San Diego Day 5 - SeaWorld & Shamu Dinner

We visited SeaWorld on Thursday because we only had a half day on the first day we went there. We got to see all the shows we missed and got to touch a couple of interesting creatures. Also, I had made reservation to "Dine with Shamu" Thursday night, though the food wasn't great, we got to see the whales really up close.

We got some fish to feed the sea lions. One of the seagulls snatch a fish right out of Jonah's hand and scared him really bad.

The "Cirque de la Mer" show.

Boys on the sky tram.

Mike saw these duckies, so cute.

Waiting for the 3D Elmo show. I thought Kira would really enjoy it but that was so not the case. She had a hard time keeping her glasses on and she didn't like the fact that they spray water on you.

The shark tank.

Manatee exhibit. They were huge.

Mike took the boys to the polar area. Kira was napping so I stayed somewhere quiet to have some peace.

Beluga whale.

Mike took the boys on the "Journey to Atlantis" ride. This was the ride photo. I guess no one was at the booth when they exited the ride so we couldn't get an actual photo. This one turned out OK though. The boys were obviously scared, but my favorite expression is the guy sitting behind Mike.

Our pool-side table at Shamu dinner.

Orkid was our whale, he was a super duper whale that did lots of jumps and didn't mind showing off his stuff. I'm glad that he didn't splash us or get salt water in our food.

Boys goofing around on the sky tower ride.

We got to touch a few bat rays. They were softer than I thought they would be, but very rubbery.

Kira rocking out during the night time "Shamu Rocks" show. We sat in the upper deck, away from the soak zone.

Fireworks went off as we exited the park.

We bought whales as souvenirs for the kids. Kira got a whale with a baby attached to it while the boys got whale tail necklaces.

San Diego Day 4 - Wild Animal Park

SD Wild Animal Park was a really cool place for animals. They have over 1800 acres of land dedicated to wild life and animal conservation. They also have various shows and animal encounters all over the park where you get to meet the animals up close and personal.

Kira asked to be on the pig on the carousel (because of Belmont Park), but there weren't any, so she picked a bunny.

Jonah holding a porcupine quill at our first animal encounter with "Poky" the porcupine.

This is a hawk of some sort, one of the many performers in the flight bird show.

Jake really wanted to go on the huge yellow air balloon, but it was $20 per person for 15 minutes worth, so...we didn't go on it.

This was a secretary bird. It also performed in the bird show. Apparently it stomps on snakes to kill it, it was really cool to watch the demonstration.

Boys on a dino dig, digging for dinosaur poop.

A golden eagle on another animal encounter. We also saw a beautiful bald eagle a little later who was rescued and can't fly anymore.

On a African safari tour and cooling off in the mist. The safari tour was really cool, they take you around where the animals roam freely there were a lot of antelopes, giraffes, rhinos, lion cubs, zebras...all sorts of wild life living together.

On one of the paths we were on, we came across a deer.

I love this picture - blow it up and see Kira's face.

She was so afraid of the "Dino Mountain" exhibit, poor girl had just woke from her nap to roaring dinosaurs.

Pachycephalosaurus - or something like that. I think it looks funny.

Another great view point along our paths.

This was a California Condor that decided to show off his wing span.

Jonah volunteered for the "bubble show".

Bubbles everywhere.

Jake and Jonah found emptied turtle shells and wondered what it'd feel like to be a turtle.

OMG - we finally found the lemurs. The boys were all looking forward to see "King Julian".

Almost the end of the day, everyone is excited to get off their feet.

The boys in a bird nest and hugging the gorilla.

Kira and her beloved carousel.