This trip was promised to Mariana by Austin, who has been dying to go to Sea World since the day Allia was born, when she stopped sucking her thumb. Once we figured out how expensive it was going to be (and we had coupons!), we decided to make it a big birthday celebration for us August/September birthdays. This made it extra fun because we packed our own lunch, snacks and drinks (saving billions...the park food is really outrageous) and then left at the end of the day for a nice dinner out where we sat and let someone else serve us. It was luxurious. The second night we went to Maccaroni Grill, one of mine and Austin's favorites and one of the few restaurants we don't have here in town, and even got a birthday song, free cake, and a few desserts we ordered too. Mmmm. ;)
Day 1
Just arrived...so excited!
Big splash house
Our first show...it was awesome. The animals were doing cool tricks right in front of us, but the people tricks were even more amazing!
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I took this video for my sweet Godson...here is your next trick, Andrew!
Next show...Shamu
Austin went on this one with the girls, which is the roller coaster that makes a big wave in the water at the end. Gloria was even able to go and was so brave! This was the last ride for the first day.
On our way out of the park, Mariana turned to Austin and said, "Daddy, I have never had so much fun in my whole life!" Too cute!
With no nap (I hoped he would take a little one in the stroller, but he was way to interested in all that was going on!), this little guy fell asleep the minute I buckled him in the car. Really. We had not even loaded the stroller up or started moving yet. Sweet boy!
Day 2
We began by Austin and Allia hitting the Steel Eel (a BIG roller coaster that she was actually tall enough to ride) and me taking everyone else to feed the dolphins, which we all loved!
Steel Eel
Dolphin feeding
Eye to eye
After feeding the dolphins, we went to see the fish and sharks in tanks. Gloria had been looking forward to seeing sharks for weeks now!
Finally, the sharks...
Then four trips down the lazy river later...gotta love fun for the whole family. All smiles!
Sister buddies rode the big water slide together
I was originally planning to take this guy back to the hotel for a nap the second day, but he was soooo tired he just conked out in the stroller right after lunch. So we all got to stay the whole second day too. :)
What a fun, blessed trip we had. It was really just perfect! And now we are back to rest up a bit. Whew!
7 comments:
Wow what a fun looking trip! I love Sea World. Your girls are so brave on all those rides!
What day did you guys go? It looks like even on your first day, you packed in a ton more than we did! Good job on the food situation. We not only spent an insane amount on lunch, we waited an hour to get it. An hour. I think if we go back I will have to hit you up on some tips!
Elizabeth,
We went Friday and Saturday. I checked out the website and talked to the Buchans before we went, so I knew you can bring "small" coolers but not big ones. All food has to be "snack size" which means no big bags of chips, no loaves of bread (I packed pita for our lunches), no picnic baskets etc. They are a little picky but if you argue it, they pretty much let you take it in unless it is "big". They made us pour out a bag of chex mix into zip locs to take it in! We had the double stroller so we just brought several small cooler bags full of snacks, drinks and lunchmeat/cheese/pita bread! All we bought at the park was some cotton candy. :) And we can get coupons from Austin's work for buy one day get a second free. So let me know if you decide to go back!
Looks like so much fun! I can't wait to take the kids to Sea World! They all love whales, dolphins, and sharks, so I know it would be a hit. Maybe next summer.
Glad to see I am not the only frugal one, packing lunches and snacks everywhere I can get away with it. It is too expensive for big families to do it any other way these days.
Great pictures! Looks like a great trip!
Thanks for the tips. I should have done more research. We had snacks and bottled water, but not lunch food. We went Sunday (the 14th). We just barely missed you! I am hoping to get our vacation post up this week.
I took this video for my sweet Godson...here is your next trick, Andrew!
Andrew saw the clip, I asked him if he could do that as his next trick. Without batting an eyelash he said, "ok". That child is fearless.
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