A few weeks ago, the tae kwon do school my family attends announced a trip to Sea World. Everyone would meet there, get the group discount, then go on their merry way to enjoy the park. At the time I thought, "Pshaw! Yeah, right! As if I would take my boys to Sea World by myself!" The day before the trip, though, I reconsidered. Some friends were going to a bounce house place in Lakeland and I had been invited and I knew my kids would like it, but...Sea World beckoned. Truth be told, I wanted to take them somewhere by myself. Most of the time I spend with my kids is what I call "maintenance." You know - feeding, bathing, changing, correcting, driving, etc. Play dates are fabulous, but I don't get time with my children. My kids play with others and I talk to the moms. Which is great, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to do something special with my boys. So I decided to go to Sea World.
We met at the tkd school and drove over in a caravan. On the way, the boys and I talked about what we would see there. I started a song, "Sea World, Sea World! We're going to Sea World! We get to see pen-guins! We get to see ott-ers!" Ethan took up the song, "And Sham-pooooo!" I suppressed a giggle. When we got to the park, I pushed Micah in the stroller and Ethan walked along with us, stopping every few steps to gaze at the roller coaster above us. We saw the penguins, we went into the Shark Encounter, we stopped to change a diaper and have a snack. We then went to the Shamu (Shampoo) show. Each time the whales dove underwater, Micah held up his hands and looked around as if to say, "Where'd they go?" We ate lunch under a pavilion - strawberries, turkey sandwiches, chips and salsa, with plenty of Sprite for Ethan and milk for Micah - their favorites. We caught the Elmo & Abby show, where both boys danced and Ethan figured out one of the mysteries before the characters did.
Then we went to the playground. If you've never been to the Sea World playground, let me tell you about it. It's awesome - steps lead up to a labyrinth of tunnels and nets. By this time Micah was asleep so I told Ethan, "I'm going to sit right here on this bench. Go ahead up and play." I didn't see him again for 30 minutes. I walked all over, pushing the stroller, then carrying Micah once he woke up. I even tramped up the steps, but I couldn't go in the tunnels or climb the nets holding the baby, so I went back down in a panic. Fortunately, there were lots of people in the park I know from tkd, so I called my friend Melany. She came right away and I climbed up, over, and through (getting an excellent workout, by the way), finally finding Ethan, who was none the wiser to my anguish. I bribed him to come down with a promise to ride the kiddie roller coaster. Melany was gracious enough to keep Micah while Ethan and I did this ("Did you like it?" "No! It was bumpy!"), then we decided to head home.
Halfway out of the park, it started raining. No, pouring. No, teeming rain. Melany was also leaving with her family, so she carried Micah while I convinced Ethan it was fun to stomp in puddles, like her son Logan was doing ahead of him. By the time we got to the car we were drenched. My dear friend helped me change the boys and we headed home in the storm. Micah and I "talked" about all we had seen while Ethan caught a short nap.
It was a great day!
8 comments:
What an awesome day! Isn't it fun to do those brave things every once in a while. BTW, I had no idea there was an Elmo show! Just another reason to visit!
I didn't either! We are thinking about getting annual passes in January. It was THAT GOOD!!!
I LOVE sea world! It was one of my favorite attraction places to visit while visiting Karly when she lived in FL!
I can't wait to bring my little king someday!
I am glad that you had fun!
I totally LIVE for days like that! Cypress Gardens was always our favorite fun day destination. We would spend hours there and never ever get bored or feel like it was too much to handle.
I also like to take the girls to MOSI and the Orlando Science Center (awesome!), Lowry Park Zoo, and the Children's Museum in
Lakeland. I also take them out to lunch or dinner to teach them how they should act when we go out with other people. Pizza Hut is the usual destination for that.
I agree. It's nice to do playdates, but I like to spend some fun time with just me and the girls too.
I'm glad you had such fun with your kids! You are building memories for them that they will cherish later on.
That sounds like so much fun! I feel like most of my time with our son is more maintenance, too. I took him to Hollywood Studios earlier this summer, and it was so much fun to be together without schedules and distractions. Congratulations on getting a day out with the boys, and here's to many more!
Sounds like a fantastic day! I feel the same way. Sometimes it's nice to just have fun with my girls, letting them decide what we do next and eatting whatever they want for lunch. Just a fun kid day.
Actually we did go to the jump house place and all the other mommies left by noon, but we had so much fun that I let them keep playing. I finally left at 3 p.m. So I was there for 5 hrs. We ordered a pizza and had a fantastic time. I too got a workout climbing up the slide about 100 times with Capri.
We might get Sea World passes next year too. We've had them before but it's been awhile.
I agree, it is nice to have a special day just with the kids. I always feel empowered when I am able to pull off a major field trip on my own. And you do make the memories that will last for a lifetime. These are the times when it is really enjoyable to be a mom!
I loved the reference to "maintenance". So true!!
Glad you had a great day! You Go Girl!
I remember taking Timmy shopping for a day all by myself. I was fairly young when I had him so "mom" did a lot with me. I drove to Lakeland on a week day and went shopping. I remember feeling grown up and like a mom. One of those moms who had things under control and could do things "all by herself". I'll never forget feeling whole and that I could do this thing called being a mom. Even though T didn't have a clue as to the importance of the day, he went shopping with a girl who was in college who had a baby and left with a girl who was in college who knew she could be "that" kind of mom. Doing things with the kids all by yourself lets you know more about yourself.
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