Simply Mom: Our first family vacation

A day at Sea World!

The spectacular entrance to Sea World!

At the end of the summer, we really needed a little getaway. So,on a bit of a whim, we pulled some long hours to get orders caught up and planned a quick trip to Sea World.

The trip there was an adventure in itself. My in-laws were joining us on the trip so we had a mini caravan and lots of potty stops! The driver side window in our car broke...I mean literally fell into the door...so in a Walmart parking lot my husband and his dad took the door panel off and rigged the motor components with things we had handy: plastic, cardboard off a legal pad, & scraps of duct tape. I don't know why I didn't take a picture...it was pretty sad looking! As we drove, the wind would loosen the tape and it would flap frantically against the window, the window would begin to slide down and in addition to the flapping it sounded like a wind-tunnel...a bit nerve-racking along with normal kid noise, but honestly all we could do was laugh. Thank God for duct tape, right?

Loving on their brother

The motel was a welcome retreat when we arrived! The girls had their own beds in their own room! We spent a lot of time just relaxing with each other and visiting with MeMe and PaPa down the hall from us. It was such a welcome break for us all. We brought the movie Soul Surfer and watched it one night. Our girls LOVE that movie. They get all teary and sentimental--not about her losing her arm, but at other sweet moments between the dad and daughter--I love seeing their sensitive side.

Such beautiful creatures!

Since Jessie's parents were with us, we got to sneak over and ride a roller coaster--the Manta! It was quite possible the best roller coaster I've ever been on...then again, maybe it's just been too long since I've been on one. There was an aquarium under the roller coaster, featuring the manta ray of course. There were lots of other neat little sea creatures in there too (see my additional pictures below).

12,000 pounds!!

The last time I was at Sea World my baby sister was 5 years old (she's now 19). Now I have a 5 (nearly 6) year old. Unbelievable! So, a lot has changed since I was last there. The arena for the killer whales was new and HUGE...and I miss the trainers being in the water with the Orcas. Shamu stadium wasn't the only thing that had gotten bigger in the last 14 years. Tilikum was a beast! The picture doesn't do him justice...he was ginormous!

Our all time favorite part of the day was the dolphin show. I don't have pictures because we sat front & center in the splash zone. But it was amazing! The girls also rode their first roller coaster. Granted it was a kiddie coaster, but they loved it! They kept their hands up in the air. They each rode it several times, taking turns with who they got to sit beside--mom, dad, and their MeMe. I do have some more fun highlights from the day below. We stayed one extra day in Orlando, played in the pool and just enjoyed ourselves before we had to return to our normal routine. It was a trip we would love to do again. Maybe next time we can venture into dolphin cove.