asher to be the oldest." I've tried to find out what it is about being the oldest that he doesn't like, but I really try to point out reasons why he's lucky to be the oldest. So I had to take the opportunity to point out how lucky he was to be able to ride the rides at Sea World and how Asher wasn't able to ride the big rides. He smiled his shy smile and hugged my leg. He's such a sweet boy--and I glad he's the oldest!

Most the family left at this point (or had already gone) but some of us stayed for one more ride. Ry was too short so I waited with all three boys while Kev went with Mark, Chanelle, and some of the Vostis. We finished off all our water and snacks and looked on every ride for Mark's pink shirt so we'd know where they were! Right there by the ride they have a seat for overweight people to sit in to make sure they will fit on the ride. If there's a green light, they are good to go. If it's red they are not allowed to ride. So sad. I saw two ladies test it out and they were clearly very embarrassed. The first lady got the red light but her husband and kids talked her into trying it again while they pushed down on the bar until they got the green light. The second lady got the red light and sadly waved to her family to go ahead and ride. Oh, it really was heartbreaking and I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

After our fun day at Sea World we went back to the hotel for a yummy spaghetti dinner prepared again by Angie. I always love spaghetti! I remember my mom saying one time how she felt like she spent all her time in the kitchen for our cabin vacations and she didn't want to do that. Well, I don't blame her! I didn't want Angie to feel that way so we worked it out that the pancake breakfast the next morning would be prepared by me and Aubrey--perfect!

That night we took a ferry ride across the bay. It was late and after a long day, it wasn't surprising that most of the little kids fell asleep! I was glad our boys were all ready for bed so we could just tuck them in when we got back. It was another fun day!!

I think the ferry was honking it's horn. Rylan is not a fan of loud noises!!

Gabe and Asher--two cuties!!