The Ashlan show

This is a novel. Get ready, lol.

So this weekend we went to Orlando and spent some time at Seaworld all day on Saturday and then the Central Florida Zoo on Sunday morning. We were very lucky that we hardly spent any money this weekend. We used our American Express Hilton points to stay at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Seaworld, so we stayed for free and were right next to Seaworld, plus the place was beautiful! Then we got lucky and one of Dan’s fraternity brothers works at Seaworld as a biologist and was able to give us free tickets, free parking, AND a private tour of where he works and what he does there. It’s something that school groups can do, but we felt pretty special to be able to see that since it was private and Ashlan isn’t in school yet. However, she was less than impressed, haha. Dan and I thought it was pretty cool to see all that stuff but it was pretty boring to Ashlan. She was not happy until we gave her fishies and some milk, haha. It didn’t help that she napped in her stroller for only an hour and a half or so, and it was not at one time. Oh well. We still all had fun. And the $6.50 beers helped...although they were ridiculously expensive, lol. But when you're not paying to stay at a hotel or for the park, it's ok to splurge! :)

Ashlan sure loved the dolphin show though! That was the first thing we saw when we got in the park. It has sure changed since Dan and I saw it about 12 years ago, lol. Now they have a part where divers dive from high platforms, and people are on trapezes and dive into the water from them. I guess it was to give the dolphins a break. It was pretty cool though and Ashlan was mesmerized.

We were able to pet the sting rays but she didn’t want to stick her hand in the water, so just Dan and I did. We tried initially to get her to pet them and she thought it was cool to stick her hand in the water at first, but once she realized we were going to actually pet the sting rays, she told us she was scared so of course we didn’t force her. Besides, she will scream bloody murder when she doesn’t want to do something, haha. We also spent a lot of time looking at the manatees. Ashlan LOVED them and there was one that kept doing somersaults and swimming back and forth right in front of us. I told her they were manatees and sometimes called sea cows, so later in the day I asked her what was her favorite part of Seaworld, and she said, “Moo”, LOL. She actually pronounced their name correctly when we told her what they were, except because I told her they were sea cows, she thinks they say moo. Haha.

We tried to make it to the Clyde and Seymour show, and we got a few minutes in but at that point, Ashlan had HAD it, lol. There was not much action at the point we left and too much plot for her age. We probably got 5 minutes in, so we just didn’t go back not only because the times didn’t mesh well with what we were doing, but because we didn’t think she’d sit through another show. That one was highly recommended to us by Dan’s fraternity brother and other people, but we just couldn’t do it with Ashlan. She is one intense kid sometimes, who DOES NOT like to sit still, lol.

We didn’t make it to much of the children’s part with rides because we were trying to catch shows, but we did manage to ride the train. Waiting in line (though just for one go-round on the train, so maybe 3 minutes) was horrific though, haha. I had to keep distracting her but once she got on the train, she was all smiles and loving it! I thought she would not want to leave the train but she was good about getting off and getting back in her stroller.

The Shamu show was the last thing we did and let me tell you, I did work that show, haha. With the dolphin show, we just let her watch, and there was so much going on with multiple dolphins, etc, that there was always something to look at. When we went to the Shamu show, they can only have like three to five killer whales in the pool (while the dolphins had like eight to ten at one time), so if you missed something that one killer whale did, it would be a minute (or maybe a little less) until you saw another killer whale do something. It seemed the dolphins were doing something every 10-20 seconds or so, so she had a lot more action going on during that show. She was funny though. At one point she pointed and yelled, “WHALE!” during the show. Haha! Towards the end though, she had had enough and I was struggling to get her to sit still just long enough until the show was over. It was 6pm though and we had been at the park since about 9am, so she was done. The lady next to us kept telling us what a beautiful girl Ashlan was (like she seriously told me 4 different times), so that is always nice to hear…but after awhile it was kinda weird, lol. I still like to hear that though, what parent wouldn't? :)

It takes a lot of work to keep her occupied, like we had to when we waited in line, or when we were waiting for the shows to start, so I was exhausted, at least mentally, the whole day, lol. Plus, we walked and walked and walked so much, like literally from 9:30 am until 6pm, minus two shows and sitting down for lunch/Ashlan’s nap. Probably burned a lot of calories, lol.

So today we were getting ready to check out of the hotel and I guess we were taking too long for Ashlan. She went to the door, looked at us, and said, “I want to go NOW”, lol. After we told her we had to get stuff ready, she was pretty patient thankfully, but after awhile she kept saying, “Come on, Mommy, let’s go.” She’s certainly not a sitter.

Then today we went to the Central Florida Zoo. There’s not much to say about that, lol. The zoo seems very low budget and though it was peaceful, there just wasn’t a lot there. Thankfully it was very shaded, because it was pretty warm in the sun. I think Ashlan had had enough by that point though because she wasn’t too interested in anything except the camel, lol. We don’t have one of those at our zoo, and she knows them because we have a Little People camel from one of her toys. We looked at him for a little bit and when it was time to go she started waving and said, “Bye camel!” Lol. That was seriously about all she wanted to see. Well, that and the snakes, of course. She is obsessed with snakes.

Ok, so that was our weekend. It was a lot of fun and I took wayyyyy too many pictures, but it was sooo worth it, especially with a free stay and free tickets to Seaworld. Enjoy the pics!! (And they're sooo not in order, sorry about that!!)

Our hotel lobby. The picture doesn't show how gorgeous it actually was!

Our patio in our room. Ashlan loved it! It was nice to have breakfasts (there was a full kitchen so I was able to cook us some eggs, etc for breakfast) and evenings snacks on it. :) We usually have free breakfasts with Hilton, but because this was a timeshare resort, it wasn't included. Since it had a full kitchen, we thought we'd take advantage, plus it was just easier and more time efficient.

Our jacuzzi tub. Ashlan loved it.

Part of our room.

What a good Daddy! He didn't know I was taking a picture but he was fixing her hair here. So cute!!! :)

We had dinner with the friend that worked at Seaworld and his family on Friday, and at the end they had music playing on the patio and Ashlan was dropping it, haha.

How the water came out of the tub...too cool! Like a waterfall!

Ashlan playing in the tub.

Ok, random! Lol. This popped up when I was downloading pictures from my phone. This is her hair from Halloween night. Too cute.

This is a pic of Ashlan that I got when we were in our lobby. She loves fountains...

At the dolphin show. She looks so serious!!!

Enjoying it...although the lady behind her is kinda scary, lol.

And this is what Dan and I do during Ashlan's nap. :) Hey, she was stressful and we needed to unwind, lol. We were right by the lake that Seaworld had with all the Christmas trees up (yes, already!).

It was really peaceful.

This is her during her nap, lol.

This was this morning. I know it's not in order! Sorry about that. We were going to the zoo. She fell asleep pretty soon into our ride, about 9am, lol. She never does that!!

Guess she was exhausted from yesterday!

Looking at the roller coaster.

Walking around.

Ashlan was mesmerized by the coaster.

At the dolphin show.

Dolphin show.

Pointing at something, lol.

Walking into the Clyde and Seymour show.

Starting off at the Clyde and Seymour show.

So far, so good...and then, no! Lol.

Sting ray exhibit.

Dolphin Cove, where you can feed the dolphins.

More dolphin cove.

Dolphins!!!

Looking at the manatees.

This is the one manatee that kept doing somersaults in front of us. Ashlan didn't want to leave!!

This is part of the private tour. This is what they use to transport dolphins (the cage on the left) and orcas (cage on the right). Apparently they are both submerged so the animals are in water...

Their transportation devices on the left and a holding pool on the right.

A loggerhead turtle. It's a rescue turtle. Our friend said he only sees them once every 10 years or so. He was the biggest actual turtle that Dan and I had ever seen. Of course, we've seen bigger tortoises but that was the biggest turtle we've ever seen. This photo really doesn't capture his size!!!

We couldn't go into the quarantine area because Seaworld changed regulations a month ago. Bummer!!

This poor pilot whale is a rescue and apparently his spine was broken. :( They thought it happened when he beached himself.

He'll never be released into the wild again because he probably wouldn't survive, but it was sad to know he'd be stuck in this tank for the rest of his life. :(