Sea World!

I took Chase to Sea World in San Antonio yesterday for a special "mom/son" bonding day. I got a free Fun Pass for Teacher Appreciation Week that I had to redeem in person before the end of the month, so we made a 1-day trip out of it. We had TONS of fun. Chase was awesome. I told him he could do whatever he wanted because it was our day. For awhile there I felt like I paid $55 for him to run around in sprinklers and slide down slides, but we also did other things. We saw the Shamu show, which was cool:

Sorry about the finger in the shot.  We were using a disposable water camera and it was a weird experience going back to pre-digital times.  You have to look through a tiny hole?  What??  It was fun trying to explain to Chase how to take the picture, why we couldn't see the pictures right away, why we only had so many we could take, how we had to go to the store to get the pictures, that we weren't going to get the camera back (he was really upset about that one), etc.  Anyway....

Chase really wanted to get wet, so we hurried to get to the Shamu show early so we could get a seat up front. Right when we got there he said he had to go potty so we ran to the nearest restroom. I was standing outside the stall it seemed to be taking him forever! Of course it wasn't a quick #1 potty stop, it was a #1 and a #2.  So needless to say, we didn't get there in enough time to sit up front.  He was really sad we didn't get wet, so we made plans to get to the dolphin show early so we could get wet there.

We did get to the "dolphin show" (which was the Azul show) early and sat in the splash zone right up front, but we still didn't get wet, which Chase was very sad about. It was an incredible show, though. They had dolphins, beluga whales, exotic birds flying in formations over the audience (thank goodness I didn't get pooped on), and amazing acrobats and aerialists. Chase was really impressed by the acrobats and we had the cutest conversation about them when I tucked him in last night:

CHASE: Those acrobats were cool, weren't they?
MOM: They were cool.  Do you want to be an acrobat when you grow up?
CHASE:  I don't know.
MOM: You can be whatever you want to be.
CHASE: What do you want to be when you grow up?
MOM: I'm already grown up.  I'm a teacher.
CHASE: No, but you can still do it.  You can be an acrobat.
MOM: I don't think I want to be an acrobat.
CHASE: Why?
MOM: Because I like teaching.
CHASE: But Mom (*insert serious face here*)....  You can be whatever you want to be.
MOM: (Laughing) You're right, Chase. Thanks.
CHASE: So you will be an acrobat.
MOM: If you say so.
CHASE: And then I will be an acrobat, too, and we can jump off of tall diving boards together.
MOM: Sounds like a plan.

He wanted to stay after the show to get a picture with a few of them, but then got shy (it was also the last thing we did, so he was tired and had blisters on his feet). I am posting this picture because this post is all about our experience, though I look HORRIFIC. So I have to put a disclaimer in here because it will make me feel better: It was like a million degrees (106) and we had gotten SOAKED in the water park earlier in the day, I wore NO makeup and my hair air-dried in the wind. I think that about covers it. Here you go:

Other than those two shows we spent a lot of time at the kids sprinkler area, and I did not hold back. It was HOT. I went running around in my swimsuit right alongside Chase. It was a blast and it felt SO good!

Why does Chase's head look bigger than mine?  Anyway....

This kid cracks me up with what he does with some of those sprinklers:

And because Chase was still sad about not getting soaked by the animals I took him to the bridge by that water ride where the boat falls down a ramp and splashes into the water (you know, the one where the people watching get more soaked than the people on the ride?).  He LOVED it. He probably could have stayed there all day. Can you find him in this pic? He's the little one! I still can't believe the waves didn't knock him over.

And before we headed home we of course had to stop for a sweet treat!

After we pulled out of the park at the end of the day Chase was practically in mid-sentence when all went silent:

I expected him to sleep for a long time, but about 15 minutes later I heard, "Why didn't the dolphins splash us?" I asked him if he had a good nap and he said, "I didn't sleep."

Right.

I love that kid.

P.S. Did you read the hilarious thing Chase said on the way home two posts ago?

P.P.S. This is my second post of the day.  Check out the previous post if you haven't already!