The Little Things In Life With The Webers: Our Family Adventure to Sea World

Jake and I have been talking about taking the girls to Sea World for probably about a year now but something always would come up and our "maybe this weekend date" would get pushed back again. I have no idea how it happened but Friday night around 6:30 the topic of Sea World came up and somehow we officially set the date as we sealed it by saying, "KYLIE JO WE ARE GOING TO SEA WORLD TOMORROW!" There was no going back because that girl was excited! To be honest we were all pretty pumped because we never just plan things last minute. Jake and I used to before the girls but when they gloriously entered the picture we sort of lost the ability to do things on a whim.

At 6:15 on Saturday morning the alarm came a calling and my first thought was....ugh! I just want to sleep more! By 7:15 we were pulling out of the driveway with bags of cheerios and bowls of eggs in our hands. The adrenaline was pumping through our veins as we set out onto our unplanned journey. At some point during this whirlwind of spontaneity I distinctly remember saying to my partner in parenting, "I'm super excited right now but just so you know, I am not setting my expectations too high for this family adventure."

Let me just say that when traveling with kids unset expectations are a genius thing. Of course you want it to be the most amazing time ever but honestly it just doesn't usually play out that way. That was true with our adventure to Sea World anyway. There were beautiful moments that I will cherish forever and then were moments that will fade with time which is absolutely okay!

Moments to Remember For a Lifetime

*Watching Kylie Jo's face as we told her that we were going to Sea World...shear joy
*Kylie Jo asking a million times in the car how much longer.....she was SO excited. Lila being crazy and goofy in the car! We can always count on her for some laughter.
*Walking upto Sea World...Lila saying Whale which sounds more like eel
*Watching Kylie Jo answer a true/false question and winning a killer whale stuffed animal
*Seeing the dolphins swimming around in their tank (I have always loved dolphins too)
*Lila loving a sharkey toy in one of the gift shops
*Watching Jake, Kylie Jo, and Lila share an ice cream cone
*Lila getting so excited when she saw birds and watching Kylie Jo feed a duck (That girl doesn't feed animals!)
*Jake, Kylie Jo, and Lila sitting in the window seat at the hotel eating all kinds of snacks for our rest time before we went back for the night.
*Seeing Kylie Jo's face when the killer whales jumped out of the water. That alone made the entire trip worth it
*Kylie Jo playing in the huge play fort, running through the water area, riding her first carousal, and LOVING her first roller coaster.
*Kylie Jo getting her Beluga Whale stuffed animal (Luna)....who she has had in her arms ever since
*Walking into Whataburger at 8:45 to dinner and Lila smiling jumping around and saying Eat Eat Eat
*Watching the girls at 5:00 in the morning sitting on a bed as they were watching the Disney Channel
*Getting home, getting everything unpacked, the girls down for a nap, and going to take a nap.

Moments That Will Fade From Our Memories (maybe)

*Realizing we somehow got on the wrong road and added 30 minutes to our drive there
*The heat...it could have been much worse but it was toasty!
*Lilas new found grand hatred mixed with immense fear for being near large mammals that swim or jump out of water.
*Lila clinging to me during the shows instead of just enjoying them and crying when the music got too climactic.
*That the Walrus and Seal area was closed for construction
*Both of the girls fear of loud flushing toilets and air blowing hand dryers.
*Getting lost on the way back to the hotel for naps. A five min drive took 30
*Lila not napping at all
*Realizing at 6:30 that most of the park turned into a scary haunted house. People were dressed in terrifying costumes and some of the decor was a bit too much for Jake and I. We booked it out of that section fast!
*The stench of the penguin area....I mean why penguins...why?
*Lila waking up at 1:00 at night and never falling back asleep. Then at 5:00 Lila going crazy!
*The exhausting drive home
*Unpacking....I mean it's just never fun
*Lila waking up from her nap with throw up all over her

You never know what to expect when you travel with kids. It is never easy and sometimes in the moment the bad moments so outweigh the good that you wonder why you even took the trip. But there are always stunning moments that you treasure for a lifetime. Here are some of our beautiful ones........