After our failed attempt to reach Sea World the day before we were apprehensive but willing to try again the following day. Justin didn't throw up again and never ran a fever. Still, we all watched both him and Norah very closely the entire drive, and as we turned onto Sea World Drive, pointed out that we were now further than we had been the day before. We are optimists always. As we were walking in to the park, Russell and Phillip were telling the kids what they were going to see, listing off all the animals and fish. As they concluded, Justin added, "and water!"
Our first stop was at the sting ray feeding exhibit. Grandma purchased some squid so that the kids could feed them.
Justin was all excited about touching them as they swam up, until they swam up. Then he really wanted nothing to do with them, though he remained fascinated.
We were trying to talk Justin into touching them but having little success. But even the offer of feeding them didn't work.
We detached Norah from the safety of her uncle's side and tried to get her to feed the rays, but she wouldn't even put her hands near the water. She laughed when they would come to the surface, but was happy just to observe.
With a plate full of squid and hungry rays to be fed, I eagerly stepped up and showed Norah and Justin how it's done. They were impressed, especially when I described to them (with sound effects) how the rays eat. They suck their food into their mouth like a vacuum! They giggled as I did this, but they remained perfectly content to let me handle things.
We headed over to the sea lion enclosure, where the kids attention was immediately caught. It was feeding time, so the sea lions were barking very loudly, right up next to the glass.
Norah was so excited, she was talking to us and telling us all about what she was seeing. It was hard to hear over the barking of the seals, the crying of the gulls, and the screams in the background.
It was at this point that grandma reappeared (she had gone to purchase fish to feed the seals). The plate she carried had only two fish on it, and was covered with another plate. She told us that as she was handed the plate, she was warned to watch out for the birds. At which point a gull landed on her head, leaned it's head down, and snagged a fish. She started screaming (she's not a bird person to begin with) and dropped the plate. Another gull snagged another fish as two men came to her rescue shooing the birds away and salvaging the remaining two fish. The kids didn't fully appreciate the trauma their grandma had undergone for the sake of their entertainment, but they did enjoy feeding the fish to the seals!
After feeding both gulls and seals, we decided to head underground by going through the Shark Encounter exhibit. The kids were enthralled by the huge sharks swimming all around them, but quickly told us that they did NOT want to feed the sharks.
We headed over to see some of the shows. They loved the dolphin show.
They loved watching Shamu, and Norah especially loved getting to see the mommy and baby orcas swimming together.
The kids sat surprisingly still throughout the shows, amazed by what they saw.
We took a break for lunch, sitting next to an aquarium entertained by gulls who couldn't figure out why they couldn't get the fish swimming so tantalizingly close. Aquariums outside can interest both kids and birds alike! Fortunately both Norah and Justin enjoyed chasing the gulls away before they could snag our lunch!
Grandma took Norah and Justin on a walk through the Arctic exhibit so that Phillip, Russell and I could go on a couple rides. Here they saw Baluga whales.
Giant walruses eating fish (they giggled watching the walrus eat).
And discovered Great Sleeping Bear (a polar bear that they decided was the bear from their favorite story The Spooky Old Tree).
They loved watching the whales swim by, and when we joined them were excited to tell us about all that they had seen.
After we finished looking at animals and fish, and all the shows were over, we headed to the kid sized ride area. Norah and Justin were desperate to ride what looked like a miniature viking ship ride. I loaded them on, then joined them. I was VERY surprised to see my mom come running up to join us. She doesn't mind slow rides but she HATES ones that go back and forth or spin as she easily gets very motion sick. Hence the surprised look on my face as I questioned my brothers from a distance, hoping they could explain this turn of events.
Then the ride started and I heard grandma say, "This seems an awful lot like a viking ship." I confirmed her suspicions much to her horror. She thought it was something else and started feeling sick almost immediately. Realizing that she was indeed the mother I know so well and not an ride loving alien impostor, I was felt much better, as my universe had righted itself
With grandma out of commission after the viking ship, Uncle Phillip offered to ride in the flying Elmo's with Norah while I went with Justin.
Uncle Russell tried to get some good shots, but it's hard when the kids can't see over the top (and thus aren't visible). We also went on the tea cups and got it going fast enough to make both of us sick, but had the kids laughing. Until they realized how fast we were spinning. That's when we were told to stop!
We stopped at the tide pool exhibit as we left.
Despite the delays in getting there, the attacks of flying scavengers, and the case of mistaken identity of the ride, it was an incredibly fun day. The kids were exhausted but thrilled by all they saw. Since this visit Norah likes to tell the story of Justin falling in the shark tank. Since that's about the only thing that didn't happen, we are going to assume she's getting the idea from a fictional sea park book back home. What a fun and memorable day!
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