Fall Vacation-- SeaWorld Day 2

SeaWorld Lighthouse

Katima and her new calf born Oct. 9

We all enjoyed the Killer Whale show.  We sat several rows up so we were out of the splash zone.

The girls loved the rides in the kid's area at SeaWorld.  There were no lines to ride, unlike the Magic Kingdom.

Abbie and Uncle Matt pose for a picture in front of a tropcial aquarium.

Ah! There is a stingray on my head.

We visited SeaWorld for a second day on Tuesday before we headed home.  There are so many shows and exhibits at SeaWorld that you really need two days.  Uncle Matt and Aunt Martha came with us to SeaWorld this time.  Phil decided to sleep in this time at the hotel, but he joined us in the afternoon at the park.  It was exciting to see a newborn killer whale during our visit.  The calf was about 10 days old during our visit.  The baby whale was nine feet long and 350 pounds at birth; it will be a while before we find out if she is a boy or a girl.  After seeing some shows, our family visited the kids' area: Shamu's Happy Harbor while the others in our group rode some thrill rides.  Abbie and Sophie had an awesome time riding the kiddie roller coaster, the carousel, and other rides over and over again.  There were no waits for any of the kids' rides, which was wonderful.  After 1.5 hours of nonstop fun, we headed over to meet Phil, Martha, and Matt on the other side of the park.  The girls enjoyed some cotton candy compliments of Uncle Matt.  We visited one last aquarium with stingrays and tropical fish before we headed back to the hotel.  The girls were tired from three days in a row at theme parks, and they were in bed by 7:30 PM.  Phil gave us a ride to the Orlando airport the next morning and we all headed home.

Fall Vacation--SeaWorld Day 1

We met Abby Cadabby at SeaWorld.  Our Abbie is still scared of people wearing costumes.

Sophie met some old sea hags.

SeaWorld had all kinds of photo opportunites with different characters.

Sea Lions

The Penguin Encounter

Sophie at the underwater viewing area for dolphins

On Sunday afternoon, we drove from the beach to Orlando to visit SeaWorld.  On the weekends in October, SeaWorld has a Halloween Spooktacular program, where they have all sorts of Halloween festivities including trick or treating.  We spent most of the afternoon letting Sophie get pictures with different characters and getting candy.  Abbie is still scared of people dressed up, so she stayed away.  In the late afternoon, we visited the penguins, sea lions, manatee, and dolphin exhibits.  The girls loved the underwater viewing at the dolphin area. We had a great time, and we saved some attractions and shows to see with Aunt Martha and Uncle Matt Riley on Wednesday when we would go again to SeaWorld.

Animal Kingdom

Matt and the girls playing the drums

Tom, Teresa, Abbie, Phil, me, Sophie & Matt at Animal Kingdom

a giraffe we saw right next to us on our safari ride

While we were at Disney, we visited each of the four main parks for at least one day each. I loved Magic Kingdom with the kids and I also really enjoyed Animal Kingdom. On Wednesday, when we went to Animal Kingdom it became extremely hot and stayed that way for the rest of our trip. My parents and my sister, Martha, headed back to TN on Wednesday while the rest of us stayed in Orlando. Matt and I and the girls as well as my brother, Phil, moved over to the timeshare where Matt's family was staying because there was plenty of room there. We ended up splitting Animal Kingdom up over two days. I really loved the Finding Nemo show there and the Lion King show was good too. I also loved the Mt. Everest ride there and the safari thing was cool too. While we were in Orlando, they were experiencing record highs for October (in the mid-90's). We weren't really counting on it to be that hot but at least you can go into some indoor rides and shows and cool off. Plus, the girls went back each day for a nap so some of us could usually get a break from the heat. All of the parks had some fun things to do. All in all, it was a wonderful trip! I look forward to going back in a couple of years when Abbie can enjoy it more.