Memorial Weekend Fun - Part I

Saturday, May 28 we loaded up Mark and Vickie's car and headed to San Antonio for a quick weekend trip to Sea World. Elle had no idea what was in store for her (and neither did any of us!) Lee, Elle, Mark, Vickie, Uncle Jake and myself pulled in to the parking lot around 11:00am on Saturday....an hour later we were finally inside the park! It has probably been 20 years since I had been to Sea World - needless to say I was just as amazed as Elle was at all the attractions the park had to offer!

Elle waiting patiently for us to purchase our tickets...it was already 100 degrees by the time we got inside the park!

We briefly stopped in to watch part of the Azul show before heading to the sea lion show - elle was so amazed to see the dolphins jump!

Checkin' out the sea lion show....Elle wasn't too sure what to think of the performers

After the sea lion show we headed to see Shamu. It was so hot by this point that we had to take Elle's hearing aids out because she had sweat just dripping down her little face. She never once complained or whined and after the Shamu show we all headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap! That evening we strolled along the River Walk and had a fabulous dinner at the Little Rhein Steakhouse....even Elle enjoyed sitting outside and enjoying the wonderful breeze.

Sunday morning we got to the park before it opened and the first thing we did as soon as those gates opened was head to see the dolphins.

Elle didn't want to feed the dolphins but we were lucky enough to have one come and swim right up to us. We all loved it - Elle wasn't too thrilled with the big dolphin being so close but the only thing she really objected to was leaning on the wall to get closer. As long as she was being held - she was totally cool with the up close encounter.

We checked out the aquarium, alligators and playground before heading to see the Azul show with the beluga whales and dolphins.

The Azul show was by far the best show EVER! Not only were the Beluga whales and dolphins amazing but the show also included amazing acrobats and synchronized swimmers. At several points during the show huge parrots flew over the audience. It was just absolutely amazing and kept Elle entertained the entire time. After the show, we went down front to say hi to some of the performers

little did we know that we were going to get a close up with one of the stars....

We had such a fun trip - despite the 100 degree weather. Elle was a little super trooper and did so well for all the traveling and heat! We left for home on Sunday afternoon and can't wait for the next time we get to go see the "baby beluga" as Elle calls the whales! We had so much fun with Uncle Jake, ViVi and Big Daddy. Elle loves them all so much so she was enjoying every minute of our quick little getaway!