marine world, just the two of us!

this is the last week marine world (six flags discovery kingdom - was marine world when i was growing up!) is open during the week.  i'm not really into braving the crowds on the weekends, so i decided jack and i should try a day at the park - just the two of us!

i was really worried because they have a lot of rides jack needs an adult to ride, but in my condition, i can't ride! luckily, we found a couple he was tall enough to ride alone and i scheduled our day to make it to three animal shows!  we were also able to see some animals we've missed in the past.  check out our last trip.

jack loved the alligators
{even though they never move!}

we spent some quality time with the butterflies - they were fluttering all about!  jack was in awe.  i kept feeling baby butterfly kicks from greenbean #2.  precious moments here.

admiring the butterflies
such amazement

butterflies fly all around you

we walked to the 'sea' portion of the park to go to the sea lion stadium and had to stop by and say hello to our friend 'bruce'.

a favorite - shark experience
a walk-thru aquarium

the sea lions are a fav (maybe tied with dolphins).  i love that they seem to love to perform and they make funny noises.  the show always has a fun story line with adult and kid jokes.  these sea lions passed out like charlie sheen, but also said 'aaargggg' like jake and the neverland pirates.  perfect combo!

entertaining jack while waiting for the sea lions

it was pirate themed!

after a quick train ride, we watch a walrus regurgitate and re-eat a fish (lost my appetite), then purchased this little souvenir.  it was only $1.  SOLD!  surprisingly, this theme park is really reasonable in the toy department!

jack likes his 'mustache'
and this was the best smile i could get -  stinker

next we headed to the children's rides where jack was tall enough to fly a helicopter!

all by himself :(

jack was excited to see bugs and tweety.  he just waved at bugs, but gave a full-on high five to the birdie!  guess size mattered here...

 i was totally ready to head home at this point, but we noticed that the dolphin show was starting in about 25 minutes.  i figured we were both tired enough to sit and wait.... we were until the cotton candy vendor came through, then jack got a little sugar-high!  fortunately the show started and the amazing dolphins captured his attention for 30 minutes.

loving the blue...proof all over face, hands, and my leggings...

magnificent dolphin jumps

jack clapped with his hands above his head when he really liked what he saw

all five in the air

these dolphins were on fire!  they were playing with each other for a bit before the show started and seemed to really enjoy showing off!  i tell myself they are happy here, it makes me less sad that they live by a roller coaster.  i mean, they may not even be alive in the wild -- the one on the far right is 21 years old!

i was able to sneak out of the park with jack not really noticing where we were going - i felt bad about not telling him, but sometimes it's better this way.  i knew we he was getting tired - the little man conked out not even 5 minutes into the ride home. 

it went well, i think i'll brave it again!  maybe even by myself with two little ones next summer :).