The next show scheduled was the Dolphin show at 12:15, so we went there. The show was fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. The highlight was a dolphin named Dolly, who they claimed to be the "World's highest jumping dolphin." After seeing her do her thing, I can believe it.

After the Dolphin show we decided it was time for lunch. There was a place called the "Lunch House Grill" nearby that served chicken and ribs, so we went there. The food was pretty good, although my Mom got way more food than she and my Dad could eat. I saw what she was getting and almost said something, but I figured "if she thinks they can eat all that, fine."

Getting the bird

Nat wanted to know if this was Harry Potter's owl

After lunch we went to the bird show. This is probably a show that most folks would skip. If you go to Sea World and get a chance, however, I would recommend this show. It's very cute and a lot of fun. Nat, being a huge Harry Potter fan (She's read all four books, like, 6 or 7 times each) was particularly interested in the owls. I told her that I don't think they're used to carry letters.

The stormy skies kept the birds close to the ground

There was a 2:30 Shamu show scheduled, and it was the last show before 7:00. It seems they were previewing their new show that night. We weren't planning to stay that late (Andie did not want to drive home in the dark, especially with rain forecast), so it was the 2:30 show or nothing.

We had a little extra time, so we stopped off to visit the Clydesdales on the way. The kids are big horse fans - Nat is a pretty good rider - so this was a must. I have to say, no matter how often you're told how big these animals are, it's nothing until you see one up close. They are absolutely huge. I swear they were 22 hands. The head alone on one of these guys looked to be about 4 feet in length. One of them was being washed, and it was really cool to see the guy up on a step latter scrubbing down this wall of horse. If you go to any Busch park where they house Clydesdales, do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to check them out.

We then made our way to the Shamu show. On the way over it started to drizzle so we stopped at a shop and picked up some rain ponchos, and this delayed us a bit, so by the time we got to the theater the show had just started. Being the premier attraction of the park, the Shamu show is housed in the parks largest amphitheater. It's really amazing to see these enormous animals that are able to move with such grace. Very beautiful. Unfortunately the drizzled continued during most of the show, but that was pretty much it for rain. As we were leaving the theater I heard a girl's voice say "Natalie?" I didn't pay it any mind until I heard Nat reply "Franny?" We turned around and there was Nat's friend Franny and her family. I swear that kid is so popular. We come all the way to San Diego from New York, only to run into one of her friends.

All smiles

Daring to live life in the splash zone

After visiting with Nat's friend, we headed to the 3:30 Sea Lion & Otter Show. This show is the most comical of the Sea World shows. It's supposed to be the taping of a home improvement show where everything goes wrong. The show was very funny, with inventive use of animal behaviors for comical effect. Everyone was in agreement that it was the most enjoyable of the shows we saw.

With that we had seen all of the animal shows, and the only thing left that we definitely wanted to see was a 3D movie entitled "Pirates". There was a 4:30 show so we headed over. There was no line and we had time, so we went to the Shark exhibit. This is really cool. You make your way through a series of tanks containing many different kinds of sharks, and you are always getting lower. The highlight comes at the end, when you go through a clear tube that runs along the bottom of the shark tank. This is very cool and highly recommended.

When we returned to the "Pirates theater, quite a line had formed. This really didn't matter since we had a wheelchair and they have a special handicap section. The show is your typical "experience" show ala "Muppet 4D" or "It's Tough to be a Bug" at the Disney parks. That said, it's not nearly as good. It's a comedy/adventure starring Leslie Nielsen and Eric Idle as Pirates. It has 3D effects as well as physical effects - smoke, water and vibrating seats and such. It was not very funny and pretty lame, but the kids enjoyed it.

After Pirates we started to head out. We figured we'd stop to see a few displays on the way out. We didn't want to stay much longer because, as I mentioned earlier, Andie did not want to drive home in the dark. We passed up on visiting the Manatees, but we had to stop at the Penguin encounter. Nat had been studying penguins in school and really wanted to see them up close. We were all very impressed when she effortlessly rattled off the names of every different species of penguin in the habitat. I glanced at the information cards of a few to confirm that she had them all correct.

After leaving the penguins we were going to go to the "Wild Arctic", but when we realized that it was a show that we would have to wait for, we decided to skip it. All in all, we had a great time at Sea World. It's a beautiful park that has a lot to offer. Of course, I think the fact that it wasn't crowded and all the attractions were walk-ons added to our enjoyment. Still, if you're in the area I'd really recommend it.