SeaWorld!!

After two amazing days in Disneyland, you'd think we'd take a break or something. But no! We woke up and got ready to head to SeaWorld! While Danny and I were getting things ready for a day in another park, the kids enjoyed their nutritious breakfast of pop tarts on the patio, just taking in the ocean view. :) This is the life...

San Diego is only a quick half hour drive from where we were staying in Carlsbad, so before we knew it we were there!!

After dealing with all the crowds in Disneyland (which honesty weren't bad for Disneyland, but still...it was Disneyland!), SeaWorld seemed almost vacant. And it was awesome! We were able to really enjoy our time. First off were the horseshoe crab thingies... 

...and the kids even got to meet the SeaWorld mascot, though we were never really sure what his name was. We're pretty sure he was an otter, though. :) He stayed and checked out some of the marine life with the kids. 

The dolphins were pretty high on our list of things to see, so we made our way to Dophin Point right away. On our way, we were pushed to the side of the walk by a flock of flamingos! We were happy to let them pass, so long as they allowed a photo op. They obliged. :)

The dolphins were awesome! We were in time to see the trainers do their daily health checks and training exercises. The kids even got the chance to pet one of the dolphins. They are definitely some of the coolest animals ever created!

After we were able to pet the dolphins, we decided to go about and explore a bit. Danny checked the schedule and realized that the Pet Show was going to be starting soon, so we made our way there. It was like stepping into a whole new world! The pets were all rescue animals that are loved and trained to become the great entertainers they are. With the kids knowing we were getting our own puppy in just a matter of days, they were especially impressed with the dogs. They all commented on how they wanted to teach Maese how to do all those tricks! The biggest surprise had to be the kangaroos, though...

After the show was over, we got to meet some of the cast...including the kangaroos! Coolest. Thing. Ever!

Next we made our way to the Penguin Encounter. We got to stand on a moving sidewalk and watch these amazing animals in their very cold habitat. Unfortunately, they were behind rather thick glass, and the warmth of our side and the cold of their side made for quite a bit of condensation. But it was still cool. :)

After the Penguin Encounter, we decided to stay in the cold habitats...and ride the Wild Arctic ride! It was a lot like Space Tours was at Disneyland, which was the kids' favorite ride. So we got in a "helicopter" and took a virtual 3D tour of the arctic. The kids loved it!

As you exit the ride, it takes you right to the Beluga Whale Observation Area...and to my favorite animals of the whole day! I didn't know I loved beluga whales so much, but I do! They are so beautiful and majestic!!

We also got a close encounter with a walrus!! Seriously, these animals were SO much cooler than what you usually see at the zoo! It was so neat to see each individual whisker, and all the scrapes on his tusk.

And I even got to chill with my cubs in a polar bear den. :)

I love that when we do these parks, Danny takes care of paying attention to what time shows are and such. After we were done with the cold weather habitats, it was close to time for the dolphin show. We were so excited!! But when we got there we were told that the regular dolphin show was cancelled...because there had been a birth of a new baby dolphin just six days earlier! And when a new baby dolphin is born, they need time with their mother to learn how to swim and survive. So instead of the regularly scheduled dolphin show, we got to watch the mama and baby swim together and learn about how exciting and rare it is for a birth in captivity to happen. It was pretty neat, and a very rare experience!

Our next stop was to the sea lions, and this was definitely one of our favorite places to hang out! I'm pretty sure we went back twice. :) Danny bought some fish for us to feed them, and when you have a fish to throw, they'll become your best friends. They just bark and bark until you throw them one. Danny even got one to focus on him enough that he would wave for Danny before getting his fish! We had a blast!

There was one show we had to see during our day, and it was (of course) the Shamu show! But we had a little time to kill first, so we decided to do the river rapids ride. The kids were, er, not excited. But we were excellent parents and forced them on, knowing the would love it by the end! And hey, we got to see a giant tortoise, so yeah! :) The kids loved the ride, though weren't crazy about getting wet. Little did they know what was ahead of them at the Shamu show!

That's right, we got there early enough to sit in the splash zone!! Once we were seated, they kept trying to sell ponchos to the people sitting in our area, and I got a little concerned about exactly HOW wet we were going to get. But there was no going back now, and Danny wasn't about to spend a red cent on those crappy ponchos. :)

The show was amazing! The stadium was amazing!! It was incredible to see these huge whales doing acrobatics out of the water. To see the relationship between whale and trainer, and what they were able to do together was so cool. It was just so neat!!

And we definitely got wet...but not THAT wet. :)

We still had some time to enjoy the park before the end of the day, so we just started meandering to sections we hadn't been to yet. We ended up next to another stage area right before they were starting a Halloween show with the sea lions. Since we knew how much we LOVED the sea lions, we stuck around and enjoyed the show. Again, the training of these animals is just incredible!

So there is one roller coaster in SeaWorld...and Danny just had to give it a try! He tried to convince someone to go with him, but our kids take after me so we kissed him goodbye and told him we'd meet him at the sting rays. :) While Danny was being crazy, the kids and I pet some sting rays and I used our cool underwater camera to get some cool pics! Seriously, who needs a roller coaster with that kind of excitement at your fingertips! Not me! :)

We didn't pay for the actual picture...but Danny owned that roller coaster! ;)

Next we made our way to the shark tanks. Johnny loved this part! The sharks were pretty cool...

After the sharks, we checked out the other tanks of tropical, weird, freaky, awesome fish...and turtles, too! It boggles my mind to think of the variety of creation on this earth, and we barely scratch the surface when it comes to ocean life. 

At this point, our day was coming to a close. We still hadn't decided on our family souvenir from SeaWorld, so we did a little shopping and decided on a piece of art that had our names on it (including Luke!) and that used each of our favorite sea animals to create the first letter of each of our names. It turned out so beautifully, and we knew we'd picked the right souvenir. Then we made one last trip to Dolphin Point and got to see some people have their dolphin encounter. That is definitely something we would love to do with our family someday!

And with that, our day at SeaWorld was complete. And it was an awesome day! I have to say, when all was said and done, I think I may have enjoyed SeaWorld even more than Disneyland! I absolutely loved it. On our short drive back to the resort, I got an awesome picture of the San Diego Temple as we drove past. Danny and I took some time and talked about how grateful we were for our forever family. We were having so much fun, but our hearts ached to have shared it with Lukey. But there will come a time, at some point in eternity, when we will have the chance to make memories with Luke. And even though we couldn't see him with us, neither of us had a single doubt that he was experiencing this trip with us. It was his trip, after all!

After two days in Disneyland and a day in SeaWorld, our kids were beat! And very dirty. :) So we cleaned them up and had some quiet time before bed. 

With so many awesome things to go and do, and an incredible resort that felt like home, this was turning out to be the trip of a lifetime. And needless to say, everyone slept like babies. :)