Flashback Friday: Sea World 2006

I spend a lot of time feeding little Daxton.

He eats about 8-9 times throughout the day and night, each lasting around 30 minutes.  So you can see that it gives us a lot of time to chat...well I chat while he eats.  I like to tell him about all the fun things we are going to do when he gets a little older, or about all the people who love him, or my dreams I have for him, or about the fun adventures his dad and I have had.  Anyone who knows me well, knows I can definitely talk an ear off, so I'm grateful he is such a good listener :)

One place I am super excited to take Daxton is Sea World in San Diego.  

I have loved the ocean for as long as I can remember and am so fascinated by all the interesting animals that live within the water.  I had year passes to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and CA Academy of Sciences and have visited the Aquarium at the Bay on Pier 39 several times.  I absolutely LOVE the jelly fish exhibits, tropical fish, sting rays and sharks.  I've taken nephews, nieces, and students along on the adventures so I can teach them all I know.  Sea World is an incredible place where kids and adults can learn hands-on all about out world's oceans and how to help in their preservation.

In the summer of 2006, I went on a two week long road trip visiting friends and family.  I left from Provo, drove through Nevada and spent a week in the Bay area visiting friends and family.  From there I drove down to southern California and met up with three of my close teaching friends who had flown down from Utah.  We spent a week visiting the highlights of SoCal; Santa Monica, Hollywood, Disneyland, Sea World, San Clemente, etc.  On our way home we drove through Las Vegas and spent the night with one of my good friends.  It was such a fun trip!

Instead of showing our entire adventure I'm only going to show our day at Sea World.  I'll leave the rest of our trip for another flashback Friday sometime...

One of my best friends from college, Kim, and her little sister, Jordan, came along for our fun-filled day at Sea World.  Kim lives in the San Diego area and was nice enough to let us crash at her place for a couple nights.  One of the first things we did when we got to the park is watch the famous killer whale production.  They revamped the entire show with the theme "Believe" which soon became our catch phrase for the rest of our trip.  It was an amazing show, as always, and I'm always in awe of the tricks they are able to train the orcas to do. 

 The antics of Gregg...

He was my designated buddy on the trip after bonding while singing the entire High School Musical soundtrack, driving through traffic at 2am.  Those memories are priceless!

I'm pretty sure my sunglasses were worthless, considering they didn't block out ANY sun, but they were cute and pink...therefore I bought them!

 After the Orca show, we walked along the practice tanks.  I loved watching the killer whales come right next to the glass.  It definitely puts into perspective how small we are in comparison.  I could have stayed there for hours just watching them swim.  They're absolutely beautiful.

Jordan, Janelle, and I loved finding the most colorful starfish.  Technically I don't think we were supposed to hold them out of the water...oops!  Jordan was super cute and would tell us everything she knew about each exhibit.

 My favorite thing to do at Sea World is feed the Manta Rays.  You can buy squid to feed them out of your hand.  It's such a fun experience.  You have to hold your hand low in the water so the Manta Rays can swim onto (their mouths are on the bottom of their bodies).  Then they suck the squid off your hand like a vacuum as they swim over.  It's pretty crazy to feel the suction.  I was able to feed wild sting rays while in the Carman Islands the same way.

Janelle's favorite place at Sea World was the dolphin exhibit.  If you slap the water with the palm of your hand, the dolphins will swim right up to you so you can pet them.  They are such playful animals.  Janelle was in heaven!

 We all had a lot of fun playing around in the Polar exhibit.  There was an entire section lined with real ice, which was a perfect relief from the blistering sun outside.  They had even made ice caves you could climb through.  Afterwards, we ended up in the gift shop...I think Jason was telling us to stop shopping and somehow ended up taking a quick nap.  I'm sure the store clerks were a little annoyed they had to rearrange everything once we left!

 Sea World doesn't have too many rides, that's not the purpose in going, but they do have a ride called Atlantis.  Needless to say, it gets you pretty soaked on the final drop.  If I'm remembering correctly we made Janelle sit in the front :)

 It was such a perfect day!

Beautiful weather, great exhibits, and incredible friends to see it all with.

The picture below is a perfect example of why I love Kim and Jordan so much!  They are always full of energy and laughs!  Thanks for showing us around, letting us crash at your place, and helping us have such a great time on our trip.  I sure do love you both!