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| "Is that whale coming through the glass MOMMA!??!?!" |
With only 2 in our room last night, we slept pretty well (Grannymom and Grandpa had the others). Campbell did have a pretty good cough but she slept until she heard us stirring around 6 feeding Keaton. Keaton had also woken up around 1:30. But man, I tell you the walls on a cruise ship are very thin-we could hear people and music-probably didn't help that our porthole was open (how fun). Despite the noise, Robby and I could barely stay awake for finish the blog last night-traveling is tough stuff.
We were up and getting ready when we got a note saying that the others were going on a walk. By the time they came back, we had packed up and were ready to go. Grannymom said that everyone slept well but Graham and Reagan were in pretty foul moods first thing this morning. Reagan's first words to me were "can I change pants?"-seriously, I am going to have some major issues when she is a teenager. And I don't even remember what Graham was fussing about. He didn't wake up with fever but is still a bit not himself. I am attributing this to his cold and not that he is in a phase!
So we left the Queen Mary and headed back down the coast to return to San Diego. Sea World opened at 10 and that is where we were headed. We did have 2 stops on the way there-donuts and gas/potty. We were about 2 hours away so we needed both. The donuts were from a local place and excellent and this kept the kids busy for at least 30 miles.
We haven't ever been to a Sea World and didn't really know what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. The first area that we stopped at was an Elmo ride section. We rode 2 of the 3 rides there-similar to the tea cups and a dumbo ride. Then the kids climbed on a net area, bounced on some jumpys and crawled through a tunnel. They would have loved to come back to this area during the day but we didn't have time (the park closed at 5).
We went to the Sea Lion show and it was neat but I think that some of the sea lions weren't behaving today and following their trainers. The show was only about 15 minutes and no one in the "soak zone" got soaked or even wet. We had set the big 3 in the soak zone and we were a few rows behind them-they didn't get a bit wet and Reagan was a tad disappointed. The weather was probably in the low to mid 70s. We had left most jackets in the car but didn't really need them in sun.
Next up, we saw some other animals (sorry, I don't remember what kind-everything kind of runs together) and then went to the top of the sky tower. It was a slowly rotating tower that went pretty high. The kids were in awe of the view.
Next up was Dining with Shamu. Robby had planned a special treat for the kids and we had a late lunch with Shamu. It was pretty neat. First we went through the buffet line-lots of good food and then the trainer talked while we ate. She had the whale do a few things, she explained things, we watched him jump a few times-pretty neat stuff. Then when the trainer talk/show was over, we went back and finished eating and got dessert. They had great desserts but the favorite at our table were the huge shortbread cookies with chocolate icing shaped like a whale. Yummy!
The highlight of the show was when the trainer told the two tables next to ours that the whale was going to jump up on the ledge beside their tables and that the water might come through the cracks in the glass. I thought, well goodness just missed it by a table and we could have seen the show. Robby told Anderson that he might want to scoot back but it all happened so fast. The trainer gave the signal and that 9 thousand pound whale jumped up and landed right in front of our table. It could not have been any more perfect. Anderson jumped, Graham jumped, I jumped, Keaton even jumped. Water poured through the cracks in the glass-Anderson was soaked! We were so close to that whale-PRICELESS.
Then we went a touched a few star fish and walked through a few more areas seeing lots more sea life. Then we started toward the Shamu show (as if we hadn't already seen him). Well, we thought that since the kids didn't get wet at the Sea Lion show in the soak zone that maybe we could sit in a soak zone for this show. So we sat in that area-not near the front but more towards the back. We knew that we were living on the edge but thought that we could just duck and avoid the sprinkles of water when they fell on our heads. So the show was great-Campbell loved the shows. She would clap, raise her hands. She was more fun to watch than the actual show. At the end, the whales started splashing and we thought, hmm aren't we lucky to not get splashed. Reagan even asked to go down closer so she could get wet and we sent her on down. Oh, I forgot to mention that Grandpa and Anderson decided that they didn't want to get wet and they moved higher up before the show started (probably very wise).
And then, the next thing we knew we were getting splashed over and over and over again. Keaton screams, Campbell screams, Graham screams-of course anyone would scream when a bucket or two of icy cold salt water is thrown at your face. Grannymom jumps up and gets Keaton out of there and Robby and I just sat there with a stunned look on our face. Reagan came back from a few seats down lower and she wasn't nearly as soaked as us-we were in an unlucky spot. Graham shouted to Robby that he did not want to come back there again.
I can not tell you how wet we were-Campbell's hair was soaked, my jeans were drenched, the baby had to be changed. And even walking around the park for the rest of the day in coolish weather and wet jeans it was still worth every penny. So, so much fun.
The next thing was a trip across the water in their gondola. We had to divide up into three cars-Grannymom, Grandpa and Anderson, Campbell, Robby and Graham and Reagan, Keaton and me. I think this was Anderson's favorite ride of the day. Next up was saw the penguins, polar bears and more whales. Anderson, Reagan and Robby rode a helicopter simulator through the arctic and then caught up with us after we had toured the arctic. It was nearing 4:30 so we headed back to the kiddie area to ride the one last ride-a spinning pirate ship type ride. Reagan had found herself a dollar in her pants pocket and remembered that she didn't get anything at Ikea on our Dallas trip so she thought she needed to go shopping. We hurried and looked in 2 stores and she picked a shamu mood necklace. It is cute and she knew she only had 6 dollars to spend and was cost conscience.
The others had already gone to the van so we had to run to catch up with them. Then we had about 30 minutes to go to get to tonight's hotel. Along the way the scenery was beautiful but it wasn't so pretty in the van. Campbell had coughed and coughed and coughed until she upchucked twice! Yuck, thankfully it wasn't...oh, I will spare you the details. I eventually just took her out of her car seat and stripped her down to her diaper (that is when she decided that she disparately needed her shoes on). Hopefully I was able to clean the car seat enough that we can manage in the car tomorrow-at least it isn't crazy hot outside. Anyway, after her episodes, she would start coughing again and I would grab a bag and bring it towards her and she would shove it away, say no and immediately stop coughing.
This all didn't slow her down any because she was soon running down the hotel hallway wearing only her diaper and tennis shoes. We are in a Residence Inn tonight so we have two rooms and a living area which means as Robby unloaded and started laundry (3 whole loads) we were able to give all 5 baths in 2 different tubs-that makes things so nice. Grannymom washed the boys and I washed the girls. Keaton fussed during her bath but fell asleep as soon as I lotioned up her little body and has yet to move.
The kids then sat in the floor playing and coloring until Robby bought them a light supper to eat. Then more playtime until it was bedtime. They all laid down quietly and after a bit we had to get Campbell up since she was coughing. We gave her medicine, she did Anderson's breather and got a handful of vapor rub on her tummy (seriously, I feel like I travel with a drug store with me but sometimes it is worth it). Then she saw Robby's game phone and sat and played it for a few minutes.
Big day tomorrow-Legoland!
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