Shamu day 1

Sea World

when we knew we were going to visit my family, we thought of all the places we wanted to go and the #1 pick this year was sea world. but after checking costs my heart sank, I just couldn't justify it. when we got to my house my parents surprised us with passes! apparently my mom got a sweet deal through her office and not only that, they are passes that are good until dec. 31st and can be used as often as you want. whoo hoo!

when we arrived, we headed straight for the shamu show to kick of our adventure.

the kids were so excited just looking at the water completely un-aware of the amazingness that was to come!

then the show started...


and I have to admit I spent the majority of the time watching what I believed to be the real show...their faces.

check out cole's face in the picture below...


they were totally fascinated.


and this was only the beginning. this stuff is way more fun as a parent. I mean, look at this face below. tender.

this was cole's reaction to the sea lion and otter show, I loved hearing his laugh through the whole show, priceless.

there was a lot of walking and ali had the stroller staked out, so daddy helped cole out.

after some shows we headed off to see some animals up close.

which they thought was so cool. I know the picture below is dark, but cole's face in it is awesome.

they we so excited that they got to see such amazing animals so close up.

this next pic is fuzzy, but it totally captures how happy ali was, so I had to include it.

I know yet another picture of their backs...but they were so into it all.

here I will throw you a bone so you aren't completely left out...this is what they were captivated by.

cole and ali both discovered some close quarters that were fun.

and then...

we headed to a more hands-on encounter.

cole loved petting the sting rays and ali wanted to get in and swim with them.

after the sting rays we went and held starfish.

we lucked out this trip and got to spend time with both families. Justin's mom joined us for the first few days of our trip in san diego.

it was so fun to be there with our kids. I have so many pictures of me at sea world doing this exact same thing when I was cole's age. kinda crazy how time has flown.

they were so excited about everything and justin and I just soaked it all in loving every minute of family fun.

we did a lot more that first day, but I am sure you are already on picture overload.


so we will just say that it was fabulous and that it ended with a larger than life purchase for ali, (yeah, daddy couldn't resist...)

cole chasing every animal he could find.

and two very happy parents who couldn't wait to come back the next day.