California: Sea World

I told Harvey way back here, that if he could learn how to go potty in the toilet, we would take him to Sea World. I tell you what - it totally worked! For the boy who loves everything water, it must have struck a chord. He was so excited.

Our first stop? Shamu of course.

I kind of felt bad for these beautiful creatures. I mean, the pools were huge, but nothing remotely close to an ocean. They were so graceful. We stayed there forever just watching them swim.

I think the Shamu Rocks (the show at night) was one of my very favorites. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the night show because we were sitting so far away... and I'm not that great at night photos. :) But, we were able to go to Sea World two different days and it was nice to be able to see all the shows we were interested in. I made sure to take a few during the daytime show! Those whales were awesome! I thought they were cute all lined up getting ready to start the show:

I have to admit... I'm so glad we weren't sitting in the "soak zone."

Especially because this little girl would have not been happy getting splashed. It was hard enough for her to try and sleep in Daddy's arms in the heat. But somehow he's got the touch. He got Avery to sleep in almost every show!

Our next stop was to see the dolphins.

These guys were so hyper compared to the Orkas. They were so fun and friendly! There were people all around and we couldn't get to a spot that was close enough to the water to touch them. Harvey was a little disappointed.

So, we went back to visit later that night during one of the Shamu shows. Although we weren't allowed to get close enough to touch, we were able to watch a show - up close and personal! They just kept coming right up to the edge and jumping for my camera. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Doesn't he look like he's smiling??

Harvey loved petting the Bat Rays as well. I have to say though.. that water was freezing.

We have rays at our local aquarium, but the water is deeper and it's much harder for Harvey to reach them. He loved being able to touch these friendly rays. They would come right up toward the top of the water to make it easy. I think it helped that some people were feeding them. Justin held his hand the same way as the guy next to us who had food, and so the rays came right over thinking we had food as well.

Man I love these guys...

I was floored at how many interactive exhibits they have at Sea World. Harvey was in heaven being able to touch all of his favorite sea creatures! We didn't even notice this on the map at first, but we loved it so much we had to visit it twice. I couldn't believe they just let you pick up the sea stars (keeping them under the water of course). Harvey was in heaven.

Some other favorite animals...

Okay, the whales were aweome, Harvey loved the sharks, the dolphins are always cute, but my all-time favorite animals this trip were the sea lions. They were cracking me up! We went during feeding time and they were all yelling for food. Some were pretty brave and came right up to the edge of the exhibit to beg...

But there was one who was smarter than the rest. He realized that if he just relaxed in the water, but did a little wave to those with food, he would win the fish. And really - he got thrown more fish than any of them!

Whew! Tune in for part two tomorrow...