Sea World

You can't go to San Diego and not go to Sea World!
I love Sea World.
I tried to describe it to a friend once and the best I could come up with was Disneyland meshed with the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It has the magic of Disneyland mixed with all the different marine life you can imagine.  I love everything about it...even the sometimes questionable smells from the sea lions!
For our third and final full day in San Diego, Kim and I took the kids to a holiday decorated Sea World on a perfectly sunny day.  It was also Daxton's favorite.  He takes after his mommy and LOVES aquariums.  He is quickly mesmerized by the different colors and shapes.

At the entrance of the park...

We got to the park right as it was opening and stayed til the sun went down.  The first thing we did (besides stopping for photo opportunities) was to check out the Shamu show featuring several different Orcas.

We chose to sit a few rows back so we wouldn't get splashed, but Daxton still couldn't take his eyes off the water.

After the show we walked around to the back training tank to get a better look at two of the Orcas.  Daxton was in heaven and did not want to leave.

After Shamu, we wondered over to the sea lions and watched as several people fed them fish.

 At first I was a little disappointed that they had changed the Manatee enclosure to Turtle Reef.  I love Manatees, but Sea World shipped them to the Florida Sea World, so they could be in a more natural habitat.  I also LOVE turtles, so Turtle Reef quickly became my favorite place in the park.  We sat there and ate our lunches while watching them swim through the gorgeous coral reef.

Couldn't help but get Daxton a little Turtle souvenir.

I love his facial expression...pretty "turtlelike" if you ask me!

After Turtle Reef, we headed over to the Polar exhibits.

We were able to watch the Beluga whales feed, a polar bear swim, and a chunky walrus.  I placed Daxton up against the window for some pictures and he loved being able to get a closer look at the Belugas.

We also got to see the new dolphin and bird show, Blue Horizons.

It featured Cirque de Solei performers in the air and water along with the different animals.  It was pretty amazing.

On our way over to the Manta Ray area, we were able to witness a gorgeous sunset among the flamingos.

I love the Manta Rays!

Daxton was quite exhausted after the fun day.  He snuggled right in to his stroller for a long nap.

Playing with gorgeous Layla!
Such a smiley sweetheart.

Another reason I came to San Diego was to see Maren (I've blogged about Maren and I's adventures many times!)  She has a pretty demanding work schedule and wasn't able to meet up with Kim and I until the evenings.  She did get to spend the week at the hotel with Daxton and I, which I loved.  We were able to stay up late catching up all week.  I sure do love that girl!

After Sea World, we all went back to the hotel and hung out with Maren.  We reminisced about our "Dev" years and caught up on each others' lives.  I love Maren and Kim so much.  They've both been amazing friends to me over the years and I count myself so incredibly blessed to have them as my close friends!

(On a side note)
A little after midnight, Daxton woke by projectile vomiting all over himself and the crib.  Needless to say it was a VERY long night trying to clean everything up, soothe him back to sleep, and make sure everything was packed for our journey home.  I got about three hours of sleep.  He threw up again in the morning, so after I cleaned him up again, we threw everything in the car and started our drive home.  It took a lot of prayer and Diet Coke to arrive safely home, but we made it.  And then a day later...I came down with the stomach flu (I'm sure from Daxton, sweet boy!)  Daddy came home to two sickies once again... Welcome home, Daddy!