Block Leave-Sea World

After Disney we took a day to rest and recuperate and then headed over to Sea World.  Sea World has this amazing military program where they allow all active duty military personnel and their families free entrance to one of their parks per year.  We didn't take advantage of this last year but were 

excited to use it this year.

Ready for the paddle boats

She really wanted this polar bear!

Again Mara was too small for most of the larger rides at Sea World but we knew she would enjoy the shows and the animal exhibits.  Our first stop of the day was the pet show where dogs, cats, ducks, and even a pig did tricks on stage.  Mara loves animals and was pointing and barking the entire time.  Next we headed over to the dolphin stage for that show.  She loved watching them flip and jump out of the water.  She especially thought it was great when the trainers rode the dolphins.

Watching the dolphins

Dolphins!

We then grabbed a quick bite to eat before exploring some of the animal exhibits.  We saw turtles, manatees, sea lions and a walrus.  Mara especially loved watching people feed the sea lions!  It was getting hot so we decided to relax a little on the water and rented a paddle boat.  I didn't think Mara would do great with this as it required a life jacket and sitting still, but she surprised me.  She loved floating around in our giant flamingo boat!

They swam right up to us!

hanging with daddy

From there we headed over to the killer whale show where we tried to get wet by sitting in the splash zone.  Despite the whales' best efforts we remained dry throughout.  Mara loved watching them jump out of the water and wave their fins.     

Our best attempt at a family pic while paddle boating

In the afternoon we took Mara to the kiddie section of the park where she was able to ride the merry-go-round and the train.  She loved both and probably would have been in heaven if we let her do them over and over.  

Shamu!

More interested in Daddy's hat than the walrus

When she conked out at the end of the day Josh rode the two roller coasters in the park and we grabbed dinner before heading back to the condo.  Overall it was a great day.  The park was busy but we were still able to do everything we wanted to.  Mara loved the animals and seemed really enthralled by the shows.