Sea World

We went to Sea World yesterday. We entered the park around 10:00, right before the dolphin show. Rachel wanted to eat, so I nursed her while we walked so that we could make it to the show on time. I nursed her while walking a lot yesterday!

She loved the animals. She clapped when everyone clapped. She pointed at the animals and called out to them.

Clapping for the dolphins

Us and the dolphins

She especially enjoyed the animals she could touch. We went to pet the rays and she just couldn't get enough of them! She kept reaching into the pond to touch them even though the water was freezing cold and she cried when we left.

Rachel pets a ray

She also enjoyed the tide pools, although not as much as the rays since the ray swim around and the starfish just stayed put. Still, it was fun to splash around and pick them up.




She also really liked the flamingos near the tide pool. They were rather close to her, unlike the ones at the actual Flamingo Cove--those were far away and the pond was rather stinky.

Andrew and me at Flamingo Cove

There were a few mallards swimming around in the smaller flamingo pond as well, and Rachel was just as, if not more, exited about those as she was for the flamingos. Here we took her all the way to California, and she would have been just as happy to go to the duck pond at BYU!

Look what I see!

I love flamingos!

Rachel and I and the unstinky flamingos

They're over there, Daddy!

I think I'll go for a swim now...

Tip toes!

We went on a few of the rides at Sea World. Shipwreck Rapids was probably my favorite. We waited in line forever for that ride because it kept breaking and needing repairs. It was fun, and well worth the wait. We got completely soaked, which was nice after waiting in the hot sun for so long, but we didn't get to go on the ride until 5:00, so we didn't ever dry off completely before going home. It was rather chilly.

We'd also waited in line for so long that Rachel was missing me and the minute she saw me, she wanted me. She wouldn't sit in her stroller or in the arms of anyone else but me, so I used her as a human towel of sorts and she got just as wet as me. She didn't seem to mind though since she had Mommy back.


To cool down during the heat of the day, at a time when all the water rides were broken, we went in some of the arctic exhibits.

Andrew and the penguins

We also went on the Sea World tower and the gondola ride. Rachel liked the gondola ride and would growl every time our wagon ground against the wires at the poles, copying the noise the gondola makes.



She did a lot of growling at Sea World, actually. I think she thinks that anything big and scary-looking growls. Sharks growl, polar bears growl, walruses growl. She kept growling at the sharks in the underground tunnel, her pointer finger at the ready and her eyes big with amazement.

There are sharks in there!

It's kinda dark and scary, Mommy!

What big teeth those are!

Our favorite show, for sure, was Sea Lions Tonight! It makes fun of all the other shows and it was hilarious--definitely a great way to end the day.

Daddy and Rachel looking at the killer whales