Sea World

Here are some pictures from our Sea World adventure :) It was a really nice day and the weather was perfect.  My favorite part of the park were the cute animals (of course).  I avoided the major roller coaster rides (the hubby and brother-in-law went), and I stuck to things I wanted to see like the penguins and whales :)

Skytower

Standing in line...what you do the most of at a theme park.

View from the top.  Shamu Stadium and Dolphin Point.

Blue Horizon Stadium

Shamu Stadium: One Ocean show

Hi :)

This was the best show we watched that day.  The whales were amazing.  They knew their routine perfectly, where to go, what to do, and when to do it.  Anytime they would finish a routine, they would swim back to their trainers,  get fish/snacks and go back and do more.  They were like little children that are trying to please their parents by doing something amazing, running back to their parents to get an approving smile or clap of the hands and go back to play.  It was so cute. 

Look at the size of that thing!

Of course, no whale show is complete without a bit of people soaking.  The whales were brutal.  The people that sat in the middle of the stadium got repeatedly slapped with water.  Luckily, we were sitting off to the side and I was sitting behing a big guy and barely got wet, but my father-in-law was not so lucky.  He got soaked.

He was waving his fins saying goodbye to everyone at the end of the show.  Too cute!!

My first time touching a dolphin.  

I was such a little kid...so giddy with excitement...standing in line as if I'm 5 years old, making everyone wait for me, while I waited my turn to touch the dolphin.  I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts.  I have to say though, It was AWESOME!  I wanted to just jump in there and hug him, but really couldn't embarass myself anymore.  It was an amazing feeling though.  Their skin is so soft and cool and when you're around them, you have no other care in the world.   

Blue Horizon show

The dolphins were worse than the whales.  The middle group of people were repeatedly soaked...it was hilarious. 

Cirque de la Mer.  One of the stupidest shows I'd ever seen.  Ok, the acrobatics were great, but really, this is an animal theme park...I want to see animals, not humans acting like animals. 

The pole climbers were really cool though.

Four eyed fish, Anableps anableps.  They have eyes that see above and below the water. Amazing little things.

Polka dots :) My kinda fish ;)

Hi :) you're cute!

Piranhas.  Haha...you can't eat me, I'm behind a glass!

Sea Lions LIVE: this show was basically a spoof of all the other shows in the theme park, pretty cute and funny, but at times lame.  The sea lion and trainer were pretending to be riding the Manta roller coaster.  

Beautiful pink Flamingos!

Sleepy time for the otters :)

We went out of the park to break our fast and eat some dinner.

Picnic in the parking lot :) so Persian!

Skytower at night.

Next on the list: Shark Tank!

 This turtle was injured when they had first found him.  They brought him here to take care of him and when he was all better, they tried to put him back into the ocean but he wouldn't leave.  So they brought him back into the tank where he seems to be happy with all his little fish friends :) The white thing on his shell is a GPS tracker.  

 Mr. Polar Bear :) So cool to see one up close.  His fur was shiny and would glitter in the light.  He was beautiful.  If I could only give him a hug, I would have.

It was so cold in the arctic exhibit where the bears, walrus' and beluga whales were.  This wall was literally a sheet of cold, wet, ice.

 Belluga whales...mating again...what is with this species?

Midnight snack, yay for Yougurtland!

I have to say, as much fun as it was to see all the animals, as with all theme parks, they seem to be more geared towards kids under the age of 12.  The shows were a bit cheesy and boring at times (except for the whales) and a lot of the attractions were more for children.  The exhibits with all the fish, bears, and whales were more my thing, but by the time we got around to seeing them all, most of them were sleeping :)  Next time I go, I'm going to pay the extra money to actually get in the water with some of the animals, like the dolphins and the penguins.  That too me would be an amazing adventure.

 Hope you enjoyed the pictures :)

Happy Friday

Today is the 14th day of Ramadan, which means, we are almost halfway through the month.  I am so behind in my Quran reading, in addition to all the other things i'm behind in, such as my pre-advancement preparation...non existent as of this point.  I have handfuls of papers left to grade before Monday and we are also taking a trip to Sea World tomorrow.  My father-in-laws company has yearly retreats for their employees and this year, they have invited everyone to Sea World.  I have to squeeze in some lab work tomorrow before we go, so it's going to be a bit hectic, but I really am looking forward to getting a change of scenery.

I do have a confession to make.  I had promised a certain friend, a long time ago, before she got very sick, that I would wait till she got better so we could go together.  She has never been to Sea World and the last time I went, I was really small.  I'm breaking that promise to her tomorrow, so I hope she forgives me.  However, I will be thinking about her ALL DAY LONG and I'll be scouting out the best things to see for our, hopefully soon, next trip ;)

Killer Whale

Happy Friday Everyone!! 

Lights Out

The electric company is doing some "electrical upgrade work" in our neighborhood, whatever that means, and because of this, we lost power from 10pm to 6am last night.  This is the first night of four apparently.  The power outage didn't bother us too much, but this is finals week for summer classes, so I don't know what those students that have classes are doing.  This is a campus wide outage mind you.

I would like to point out that as part of our lease agreement, we are NOT allowed to use candles or lanterns.  I would like to know what they expect us to do when they voluntarily cut our power?  But, as if that means anything to me...I brought out our candles.

Berenstain Bears and The Messy Room

One of my all time favorite series of books when I was small was the Berenstain Bears.  My favorite book from that series was (guess??) The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.  I think I might even still have it somewhere and if I don't, I'm getting it (mom??).

I can't tell you how many times I flipped through the pages of that book.  How many times I stared at the pictures and in my own head tried to organize their room.  Where would I put the peg board? Where would I put the toy chest?  The best part of the book was the final product, when they had put everything away and their closet was filled with color coded and labeled boxes.  It sounds insane, but I enjoyed that book so much.  I always remember how and what they did to organize things and I think subconsciously really learned from that.

Now, I always thought I was the only weirdo who loved that book and just wholeheartedly embraced every page.  Funny thing, I'm not.

Check out this post: 8 Truth About Home Organization I learned from the Berenstain Bears.

The best part of this article and my moto in life:  if you're going to organize something, make it look good...why not?  This is where my new OXO storage containers fit in.  I spent way too much on them, but every time I see them in my pantry, I smile :) I still need one more :D

4. Make it pretty. 
I'm not gonna lie — my very favorite part of this book was the lovely, pastel-colored boxes that seemed to nest perfectly into the cubs' closet. Years later, I still get a trace of that same satisfaction when I go to Ikea or the Container Store and see all their beautiful storage solutions. Sometimes I feel it when I look at my own closet. You probably like pretty things, too, or you wouldn't be reading a design site. So go the extra mile, maybe spend a little extra money to make your storage systems lovely to look at. Cleaning up will be that much more satisfying.

Look at those organized boxes! 

There is a little person inside me smiling big right now :)