The Lord is good to this little Bench family. We needed some quality family time and our neighbors (we really do have the best neighbors aka abuelos) have a daughter that works at Sea World and got us some free tickets. Pretty sure we wouldn't have gone to Sea World otherwise. After finally finding a Saturday that worked for all of us we were determined to go despite the impending rain. We get to the parks and go to get a map when all of a sudden this lady dressed in a funny fishy-ish outfit stops us. She says that it is Sea World's 50th year and that they wanted to share their presents with their visitors. Yahoo! for us. We got free dining for the whole day (which almost made me cry because they don't allow outside food and we really didn't want to have to pay $50 just for food while we were there). They also gave James the BEST toy. It was a little whale bubble blower. His little fingers hardly left the trigger until his bubbles were all gone. I say it was the best gift because the night before both Chris and I blew bubbles for James until we were light-headed. Seth also got a little stuffed dolphin. As we walked away I said to Chris, "Yep. We were meant to come today." What a blessing. I got a little frustrated at the rain and the fact that I forgot how hard it is to go crazy places with a nursing infant, but I humbled myself and chose a better attitude. Even if it was a little harder than I wanted it to be. I remember thinking that it would be really nice if the rain stopped, but then it hit me that I needed to be grateful despite the rain. We got free food and some very meaningful toys and we didn't even have to pay to get in the park for Pete's sake. Yeah. I learned that I am still human with human emotions. The rain didn't stop the whole day but we looked good in our Perry the Platypus rain ponchos. Chris rode the Manta roller coaster. I rode the Kraken. Then we ate lunch and James and Chris rode rides until the killer whale show. That was my favorite part and watching James' face light up at seeing all the whales was worth every drop of rain. James LOVED the rides and the fish and the sharks and the whales, but really I think he enjoyed spending that time with daddy. We have started potty training again this week and I was worried that he might have an accident so I brought 4 changes of pants for him, but the only reason we changed his clothes was because he got soaked from the rain. He didn't have a single accident. Well, except for throwing up on the Empire of the Penguin ride. Poor kid. I don't think his little tummy liked all those rides. I feel bad for the people who had to clean it up. And slightly grateful that I didn't have to. Seth was a trooper. As long as he was being carried he was happy. He did take some good naps in the stroller too. We also opened an oyster and got a pearl just for fun. All in all it was a good family day. As Chris says, "We got a trip to Sea World for $18 and they threw in a free pearl." If I had known how easy it was to get around Sea World, I would have splurged every single year for an annual pass and gone here all the time just to see the animals. Maybe we'll do that this year.
We passed up seeing the cartoon whale, but I love seeing James interact with the characters so I asked if we could stop. James wouldn't turn around for a picture. He kept telling the penguin all about the things he saw. It's a good thing we stopped because it got us to the right place at the right time to get our freebies.
The beloved whale bubble gun.
And the dolphin.
Waiting for the killer whale show.
That face :) I had the camera turned so we could see so he was making funny faces.
Seth loved the whale show :)
Chris and I stopped to play this turtle game and I kept glancing at the kids. We get almost done and see James holding the last turtle. I forgot he wasn't strapped in. Good thing he was more interested in playing with us than running off.
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Our awesome, very lightweight, compact double stroller so we can stroll both kids around....
and yet we still end up packing them around. Guess that's what happens when it rains all day, everything you brought gets soaked, your kid throws up, and you'd rather just carry them and snuggle than make them sit in a cold stroller and listen to them cry the whole way to the car like we usually do.
I've been eyeing your stroller!! Those are so nice! Did you get it new or used? Are both kids happy and able to see ok? They seem awesome!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my stroller! I looked for used but couldn't find a single one so we bought the Classic model at Target because that's where I found it the cheapest and we had some gift cards and a 10% off for registering for Seth's baby shower. I also bought the bar that the car seat can snap to. I like that I can rearrange the seats a couple of different ways. We call the back seat the "hide out" and James actually preferred to sit there for a while, because we told him it was the cool place to sit. He now sits in the front and Seth sits in back. Both kids do fine in either seat, but James gets bored in the back sometimes and plays with the wheels if we are stopped for too long. As long as I keep moving then both kids are happy and things are good. Honestly, I thought the kid in the back would hate sitting there, but it really hasn't been a problem. I also love that I'm not pushing around a boat when we go places. Everyone always looks twice when the see the stroller.
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