Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Birthdays & Vacays

     March is a birthday month at our house!  We celebrated Marianna's 8th & Ninja Clay's 3rd birthday this year! 
      We saved up (plus family pitched in) for our AMAZING family trip to Discovery Cove & Sea World in Orlando, FL.  Our little dolphin lover finally got her dream come true!  

We all had a GREAT time together!

 


    
     Discovery Cove is the most spectacular place we've ever been!  We've looked into going several different times.  It is pretty pricey though, so we would always back out.  However, Marianna never relented on her begging to swim with the dolphins.  Finally, we decided to bite the bullet & buy the tickets.  Thankfully, different family members gave Marianna birthday money since the dolphin experience was extra.  She was beside herself excited!  We all LOVED the whole park!  It is worth every penny paid!  It is not crowded at all as they only pre-sale so many passes per day.  It is beyond beautiful!  It's as near to heaven on earth for 10 hours!  We snorkeled in coral reefs with fish & other sea life, fed & petted tropical birds, watched marmosets & otters play as we swam, floated around in the lazy river, & much, much more!  All of your gear, meals, snacks, lockers, towels, sun screen, strollers, & anything else you can think of is included in the price.  Even the bathrooms are fully stocked with shampoo, conditioner, soap, bags for wet clothes, & warm towels.  The staff members all walk around catering to you & your family.  All you do is show up dressed to swim as you lounge around & play on the beautiful, pristine beaches for the day!  I just can't say enough wonderful things about it!  We all can't wait to go back sometime!  Also included in the ticket package is a day at Sea World & Aquatica (though we didn't stay another extra day for Aquatica)!
          Sea World was tons of fun as usual!  It is the park's 50th anniversary this year.  They opened several new exhibits & shows.  The animal encounters are tops!  We also got to see all of the Sesame Street characters in Elmo Rocks.  The little ones really enjoyed that! 
       The older girls were really the only ones big enough for most of the rides.  They went off with Daddy while I kept the little 3 in the kids zone.  Raegan was content to eat ice cream.  Clay & Graham couldn't resist getting wet in the splash park.  I wasn't prepared for that, so I bought Clay something to wear.  Of course, they were too expensive, so I just let baby Graham get wet in a diaper cover!  lol 
 
 
     The last day we were exhausted.  We slept in.  The girls & I went shopping at the Orlando outlets while Nathan & the boys went to Bass Pro.
 The memories we made together are priceless!

2 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday...wow that is some kind trip!! Glad you got to go.

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  2. How fun. I have never heard of Discovery Cove, but that sounds amazing. I am so glad you had such a great time. Happy birthday Marianna and Clay.

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