Adventures at Sea World

We took the kids to Sea World in San Antonio on Friday. It was a fun but exhausting day. And we were only there for four hours. How do people stay at theme parks all day long?! The weather started off misty and cloudy but the sun came out after a couple hours. I wish the sun had stayed hidden. It just got so hot and the humidity factor was approximately 3000% so by two o'clock we were ready to bid Shamu adieu. Our main objective this trip was to see Shamu. Let's not get into all of my personal feelings about how orcas shouldn't be in captivity. And let's surely not get into my mixed feelings about supporting orcas in captivity by paying money to go see them. It's complicated. Let's just talk about how much the little boy wanted to see the Shamu show. And let's hope that someday the love of orcas we're fostering in him right now will be the catalyst to him being the person that changes things in the future. Anyway.

He loved Shamu. Emma was a little freaked by how loud the show was. But everytime I looked at Jake I saw his little eyes shining so bright and this big smile on his face. It could have been from the popcorn he was shoveling into his face at the time, but I think it was the whales. And they really are amazing. I got goosebumps being that close to them and felt a little teary eyed at the end of the show. Although seeing them in the wild? Major goosebumps. But we're landlocked now and must go to really big glass tanks to see anything oceanic. I will say they have a four month old baby right now that is adorable.

We knew Jake loved the dolphin exhibit too. But we had no idea Emma would be so excited about it. She oohed and aahed the whole time we were there. Squealing even. It was a very exciting day for both the kids. Here they are at the end of the day as we're leaving the park.



Here's one of the orca's:




Who is that crazy-eyed woman holding my daughter? She must be having conflicting emotions about being at a Shamu show or something. Let's hope she doesn't bust out her "Free Willy!" sign.



And Jake holding his very tired little sister.