Valentine's Day at Sea World!

I got to spend Valentine's Day with my two special guys at Sea World!  Chris suggested we go to Sea World for the day, and I could not have been more excited!  Pearce kept asking if he was going to see Dumbo and sharks :)  The drive down wasn't bad at all.  Took us right around 2 hours.  The park opened at noon, so we got there at 11:45.  The weather was absolutely perfect and because it was not during a busy time, it wasn't very crowded, either.  Ash told me the main things that she thought would be good for Pearce and then the rest of the time, we just kind of explored.  Our first stop was the Sesame Street play area.  There were several little kid rides, a huge climbing playscape, and a splash pad.  After giving Cookie Monster a big hug, Pearce wanted to go to the splash pad.  Thank goodness I brought an extra change of clothes!  I felt like we were prepared for the day, except for the fact that I did not bring Pearce's swimsuit.  I really didn't think they would have the water areas open, but they sure did and Pearce loved it!  After that, Pearce rode the rides.  Our first one was the Shamu Express which was a little roller coaster.  Loved it!  Next, we rode a crazy sea urchin ride, but Pearce loved it too!  Then he wanted to ride something "that went way up high."  So he rode an Elmo ride that went way up high and he rode it all by himself!  After the rides, he did the climbing playscape for a while and then it was time to go see our first show.  We saw Shamu's Story.  Pearce sat through the whole show and was just mesmerized.  Then he started saying he wanted to go swimming with Shamu.  I told Pearce he had to know how to swim in order to swim with Shamu and the trainers, thinking he wasn't serious and that answer would satisfy him.  He said he does know how to swim because he takes swimming lessons.  He would not let up about wanting to go swim with Shamu, so finally I just said, "Ok, Pearce, I'll ask at the end of the show."  So, Pearce kept watching the show, but every few minutes, he reminded me that I was going to ask he could swim with Shamu.  So at the end of the show, Pearce said "Ok, mommy, go ask if I can swim."  So, Chris said he would call and ask.  Then Chris said "Sorry, buddy, they said you have to be older than 3 years old."  Oh man, Pearce's world came crashing down.  He cried and cried and was totally disappointed.  I mean, if he could have put on his floatie and jumped in with Shamu, I think he totally would have done it.  We cheered him up with an ice cream cone and then started exploring the rest of the park.  We saw the alligators, the dolphins, and the big fish and sharks.  Pearce kept talking about sharks, but when we saw them, he did not want to get close to the big windows at all!  We also found another neat playscape that Pearce did not want to leave.  What's so funny is that he did love seeing the animals and riding the rides, but we could not get him to leave those playscapes!  At 4:45, it was time for our last show.  We went to see Azul which had dolphins and Beluga whales, plus divers and synchronized swimmers.  This show was really, really neat.  Pearce loved watching the divers do flips off the high dives.  Then he started in on wanting to go swim with the dolphins.  Oh, dear Lord, not again :)  After the show, Chris took Pearce to the Sesame Street play area while I raced to ride the two biggest roller coasters there.  They were so scary, but sooo fun!  On our way out, we had to stop at the gift shop to get Pearce a stuffed Shamu and one other toy.  He chose miniature sea animals for the bathtub.  We had such a great time at Sea World!