Seaworld (part one)

We are not one of those exciting families who take off on one trip after another. We especially are not prone to taking off on a whim. Within a week of said whim. Oh my, no.

But this time that is exactly what we did, and I am so glad. Sometimes even non-spontaneous people need some spontaneity!

We found a hotel through priceline, which I really can't recommend enough. Instead of spending hours trying to find a hotel that had an empty room (tricky to do on your own, in August) that didn't cost three arms and a first born child, I simply told priceline where I wanted to go, how many stars I wanted on my hotel, and how much I was willing to pay each night. Ta da! Hotel, per specifications, in less than ten minutes.

The boys absolutely loved the fact that we were on the 26th floor. We were right next to the harbor, and they had a perfect view.



Eventually we tore them away from it, however, and headed out to SeaWorld. I think I was at least as excited as the kids. :) I went to SeaWorld once as a child and loved it. I remember it in surprising detail and have always wanted to go back. Not sure why it took me this long to do it!

Here are Gabe and the boys waiting for the first show: dolphins. The boys weren't so sure about sitting in the "splash zone", but it worked out well (we were at the top of it, so we just got sprinkled a bit).







Then we headed over to the sea lions, to watch their feeding. Those are noisy creatures.



Jonathan was fascinated. I think he might have stayed there all day if we hadn't reminded him that killer whales were next on the agenda!





Siah thought they were hilarious.



We didn't exactly plan it this way, but remember how Jonathan has been so interested in learning about orcas, walruses, penguins, etc. lately? I think he got so much more out of our SeaWorld adventure because he already had some educational "pegs" to hang the experience on. Listening to him tell others about what we did and saw has been amazing - I think I can safely place this spur of the moment vacation in the "homeschooling" category. :)

More tomorrow - the kids are about to get up from their naps!