Sea World

I need to begin this post by saying that I really like orca whales. I think they are an absolutely stunning display of God's creation. What I also find fascinating is that people (highly trained and very brave) are able to teach them tricks. So, I took a bunch of pictures. I love the way they turned out and so most of these pictures are of the whales and sea lions and a few of our family thrown in (but I don't seem to be in any of them -- oh, the life of the camera carrier).

When we arrived at Sea World we were just in time to make it to the Shamu show. I couldn't wait. I was super giddy. I think it's because my family used to go to Sea World when it was close by in Ohio and I have very fond memories of it. I was really excited to share this with the boys and yes, I was a little sappy (if you can believe that).

This was right at the beginning of the show when the orca made its first jump.

It was so beautiful and powerful.

There were lots of jumps and dives...

and a little bit of orca smooching.

I thought "how fun to serf on top of a whale," but really, who am I kidding?

Again, it looks fun, but when I really think about it I these people are a little off their rockers.

I know it's a tail, but isn't it beautiful??

Here is one of the few family photos. The boys (and Daddy) are trying to pet the sting rays. Jacob did really good, but Ethan was a little short so he had to lay across the edge and really reach in. He was terrified of falling in so he didn't get to pet them this first day. When we went back at the end of the week he was a little bit more brave and finally got his fingers on one.

We were excited to see a little Sesame Street show (even though it didn't have anything to do with the sea). It was fun, the boys really liked it and the theater was air-conditioned!!

This sea lion show was hysterical. The animals don't always do what they are supposed to do so it was extra funny. The boys liked this one because it was about PIRATES!!

On Friday evening we saw the Manitee exhibit. It was really neat to see these animals. And the bronze statue outside the exhibit made for a great photo!

When we went back on Friday evening I tried not to take any more pictures of the shows, because I really had taken enough. And instead, I took a bit of video.

We just made it in time to catch the Sea Lion show. We missed the first five minutes or so, but it was funny. The whole show was a spoof on the Shamu shows (because he is the big daddy of Sea World). It was really funny and the boys even caught on to the jokes.

The last show we saw was the Shamu Rocks show. It is just a bunch of really loud Rock and Roll music (many of the songs were favorites of ours) and the orcas jumping and swimming and all that good stuff. It was amazing to see how they could communicate with the whales even in the dark.

This is my favorite part of the whole show. Just amazing!