A Sea World Christmas - Part Two

When the Sesame Street show let out, the boys were begging to ride the Sky Tower and take a look at the park by air. This has become one of the highlights of our Sea World trips (and thankfully because we're passholders, it's free!). We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to ride, but again we ended up having a very pleasant conversation with a family in line and trading information about the different rides and shows. Here's some of the views of the Christmas decorations from above - and you can see how packed the park was from the parking lot.

While up in the Sky Tower the boys spotted two other things that they wanted to do that we have never stopped at before. They wanted to see the tank where the divers bring up the pearls and they wanted to ride the flamingo paddleboats. The pearl tank was at the base of the Tower, so that part was easy. Wesley was fascinated by the lady who kept blowing bubbles at him from behind the glass.

We decided next to check out any of the animal exhibits that the boys wanted to visit. Since we come so often, we don't usually insist on seeing everything anymore. Parker wanted to see the baby dolphins and the big turtles; Wesley wanted to see the alligators.

As we cut past the big dolphin tank, the boys spotted these interactive metal fish - you could control their tail movements by turning the metal disks at the bottom of the poles. That provided an interesting diversion for a while.

On our way back to Shamu's Happy Harbor from the animal exhibits, Mommy checked out the paddleboat situation. We got a discount on the fare with our passes and it looked fairly easy to do. The only wildcard was Wesley. Would he sit still and behave or try to wriggle out of the flamingo? The boys were amused by their lifevests (because of the strap that went through their legs to hook in the back) and patiently stood in the line to wait their turn. The paddleboats turned out to be so much fun! Mommy could easily pedal from her side and Parker used the control in the middle to steer. Wesley was mesmerized by being on the water and while he talked a blue streak, he sat completely STILL the entire time we were in the boat!

Back in Shamu's Happy Harbor the boys played on the slides and nets for a while longer before deciding that they wanted to ride the Flying Fiddler. We waited in line for 30 minutes for a 2 minute ride but they were such happy campers because they got to ride by themselves for the very first time ever.
Mommy had the boys jump in the stroller and she literally ran pushing it all the way back to Sea Lion and Otter Stadium so we could get there in time for the Clyde and Seamore Christmas show. Again we managed to get there and grab some of the last seats before they closed the stadium. It was really hilarious and the boys were thrilled to see not just the sea lions but also the walrus!
While there were a few more shows that we wanted to see, it was after 7:00pm and we were all starting to get really tired. Knowing we had the drive back home, we decided to call it a night. We made a loop through the park one more time to see the Christmas decorations all lit up and then headed to turn the stroller back in.

We grabbed dinner from McDonald's on the way home and made it back to Ocala by 9:30pm. Wesley slept most of the way home and of course woke up 5 minutes before we got back to the house. So the boys ended up with movie night again - watching the "Polar Express" from their sleeping bags in the toy room.