Sea World

The next morning we got up, went downstairs to eat breakfast, and came back to pack everything up again! Good times! We've gotten pretty good at this considering all the loading and unloading we do during the holidays. It's quite ridiculous=/  The kids did great playing together while we packed. So sweet to see them actually playing together.

Natalie was super excited to get her picture taken with Shamu, but did tell us that, "Shamu doesn't walk!" Can't fool her.  She actually went back and hugged him another couple of times before we pulled her away. I love that she's not afraid of the characters.

After Shamu we headed over to the Wooded area and met one of Natalie's favorite book characters: Franklin! Isn't he the cutest? She just hugged and hugged him, too, but wouldn't speak to him. Joaquin didn't care=)

The Sesame Street Bay of Play was next. This part is seriously cool for kids. They really did it up right. There is a huge play area that consists of a series of nets, tubes and tunnels and right in the middle of it is a couple of splash pads!  It truly is a kid's paradise. The only downfall Brian and I saw was how quickly you could lose your kid in the nets and tubes.  NJ and JZ were too little for it this time around (thankfully).  What I loved was that they even thought of the little ones with a tiny splash area like this:

We came back to this area a couple different times to cool off and it worked out perfectly.  Then we caught the Sesame Street show and characters.

Cookie Monster was the absolute best! I plan on writing a letter to Sea World to compliment this character. Very interactive and fun. Disappointingly (not sure if that is a word, but I just used it anyway), we didn't get a pic with Elmo because you had to pay to do that! What?! So stupid. Thankfully, Natalie didn't make a big deal about it. Whew.

Cookie Monster stole Joaquin's bottle and pretended to drink it. Then he went to talk to him. JZ wasn't sure at first but then as you can see started to giggle! I don't know why but I just love the one of her in his lap. So precious!  Bert was pretty cool too. Natalie went up to hug him, and he bent down and immediately lifted her into his arms. Sweet.

As for the shows we were also very pleased. The ski show wasn't running which was disappointing but we really wouldn't have had time so it was fine.  We saw the Cannery Seal Show which was fantastic!  Natalie didn't catch all the funny antics but she was still entertained. Our favorite part was watching the Walrus do sit ups.

Natalie loved feeding the seals. She wasn't so sure about touching the fish at first, but once I did it she was good. Neither of us wanted to pick up the squid to feed though. Ick.

The dolphins were my favorite. There is just something majestic and beautiful about these creatures. Amazing! I wish we could have captured the one that swam in circles at 90 mph then leaped out of the pool So cool!

We were told by multiple people and workers that the Beluga Whale (Azul) show was the best, and for the life of me I could not figure out why. I mean, how much can a beluga whale do, right?!  For all of you wondering the same as me, wonder no more. The answer is.....not much. It was all about the people IN the show that did amazing leaps and flips from high boards and rafters that was so neat. The dolphins that did tricks and flips were incredible. Then there was the beluga whale. Beautiful creature. He danced with a lady and pushed her through the water using his nose, but that was really it.  It was a well put together show. Great music! Great tricks. But it's not about the whale=)

(Sorry the divers are hard to see to the left, but you get the idea)

Last but not least we ended the day with Shamu!

Unfortunately for the kids, they slept through the entire show and all the way back to the car where Natalie promptly awoke saying, "I wanted to see Shamu (insert loud wailing here)!"  I hated to end the adventure that way but we couldn't keep that girl awake to see it. Her head was bobbing and weaving. She.was.out.

And big boy was in my arms so I was about to kill over in pain so these are the only pics we got.

Pretty good pictures if I do say so myself!

The weekend ended by staying with some good friends from college. Melodi was so sweet to let Nat help her in the kitchen, read to her and let her fix her hair. Yep, you're ready for kids, Mel=) You will be a fantastic mommy!

I'll leave you with what the boys looked like most of the weekend.

No words needed.

I'd say our first family vacation went superb! Blessed and thankful!