Sea World

Abigail's very 1st trip to Sea World

Is this not adorable? I caught Abigail unposed with her arm around Caleb.

Caroline and her friend Leah look on as their older siblings play at the splash park.

Caroline couldn't fight the nap any longer.

One of my favorite memories from growing up is Sea World. My dad grew up in San Antonio and for most of my childhood the majority of his side of the family lived in San Antonio. A lot of summers were spent visiting my grandparents and cousins and during this time we covered a lot of ground in San Antonio visiting most of the well-known historical landmarks as well as popular family tourist destinations...including, Sea World. Although we didn't go to Sea World too often it was always one of my favorite places to visit. I love the fact that there's adventure and plenty of activities offered but at the same time I love that it's easily just as entertaining to sit down and watch one of their shows. I'm not going to lie, for a long time I secretly hoped I would one day be a dolphin trainer. Fast forward 20 years or so...although my goals and aspirations have changed and I'm quite content with my role of being a stay-at-home mommy, the magic and thrill of Sea World still remains and now lives well within my 2 year olds' heart.

Over the last few years quite a few of our friends have bought season passes to Sea World and have raved about how much use they have gotten out of them as a family. We held off on purchasing one last year, wanting to wait until Abigail was at least a little older. When the new season at Sea World opened up this spring we decided to bite the bullet and get a season pass. With only 2 visits under our belt I can tell you hands down, that it was the best decision we have ever made. We made our first visit to Sea World the Monday after Easter. My mom was sweet enough to watch Caroline for us so that Josh and I could take Abigail by herself and spend a special day just with her. We pretty much spent the entire day there, hitting up every show you could imagine. If only you could have seen Abigail's face as she watched the dolphin show and the Shamu show. It was priceless! She kept asking throughout the show if it was over. At first Josh and I thought she was maybe asking this because she had lost interest and was ready to go but it turns out she was asking this because she didn't want the show to end. We spent a good chunk of our day in the new Sesame Street Bay of Play and let me tell you, if you haven't experienced it yet, you are in for a treat! I have a feeling we will make quite a few trips back to Sea World just so we can play there. In addition to a splash park, and a gigantic playground complete with cargo nets, there is an area where you can go to meet some of the various Sesame Street characters in person and take pictures with them. This has easily become one of Abigail's favorite places within the Sesame Street Bay of Play. So far she has managed to meet: Tilly, Elmo, Count Dracula, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Zoe. While there are a few characters/costumes she is still a little timid of, she has come a long way since the days of crying in Santa's lap. In fact, during our most recent visit she got up on her own and ran over to give Cookie Monster a big hug during one of the Sesame Street sing/dance along performances.

Last Monday we went back for our second visit with some of our good friends here in Kerrville and again, had a blast! This time Caroline went with us and I have to say, for an 8 month old, she handled it like a champ. We spent a good portion of our time in the Sesame Street splash park. I imagine us frequenting this area more and more throughout the summer as the Texas heat wears on. We're looking forward to making the most of our season pass and returning to Sea World many more times with friends and family. Although it can be tiring telling Abigail every other day that "we are not going to Sea World today", it is pretty stinking cute to see her pop out of bed with Shamu in hand and hear the first words out of her mouth be "We going to Sea World today?". It's fun to see one of my favorite childhood memories quickly becoming one of my daughter's.