Monday, April 05, 2004
Jeff, Parker and I got to Sea World first and met up with my mom-friend Joanne and family first. We went ahead and saw some stingrays, turtles and manatees before meeting up with Adrielle and her family.
Posing in front of the bronze manatees (notice Parker with a cookie, which was the source of future Parker-tantrums)
M., J., and Parker
We then went and had lunch at one of Sea World's eateries, and found out just how Sea World makes all their money (note to self: bring food next time); Parker was blissfully asleep while we ate.
After lunch, we headed over to see the Dolphin show, which was a HUGE hit. Parker, refreshed from his nap and covered in strawberry juice, points out the dolphins when the show starts ...
...it was doing this:
D., Parker, and C. clapping along, with J. looking backwards
All October Babies
We ended up going over to the children's play area, and slid slides, traversed high adventure houses, played drums, and ended up in the age-appropriate play section, complete with a mini-bounce house (much enjoyed), mini-adventure house, huge sandpit with playsets, houses, etc. Here, the kids had a blast while the parents recuperated ... sorry, no pictures. However, just to the side of this area was a HUGE grassy area, where we went over to have the "obligatory" pictures.
I just loved meeting up with Joanne and her family; they just seemed so great, and the kids were awesome. It was kinda weird, though, because as much as we all know each other, at first I couldn't think of anything to talk about with Joanne ... can you imagine? She was great though, and kept the conversation going, and Jeff and I enjoyed meeting them. J. and M. were so well-behaved and laid back; they appeared to be having a ton of fun. C. is just a spit-fire ... so full of energy and adventure. She's grown so very much from when we last saw her, when she tried to get Parker's attention. Now he's the one chasing her!
It was so cool meeting up with Adrielle again, and meeting her husband and D. They were all very energetic and relaxed, and we ended up spending the rest of the day with them, all the way up to seeing the lame fireworks Sea World has to offer (we're pretty spoiled with the extravaganzas Disney has). D. was so sweet and introspective, and C. obviously adored him, following her big brother around at times. It was great to see them interact.
Soon, it was all three of the October Babes with an impromptu "Ring Around The Rosie".
Not long after that, older boys M. and D. got in on the action with some good-natured chase/follow-the-leader (note: Parker doesn't follow very well).
Finally, after some energy was expended, we rounded the kids up for "photo-time" and got some pictures with them, just them, and then without them.
All in all, we had a great time, despite the resultant sunburn, and Parker's status as most-frequent-tantrummer . Jeff and I both commented on how fun it was to meet up with other families that have kids Parker's age and that we find so easy to get along with. Thanks for the fun, Joanne and Adrielle !!
------------------------------------------------