San Diego–SeaWorld, Day 2

Our second day at SeaWorld was fun and long!  We spent all day there and had a blast.

We went to the Wild Arctic exhibit which was really cool.  They have made their exhibits really neat with settings and props and it makes you feel like you are really in an Arctic research center.

We saw Polar Bears!
Abby immediately started yelling, “dah-dah” (dog-dog) when she saw them and she stood and watched for a long time.
This is the remnant of Adam’s “polar bear growl”

A glacier wall made out of real ice!  Somebody pressed their hand into the ice for a long time to get that handprint.  It was freezing!

Sitting inside a polar bear cave!  (This wasn’t real ice!)
It was actually really dark in the cave so Abby was freaking out and the look on my face is, “Hurry up and take the picture!”….through clenched teeth! :)

Beluga Whales
Abby absolutely loved looking at the fish and whales through the glass.

Abby’s favorite part of every exhibit….the stuffed animals in the gift shop they funnel you through!  She ended up with a polar bear after considering sharks, dolphins, penguins, and Shamus.  Most animals are either dogs or bears to her so we thought a soft polar bear would be perfect.  She snuggles it up to her face every night now!
And no, we didn’t get the giant one!

Poor Abby spent most of her time in the stroller, but her preferred mode of transportation was walking.  We heard, “wah!!” a million times every day when she was stuck riding and wanted to get out and walk.

And Adam’s preferred mode of transportation was the stroller!
He especially liked looking at the map and telling us where to go.

After lunch, and before the Shamu Show, we spent some time at the Sesame Street Bay of Play where they had several kid rides, bounce houses, and a rope playground.

This is how Abby spent the time.

The best part of SeaWorld…..Shamu!!

Adam loved the cheer they taught us, “Shamu – Shamu – Shamu!” while bringing your hands together like a tail fin.

At the end of the day, we let Adam decide on which stuffed animal he wanted and without even gentle prodding from me, he chose Shamu!  I was so thrilled.  You gotta have a Shamu!

We went to El Torito for dinner that night.  I grew up eating at El Torito so when we drove past it on one of the first days there, I knew we had to go!  I was so excited to get to wear a bull hat!!  Funny how some things don’t change in 18+ years!

That night, Adam had lots of fun flipping his Shamu around.  It made my mother-heart melt to know he had experience something I loved as a child and now he was loving it too!

I snapped this sweet photo.  He had a really hard time falling asleep with the light on each night but Nat and I just couldn’t bring ourselves to go to bed at 8:30 or 9:00!

Our next stop…LEGOLAND!