Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Sea World

My sister, Carrie, and her daughter, Madison, came to visit last weekend. We went to Sea World in San Diego on Friday with Lucas (Ben went to work). We wanted to leave at 8:00, so I knew we would leave around 9:00. After packing food, getting Lucas ready, leaving once, forgetting something and leaving again, we were officially on our way by 9:40.
We made it through the gates before 12:00, just an hour after opening. We went to the Sea Lion show first and sat in the top of the splash zone. After all, how far can a sea lion splash? Well, we weren't thinking about the huge jets of water they would splash at us. Being the awesome mom that I am, I sacrificed my body for Lucas (and Carrie b/c she was holding him). Lucas still cried after being splashed, but got over it quickly.

Then we headed to the sea lion exhibit where we could buy fish and feed the sea lions. Lucas wasn't a big fan of the sea lions here because they were so noisy:

After feeding the sea lions we ate lunch (after C and M waited in a horrible line) and we headed to the Shamu show, Believe. Carrie scored us some sweet seats in the gargantuan stadium. It was bigger than any other Shamu stadium I've seen. This show was really "produced" and less personal than they used to be back in the day, but it was still cool, of course... just a little cheesy. We missed how they used to just talk to the crowd and be less rehearsed. Now it's supposed to be all inspirational. Like we really believe the trainer wore a Shamu tail necklace as he was growing up and today chose to give it to the little girl in the audience. Anyhow, it was cool and Lucas enjoyed the show... as well as the birds in the sky during the show.
Finally it was time for the rides. Maddie and Carrie went on the inverted roller coaster, Great White, while Lucas and I watched behind the scenes at the ski show. Then Carrie took over and I went on the coaster with Maddie. It was great. I blacked out a couple times, which was new for me. Low blood pressure maybe??
Carrie got Lucas to finally take a nap at 3:30 and I stayed with him while they went on the other roller coaster. This time, I went up the exit and waited for them to be done. Then I just hopped right on the roller coaster and rode it again with Maddie. There are things you can do as a parent so you don't wast your whole day in line - good to know!

After the rides we ran to the dolphin show, which was Lucas's favorite. There were divers, watter ballerinas, as well as dolphins and a beluga. It was like Cirque du Soleil meets Flipper. Lucas was a big fan of the performing people. He was also a fan of the guy next to him. Carrie was holding Lucas and he kept putting his hand on the guy's leg. It was really funny.

After that show we ran to see the horses and then got booted from the property before we could sneak in to see the sharks. Our womany charms didn't even help get us past security - we were a little upset. We finally made it to the freeway after getting a little lost, we stopped for some Chick-fil-A, sat in dreadful traffic, and made it home by 10:00. Lucas was a true champ. He stayed awake the whole way home and didn't even cry. When we got home we had two tired kids.

That night Lucas slept like a champ, too. What a good boy!
Thanks Carrie and Maddie. We had a blast!

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