World of the sea critters

Weekend before last, I took my sweet little CASA kiddos to Sea World for the day. I don't think I've been to Sea World in about a decade, so I was honestly interested to check it out, post Blackfish.

The weather was picture perfect. It started out a bit cool in the 50s with all three of us in jackets. But by early afternoon it had warmed up into the low 70s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I'm thinking it was convenient we were all wearing pants and lightweight long sleeve shirts or we might have arrived home with some serious sunburn.

The Clyde and Seamore show is an old standby from when my now 23-year-old was in elementary school. I believe it was my CASA 5th grader's highlight of the day. Because that's pretty much all we did was trek from show to show. I would have thought they'd want to stop and ride at least a couple things, but nope. We ate some subpar pasta and pizza because they've got you over a barrel with the incredibly mediocre offerings. Plus chowed on ginormous pretzels for a mid-afternoon snack that we washed down with Icees. Honest to betsy, I can't recall seeing one place that had the kiddie staple of chicken nuggets, and I promise you we walked the length of the entire park. 

In the video above, we're waiting for a show to start. When the song before this 80s classic (I hummed along to) cranked up, the 11-year-old shook his head and said, "Wow, this song is so summer 2017." It dawned on me that I've reached the age where I'm old enough to be an elementary child's grandmother. Back when I first started teaching, I just wanted to be old enough to be thought of as a momma figure and now I've moved on to nanny and maw maw status. If or when I return to the classroom, I'll be the old guard now amongst the whipper snapper recent college grads the same age as our older daughter. 

What is it about the beluga whales that I just want to snuggle them? Maybe sneak one outta there to come live in our backyard pool?

One change since the last time I attended the killer whale show is that the trainers no longer get into the water with these behemoths.

On our march from the last show out to my car around 4:30, the 1st grader chose a stuffed whale for her treat at the gift shop. On the ride back to their house, before they conked out for a little snooze, I could hear her in the backseat calling the whale "baby" and her big brother said she was stroking its fur. Awww, so sweet!