Today we spent the day at Sea World.  San Diego has the most beautiful weather which makes any family outing so enjoyable.  I was amazed at the cleanliness of the park so much so that you would have thought you were in Disney World.   Jocie and Blake amazed me with the rides they went on with Rich and the girls.  There would be many more pictures of our adventures at Sea World, but I had forgotten to charge the battery to my camera.  

The water arena for the dolphin show

 The trainer feeding the dolphins (a great show by the way)

This picture below was taken before we had gone on the gondola ride.  Poor Maren found out in an awful way that some workers don't follow the rules.  She was getting into one of the gondolas with Rich (things were a little confusing because they would not allow Kim and Rich to go in the same gondola with Kaylin and Maren) and we had Blake and Jocie with us.  Maren held onto one of the poles while getting inside and then twisted around to sit down.  The worker didn't watch before she closed the door and Maren's hand and fingers were in the door.  I mean, they were truly smashed in the door.  They got Maren out and Maren was so sweet in saying, "It's OK, it was an accident."  I knew she was hurt badly; but they shoved Eric and me into our ride with the two little ones, Rich and Kaylin went into another one, and Kim stayed with Maren outside the ride.  When we were through with the ride, they had Maren in a wheelchair with a paramedic sizing up the injury.  

Maren is quite the trooper.  She went through the rest of the park holding onto her left hand.  As the afternoon went by, her fingers were getting swollen and her knuckle of her middle finger wasn't looking very good.  We stayed for a few more shows and some rides, left Sea World, went out to eat dinner, and then they took Maren to an Urgent Care Center.  Maren has a fracture near her middle knuckle and is in a splint.  But even this evening at 11:00 PM, she came outside our rooms to show me her splint; and she was in great spirits.  

Maren, Blake, Jocie and Kaylin

 The next few pictures were taken at the stingray pool.  We were able to  put our hands into the pool and wait for the stingrays to come in our direction.  They would come up close enough that we were able to touch them (they are slimy feeling because of a mucous on their skin).  Blake wasn't too sure about putting his hand in the water; so it was Grandpa to the rescue.  I love these pictures of Eric and Blake with their Dallas Cowboys hats and hands in the water together.

 Now we have Jocie who has no fears whatsoever.  She couldn't wait to stick her hand in that water and touch a stingray.  Big sister Kaylin helped her to be able to touch that slimy skin.  To Kaylin's left is Blake who became an expert of touching the stingrays thanks to his Grandpa who trained him well.

 There was a ride called Atlantis which would be similar to a flume ride.  About eight people were allowed in each boat.  Eric thrilled Jocie and Blake by going on the ride with them; and to top it off, Eric sat in the front seat.  This is a picture of Eric coming towards us after he got soaked on the ride.  He had a blast.

 What a great sister Maren is to Jocie and Blake.  We went into the Sesame Street display so Jocie and Blake could get wet.  Maren took them on this ride that swung back and forth and spun you around.  Poor Maren held her hand the entire time, but she did this because she is a fantastic sister to those two little cuties.

 Aah, time for Shamu.  Now, looking at this picture you are probably wondering what the heck this is.  There was a big white section with about an inch or two of water on it which allowed the whales to slide up out of the water.  Because of my fantastic picture taking, this was the result of my talents.

 The way these whales are trained is absolutely amazing.  The lady in blue is one of the trainers and the whale is one of the baby whales they have at Sea World.

 And.....................the whale is waving good-bye.  So........................................

this is the end of this blog.