Ocean Wide...

I have loved Sea World for as long as I can remember.  But, let's be real.  When we all piled out of the mini-van, today, I had a brief moment of panic in the parking lot.  The thought running through my head was, "I don't know how to do this without a stroller!"

I keep saying it.  This era of life is strange and sad and wonderful all at once.  There are no more babies (that's the sad), and yet there is a certain freedom in having kids who are growing up (that's the wonderful).  I was starkly reminded of this truth when no one... absolutely no one... cried when we met Shamu!  OK.  I can do this without a stroller:

So... some highlights from our day...

New experiences are always a welcome treat when your family has sort of mastered the art of Orlando vacationing.  Both Turtle Trek and Empire of the Penguins opened after our last Florida trip, and "Clyde and Seamore's  Sea Lion High" also recently made its debut.  We enjoyed all of these, although we do miss those pirates.  Grace decided to feed the sea lions after the show.  I was super proud of her.  I cannot touch dead fish.  She was amazing:

Experiences that are new for some and old for others are great, too!  It occurred to me, at some point, that Caleb had never ridden any really big coasters until today.  I'm not sure how fair it was to throw him on Kraken and Manta, but he loved them!  Miah also experienced her first roller coaster ever, The Shamu Express!  And here I have to admit that I am having a slightly embarrassing mom moment, because I have roller coaster pictures of everyone but Ian.  Don't worry.  He'll make some ride shots as the weeks go on:

And then there are the perennial favorites that keep us coming back, time and time again.  The first one on my list is petting the stingrays.  That was an adventure all its own this time around, because Miah was really interested.  Our other kids have not been quite as excited at this age.  We had a fabulous time:

Underwater viewing is always a big hit, too.  The best pictures I have are from the Manta aquarium, but the best experience, for me, was probably with the dolphins.  There is something about that exhibit that takes me back to trips of years past... and here I go, feeling all sentimental again...  There might have been a few tears.

It wouldn't be our trip if there weren't some snags along the way, so I guess you probably don't want to know about how we didn't ride Journey to Atlantis, because they wouldn't let us on without our shoes, or about how Ian had the nosebleed to end all nosebleeds while viewing New Horizons, resulting in some barrier crossing and a first aid guy and clean up crew who were exceptionally nice, if far more thorough than this "suck it up" Mom.  You don't want to know, but you do, because as these kind people were providing Ian with gauze and ice packs, I was taking pictures and Ian was saying, "Mom, you're not going to blog about this, are you?"  We had a good laugh over that one.  It still wasn't as bad as when he fell off the bleachers at the Shamu show when he was almost two:

We're heading back later in the week, because Sea World is a two day park for us.  Stay tuned.

L.

P.S.  I wonder how many people sat on balconies in Orlando, tonight, and watched the Hallow-Wishes fireworks show set to the Imperial March...  Oh, wait.  That was just us?

P.P.S.  Oh yes, the all day dining deal.  If you have to pay for it, don't do it!  It came free with our package, so, you know, it was food.  It was more food than we needed, and because I just can't deal with waste, we now have more chicken and fries in the hotel refrigerator than I really want to admit.

Pictures Taken Today: 282 (That's Better)!