Tuesday we celebrated Gavin's 5th birthday at SeaWorld. Before the park opened for the day they played the national anthem. We stood with our hands over our hearts and faced the flag. Gavin was antsy and I told him to be quiet and still. He threw a little fit and yelled at me "This place roller coasters, not church!" We later had a talk with him about how blessed we are to live in our country and why it is important to be reverant during the national anthem. For the first ride of the day Jake rode the Manta roller coaster. Your body is placed in a flying position while riding it, and Jake said it may be his favorite coaster anywhere. (I used to love roller coasters but by age 25 or so I started getting motion sickness - no fun).
Gavin actually wanted to ride this (that's him and Jake):
but by here he changed his mind:
He perked up fairly quickly. This was while we waited for Jake to ride the Kraken roller coaster. Gavin asked me if this giant Kraken was made out of legos:
Watching the dolphin show - suprisingly a very good show
Turtle trek animals and 3D show:
tail end of a manatee:
After we saw these aquariums we got to watch a 3D movie about turtles. I had to take Gavin out shortly after it started because he had to pee. He was not happy when I explained that we could not re-enter the show. I took it as an opportunity to explain that this is why he needed to try to go pee when we ask him to (we had tried shortly before entering the show). This is an ongoing issue with Gavin - he refuses to go potty until he really has to go bad. He has thrown many a fit over me wanting him to try to go before leaving the house. The same thing happened later in the day, with us having to leave another show so he could pee.
While Jake rode the Manta for the 2nd time Gavin and I checked out the aquariums below the ride. Gavin got these cards because he asked the trainer on duty a question - "where sharks?"
One of Gavin's favorite things were these divers:
Gavin decided he didn't want to go through these tunnels. But the only way to get out of the place was to go through them. Not a fun experience for any of us.
He liked the slide much better:
Jake too:
Gavin likes to jump around pretending to be these guys:
After SeaWorld we ate dinner at CiCi's pizza buffet. Gavin was very tired and didn't want his picture taken. We sang happy birthday as he ate brownies, cinnamon rolls, and dessert pizza. He did get excited by the singing and gave me a big hug.
By the time we got back to the hotel Gavin had perked up so he and I went and stuck our feet in the pool:
