Sea World

As mentioned in the previous post, Jackson had been asking to see dolphins/delfines daily. Along with flying on a plane, these requests were getting a little old because when he wants something Jackson will mention it all day, everyday until it gets done.  

 Since we can't take him to see dolphins in real life yet Jack decided Sea World would be the next best thing. I'm not gonna lie, I was skeptical. It's hard enough for me to even get out of bed these days and spending the day at Sea World seemed so daunting. I'm really glad I went though (I was this close to not) because otherwise you all wouldn't have a blog post to read and I would've missed the elation on Jackson's face the entire time we were there. 

Once there the lion cub meant business. He was R-E-A-D-Y to hit the park. 

 Not one to lose character however, he left his shades on for almost the entirety of our time there. He's recently discovered that they do, in fact keep the sun out of his eyes, (I haven't been making this up all along after all!) so he now feels that he NEEDS them constantly.

 After playing around on the crazy huge jungle gym, Jackson asked to go on a ride. His first ride ever! We thought he'd love it...

 Turns out he hated it and was screaming/crying for momma for the whole 15 seconds he was on it. 

 It was the saddest thing in the world and gut wrenching for the people watching and the operator handling it. We got him off straight away and he was fine after I hugged him and kissed him a few dozen times. Poor baby :(

After the traumatic event we told the boy we were going to see a show with dolphins. He was confused but curious as he thought dolphins only lived in the sea. I think he thought we were going to the ocean--turns out we were walking all of 20 ft. to an amphitheatre. Thank you America.

 I have NEVER seen Jackson enjoy something so much. It was worth every mile we drove and every penny we spent to see him thoroughly LOVE this show. He paid such close attention and took in everything with such amazement and awe that it almost (almost) brought tears to my eyes to see him so happy.

He got to see dolphins, beluga whales and beautiful macaws flying right over his head. He had NO IDEA what beluga whales were and didn't even fathom that dolphins could talk, 'walk on water' or jump so high.

After the show we took him to see the penguin/puffin exhibit. While it wasn't as exciting to him as the show was, he still took it all in and told us all about it. 

 The Cub was definitely more excited to see the 'tiburones, manta rayas and Dory fish'. Jackson has watched a lot of Finding Nemo recently so his associations are fascinating. He can pinpoint all sea animals and while a movie is admittedly not the best way to teach a child about the world, Finding Nemo has shown Jackson all about life under the sea.

He can tell you all about sea turtles, angler fish, clown fish, sea horses, starfish, pelicans, angel fish, sting rays, coral reefs, etc. etc. in English and Spanish. Ok, ok, I'm done bragging--but he can!

and here I am at almost 36 weeks pregnant. Yikes huh?!?! Jackson and I were fading FAST here...

 ...and speaking of fading. It took all of 53 seconds for Jackson to crash once we got in the car. It was crazy how fast he was out. Thank you Sea World for giving this boy the time of his life!