"We're going to Sea World Christmas!"

We just LOVE going to Sea World at Christmas time.  There's always lots to see & do, and when you live close, you can hit it at the times when there aren't big crowds... like right before a huge rainstorm.

The crew with the lovely Christmas tree at the main gate (Caleb wore his "Shark Boy" hat - it was so appropriate. He told us on the ride there that he was excited to show his hat to the animals):

 The boys at the Candy Cane Forest:

 The girls too!

 Elise's "I can tell a flash is coming" face:

 Walking the path in the Fanta-Sea:

 There were LOTS of animals in this Fanta-Sea - Mrs Claus Dolphin:

 And a Texas snow storm (bubbles):

 Caleb was SO excited to find another friendly shark:

 And he was really excited about the Balooga too (when we took this pic the crowd behind us was ooh-ing and ahh-ing about how cute our kids are, yeah, we know):

 Caleb taught the balooga a little stomping dance - I don't know why, but watching the whale play along with Caleb was super cute:

 Then there was the Sesame Street Christmas show - Caleb went nuts for it, and sang along with most of the songs - he really likes It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jingle Bells & Jingle Bell Rock, and he told me that Rudolph is his favorite Reindeer song:

 I was holding Elise for the show & couldn't tell how she was reacting, I wanted to get a pic, but if I used the flash I knew she'd squint up, so here's her in-the-dark pic. She was pretty enthralled with the show:

 (Wow Josh is handsome:)

 We took a break in the action to let the boys climb around in the cargo nets. It had started to rain then, so I took cover with Elise, but that lady did NOT want to be held when there were adventures about, so I put her down by the nets and:

She climbed them!  She got up there, about 6 inches off the ground, then she turned and looked at me with a very serious look, turned back to look at the net, then turned the other way to look at me again.  I took that to mean, "Ah, Ma?  What am I supposed to do now?" I pulled her off and set her down at the bottom & away she went again.  What an explorer!  A lady standing nearby couldn't believe she's just 10 months old - that's our girl!

Then we took Elise & Caleb on the carousel - it was Elise's first time riding a horse. The rule is that they have to be able to walk in order to ride a horse instead of a bench... Josh is counting 8 steps in a row to mean she's a "walker" & put her on:

 I couldn't get pics when the horse was moving (rules, rules), but Elise loved it & smiled all the while.

 Tanking up at the Sea Lion Show:

 The little otter was singing Christmas songs, he's so talented.

 The grand finale - the stage is decorated & lit, ready for Santa:

 But this is who came out the chimney!

 But don't worry, the sea lions still got their gifts - Sea World style:

By this time the rain had really picked up, so we had to retreat to the car. BUT that might mean a Sea World Christmas Adventure Part 2 may be coming this weekend!