Seaworld

On Monday and Tuesday Matt and I took the kids and my brother Kaleb to Seaworld. We have been able to take my brother Zach and Kaleb to Seaworld before to swim with the Beluga whales and were very excited about taking the kids for the first time. The temperature was blazing! It was over 100 both days. All in all the kids did amazingly well. The park was not really very crowded so we didn't have to wait to see the shows or ride the rides for very long.

All sunblocked up and ready to go.

Holding hands, our solution to them fighting over the armrest in the middle...

Day 1 was pretty packed. We stopped by the dolphins but it was not yet feeding time so we just visited for a little bit. Then we saw the Shamu show which Asher absolutely loved. She was looking with such big eyes in awe of the huge whales jumping out of the water. Kaleb decided to sit in the splash zone and was soaked! It was hot but at least in the shade and the frozen lemonade and caramel corn helped make the kids happy.

Looking at the dolphins for the first time.

My sweaty family watching the show.

If you look closely you can see the trainer standing on the tip of Shamu's nose. After that trick Aidan asked me if I got a picture of that one.

We also fed the dolphins which was one of the best parts of the trip. In the process of Matt playing with/feeding the dolphin, one was a little excited and was trying to (playfully?) bite him. It was pretty entertaining for Aidan!

Feeding and petting time... I wish Aidan's arms were a little longer so he could have touched the dolphins.

Uncle Kaleb petting the dolphins

I took Aidan on his first roller coaster, the little kids Shamu coaster. He DID NOT want to go on it, but we got him on it and he held on tight the whole time. Day 2, however, he WANTED to go on it and had a great time.

Shamu coaster first time around - not too fun for Aidan...

The kids played in this splash zone area with Matt while Kaleb and I went on a water ride and then stood on the side next to it and got soaked as the ride went past. We went back over to the splash area and had fun with the kids. This is where Matt earned Daddy of the year by changing one of the worst poopy diapers ever! That is a story in itself...

Can you tell they are related?

Water buddies

Kaleb and I also went on the Steel Eel Roller coaster. I think that the roller coasters were one of Kaleb's favorites. We took him on his first ever roller coaster, the same one, a few years back. That was neat to be able to ride together again.

We also visited the penguins, sharks, fish tanks, and otters. Both of the kids really loved the sharks, and Matt and I loved these weird fish with red eyes. They just stayed in one place and didn't even move around. Maybe they were Twilight vampire fish! Kaleb like the piranhas.

Looking at the fishies...

My boys standing in front of the shark tank (that didn't show up...)

The sharks were very cool to look at.

We also fed the sea lions. Aidan thought the squid were interesting and Daddy and him talked a little bit about how people actually eat squid too but not quite like this. He said feeding the sea lions was his favorite part of the trip.

Kaleb and the squid - sea lion food.

Aidan feeding the sea lions.

At about 5:30 we headed over to the water park not really knowing when they closed or even what time it was when we went over there. Well, the water park closed at 6, so we rushed in a couple of rounds in the wave pool, which turns out to be one of Aidan's favorite things! His face just lit up and him and Kaleb had a blast cooling off and playing in the waves. It was a bummer that we had to leave after having so much fun!

We headed back to the hotel after walking around a little bit more and had a fun time there too. Dinner was Papa Johns, then off to the hotel pool for the boys and bath and bed for the girls. Asher did pretty well in the pack and play, which we were worried about since she doesn't sleep in bed with us and sleeps in her room every night. We weren't sure how it would work out with her being in the same room as us. When I first layed her down she was scared and really cried hard. I tried to hide by the door to let her cry it out a little like we do at home, but that WAS NOT working. Then I figured out she needed to see me to be settled, so I layed on the end of the bed right by her and eventually she fell asleep. A few times during the night she woke up and I layed her right on top of me and cuddled with her to calm her. I love moments like that because at home that would never happen. We both did get some sleep and the boys seemed to be pretty tired after a long night of swimming and slept well too.

Sound asleep...

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel which was really good. We didn't rush and got to the park around 11. For day 2 we didn't have much on the agenda except for a pirate show, roller coaster number 2, and the water park.

Ready to leave the hotel and begin day 2.

The pirate 4D show was a bust. It was very cool for grown up kids, but the huge 3D spiders heading straight for you and the water sprays sent us out of the theater before a total crying episode arrived. Darn...

Aidan did a great job keeping the glasses on. Asher thought they were a fun toy.

After riding the second roller coaster, the Great White 2 times in a row and feeling kind of sick, we headed towards the water park. We spend most of the day there. The wave pool was a hit again. Aidan also braved a water slide with Daddy. The first time he went down he was saying, "whoooooooooo, yeahhhhhhhhhh...." and other fun ride noises. He then rode a few other times with us. Not scared a bit.

Can you see the joy on his face?

Wave riders

Ashy and Daddy relaxing in the water.

Lunch was fun for the kids because they got to see a high school musical meets Shamu show while we ate. That was not Matt and Kaleb's favorite part.

Shamu meets High School Musical

The highlight was when Aidan, Kaleb, and Matt went down a big tube ride. Aidan held on to the straps like the big guys and was so brave! He did awesome and loved it! Asher and I were at the bottom cheering them on.

After we left the water park Asher fell fast asleep in the stroller. Aidan rode the Shamu coaster one more time and he had a great time with Uncle Kaleb this time. He wasn't scared at all and actually smiled the whole time.

Asher sleeping while brother rode the roller coaster.

Shamu coaster second time around - lots more fun.

A little blurry but can you see the smile on his face?

We were tired out on the way home but Matt did a great job of getting us all home safe and sound and letting us sleep some along the way. Aidan managed to fight sleep and say awake the entire trip except for literally the last 5 minutes. He is the opposite of mommy in the car. I fall asleep within minutes and he has probably only fallen asleep a few times in his life.


The bummer of the trip is that Asher had a fever when we arrived home of about 103.5. She wasn't extra hot during the day and didn't feel feverish when we put her in the car. She surprised us when Matt picked her up to bring her inside and noticed how hot she was. Aidan is running fever today, so I guess the kids caught some bug at Seaworld.


All in all we had a BLAST! The kids did wonderful and we all had a lot of fun. We took lots of pictures but included some of our favorites. It was really nice to be able to take Kaleb. He is a great kid and the trip was that much more fun because he was there.


See ya next year Seaworld! (ok - maybe not next year, maybe the year after!)