MAW- Day 3

 I'm Baaaaack!

It's time for the Make a Wish trip... DAY THREE!
Aren't you so excited?

On Day three I had a special day planned for Alyssa and Dominick. Being that they are the "middles" of the family, sometimes they really get the short end of the stick. Amy (by best Buddy) and her family, were up for a special day too. We planned long ago a day at Discovery Cove for the elementary crew and my dear husband took everyone else for a day of Sea World Fun! (Sea World by the way, ended up being the favorite park of many of my children. They had the best roller coaster for the big kids and the shows were amazing. The food prices were better than the other parks and they got to eat all you can eat pasta for lunch- which was a fav.)

My husband dropped off Dominick, Alyssa and I early at Discovery Cove. We got checked in there- which is a lovely process. Because they only allow 1000 people per day it never seems too crowded or busy. We walked down the tropical paths and got our picture taken. Ok, the kids got their pictures taken, and we went for breakfast. (Discovery Cove is one price for all you care to eat and drink ALL DAY LONG. This was probably the most exciting part for Dominick and Alyssa. lol)

I should mention here that I bought a single year long membership to Sea World for myself which gave me a HUGE discount on everyones discovery cove tickets this trip, and from the day we spent here back in March at ETAAM. It saved me well over HALF what it normally costs, or else this day definitely wouldn't have been in the budget. Dominick and I opted not to pay the extra fee for the dolphin swim, but Alyssa really wanted to do it.

At breakfast my two children were WOUND up. I knew that Dominick had skipped out on his medication that morning. I was thinking it might be because we were rushing but he fully admitted that it was intentional so that he could EAT MORE. Since his medication makes him not too hungry in the morning he wanted to be sure to be able to eat his weights worth of food apparently.

We ate far too many french toast sticks. They were better than I ever remember them being. We waited for the buddy to arrive and my two children started to play in the sand. Not the sand that's along the beach, nope. The sand that is around the palm trees. The sand that serves as nothing more than decoration. My kids love sand.

 we ate.

 Ava ate. (above)
Maria ate. (below)

Everyone got to wear fabulous wet suits.

We swam the long winding lazy river. (So many times.)
We found where all the hot, heated water is pumped in.
It was a brisk 70F day in Orlando.
Lots of sunshine. But a bit chilly!
We were thankful for the heated water.

And we snorkeled with sting rays and tropical fish.
(It was really scary for the kids at first.) Some of the rays are bigger than you. And there is a glass window at one point of the experience that is filled with sharks. They can't get you, but it feels like your swimming with them. We watched them getting fed under the water. So cool.

 The amount of food consumed and slushy drank by the kids was out of control. Dominick lazed around on the hammock while we waited for the group to get out into the water with the dolphins. They were going through a training first.

 Alyssa was a bit more shy with the dolphin than she had planned on being. She didn't want to kiss or ride the dolphin but did learn a lot and spend time petting the dolphin.

 Here is Ava riding the dolphin.

Next thing I knew it was time to head home. We got a call from Nana that she was at the "village" with Aunt Barb and Aunt Ann and they were waiting for us. They came for dinner and to spend the evening at "Halloween" with us. It was SO much fun.

There was trick or treating for everyone. Face painting, crafts, dancing in the streets!

 

Everyone got a sun burn at Sea World and Daddy forgot to get the sunscreen on them all. Even though it didn't feel HOT it was a strong SUN day.

The kids at Sea World were treated to center first row seats for the Shamu show and they got SPLASHED. Actually they got drenched! It was fun hearing all about the day that they had.
They also got to feed dolphins and other sea animals.

what a blessing of  a day