Sea World

We spent days 1 and 3 of the Orlando visit at Sea World. We all had a fabulous time. Rippy appreciated the animals more than the Disney characters, and even Ainsleigh was more excited about the various things we did and saw. She especially loved Shamu ("my orca whale friend") , and I think we went to 4 Shamu shows over the 2 days. I didn't take any live action pics of Shamu, though, much to her dismay. Here she is with the stuffed variety:

You can see the Christmas decorations were also still up at Sea World, which Ainsleigh loved. She is all into sparkley things and Christmas carols, so she was thrilled.

The shows were remarkably good. There was one with dolphins, acrobats, and birds. I think it was designed just for my kids (you may recall Rippy is obsessed with birds). When they released several parrots and parakeets to fly right over our heads, he screamed "bird!!!" A few of the non-animal shows: a cirque du soleil type thing and ice skating:

Admiring some of the residents:

By far the coolest part of the trip was that Ainsleigh and I fed the dolphins. We each had a tray of small fish; after giving the dolphin the fish you can rub under its throat (you aren't allowed to touch their heads, which means all those promo pictures of people rubbing the dolphins' heads are bogus. I believe they are afraid people will mess with their blow-holes). Ainsleigh would like to inform you that "dolphins feel like really tough rubber." I concur.

Ainsleigh also went on her first roller coaster ride (with Mom...Austin doesn't do roller coasters, and even I can only handle the kiddie ones anymore). For once I didn't take many pictures, as I decided just to enjoy the moments and not be caught up in picture taking. But we had so much fun and highly recommend Sea World if you are in FL, TX, or CA! Austin has a few business meetings in Orlando each year, so we may have to tag along to the next one so we can go back!