Sea World

The first amusement park we hit was Sea World, San Diego. Lucky for us Anheiser-Busch recognizes military members by allowing the active duty military and their family into any one of their parks for free once a year. Last year we were able to go to Busch Gardens and Water Country, USA. This year we went to Sea World. Thank You Anheiser-Busch! We had a great time...well mostly (Jonathan was a bit tired) -- but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

Jonathan always takes time to smell the flowers, and that's exactly what kept him busy while we waited in line for 20 minutes to get in :)

Here we are waiting for the Shamu Show to start. Yes, we sat in the splash zone (a detail that the kids weren't so happy about). We were in about the 4th row and just to the right of the stage where the whales come up. Thanks to 2 ponchos and 1 towel, we stayed pretty dry, but the kids were NOT happy about getting wet or having to cover up for that matter. I long for the day when we can go and the kids beg us to sit in the splash zone with no protection -- just so we can get wet and enjoy the full experience.

These whales are amazing creatures. I envy the people that get to work and swim with them everyday.

So impressive that they can move that much weight with such grace.

They had a 4-D Sesame Street Show (the movie was 3-D, but your seat vibrated, the wind blew, bubbles fell, and we got sprayed with water). The kids once again were not too happy about the water part, but check out the stylin' glasses.

We fed the dolphins, and got to pet their heads. They feel kind of leathery or rubbery.

Clara said the dolphins were her favorite part of the day.

This is from the dolphin show. Clara liked it when the trainers asked the dolphins questions and the dolphins responded by shaking their heads 'yes' and 'no'. I insisted, once again, on sitting in the splash zone. Though I conceded to moving back to the 7th row (keeping in mind that the splash zone includes rows 1-16). It was a little trickier because they don't warn you before the dolphins splash you like they did in the whale show. The kids were still not pleased with getting wet, but Jonathan ended up falling asleep in my arms and getting a good 20 min nap as we watched the dolphins do their thing.

The polar bear had a plastic slide in with him. I'm not sure what he does with it, but I watched him carry it around his cage for about 20 minutes hoping to find out.

This is a pic of a simulated polar bear cave. When someone crawls in a motion sensor triggers a loud polar bear growl, which sent Clara running back out the first time she entered on her own. As a result, Chris and Jonathan crawled in to protect her.