The Houghs Return to Sea World

Hey cuties,

So, I've talked with everybody before about Florida's pros and cons in the past.  The cons being, namely, the congestion, the separation from family and friends, the high cost of living, and the whole 'third world' vibe one gets down here.  These cons had, at one point in time this winter, had us seriously contemplating moving back to the Midwest.

The pros, however, ultimately stayed our hand this time around.  We shall remain disgruntled Floridians for at least another few years.

So why stay?

R.I.P. King Fred

Well, Florida certainly does have its perks - excellent weather, job security, and - probably most important of all - a never-ending plethora of crap to do.  This is huge for people who come from a place where 'let's go do somethin'' serves as grounds to hit up at a local Meijer to buy something random one doesn't need or necessarily want.

I'm serious.

Florida doesn't have any Meijers stores down here (Fred's grasp hadn't reached this far south by the time of his final death rattle), so when we do get bored down here, we can pack up the kids and - within an hour and a half - reach a beach on either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.  That's a pastime that's hard to let go of.

Another huge pro?  Amusement parks.

We regularly hit up the Disney parks, and lately decided that, after five years of living in Florida, we needed to hit up something new while we were still in the area.  As a Florida teacher, I can get into Sea World for free.  So can the kids.  Kris, therefore, decided it was high time she buy her own Florida resident ticket so we could all go as a family whenever we wanted.

I don't remember which type of annual pass she bought, but whatever it was, it gets us 15% off all merchandise and food within the park and FREE parking (at $14 a pop, that's awesome).  Since Sea World is about four blocks from our house, this means that we can hit this park up, for free, at a moment's notice.

Which is pretty awesome.

Our first trip to Whaleville came at the end of my Spring Break.  The forecast was good, and no trainers had been killed by orcas within the last year or two, so we decided to take advantage of the Saturday and show the kids some fish.  ***Note: the majority of the video that we shot during this outing was on our new camera, which, while shooting in stunning HD, takes up WAY too much space to try and upload here.  Please make do with the footage taken from my phone instead.  My apologies.***

Behold:

Kris' Tactical Family Transport Vehicle has a stowaway. . . who now resides somewhere between the inner walls of the vehicle and its outer body.

Fruit Snacks and Dolphins. . .

... Abby was more interested in the Fruit Snacks.  Obviously.

Snack break.

Checking out seals. . .

Strollin'

Not sure. . .

"FISH!!!"

This was probably Abby's favorite attraction of the day. . .

In a set of Great White jaws.

In the Shark Tunnel. . .

Relaxing.  On a rock.

The Tax Deductions

One big-ass Walrus. . .

Watching the seal show. . . until Abby had a toddler freak-out and Yours Truly was forced to remove her from the audience for the remainder of the show.

A possum.  Or opossum.  However the hell that's spelled.

Bored.

GUNS!

The Carousel.

Fish faces.

(I had to ride the bench 'cause Abby was NOT having a fish/dolphin/shark ride. . . )

Hough gals.  Snackin'.

Bizarro drummers.

In the Tunnel of Doom. . .

(. . .not as much fun as you'd think.)

Abby smurfs out the water play area from atop the pirate ship. . .

I waited with the napping kids and the stroller - like a real man - while Kris rode this.

(Squint hard and you can see Kris is in the back row)

Healthy lunch.

. . . and I had a 'coffee' for lunch!  Forget the name of Sea World's amber, but it's pretty decent for theme park fodder.

Hey cuties!

The Dolphin Feeding/Breeding area. . .

Watching divers gather pearls. . .

(Sort of) playing in the water play area. . .

Awaiting Shamu. . .

Five minutes into the whale show, Alayna was 'bored' and wanted to leave.  After we had sat in the bleachers for a half-hour in order to get good seats.  Go figure.

After multiple pictures of the kids licking the whale statues and refusing to pose for Sea World's professional photographers, this is the closest thing we got to a 'keeper.'

- Brian