Actually we went to Sea World yesterday. I packed everything I could possibly think of in the world’s largest pool bag, loaded the stroller and off we went. Caroline talked a mile a minute the entire way there. The only time she wasn’t talking she was singing in that sing-song voice inherent to kids “we’re going to Sea World, we’re going to Sea World”. I thought her head might explode from all the joy.
We went to Sea World earlier this summer and after we got home all she talked about were the monkeys. “My favorite part was the monkeys, Mama”, “where do those monkeys live, Mama?” Now we saw whales, dolphins, alligators, Nemo fish, Dory fish but there was nary a monkey in sight. I couldn’t believe I had spent money to go to Sea World so that she could be excited over monkeys that didn’t exist.
That night my dad came over and she was regaling him with stories from our day and she said “Bops, those monkeys did flips and jumped so high”. It was at that point I realized the “monkeys” were actually people dressed in full head to toe unitards that did indeed jump from very high diving platforms and swam with the dolphins.
So first thing yesterday, we went to see the monkeys. She loved it, but her favorite part of the day (and mine) was going to see Shamu. I swear that I teared up watching the excitement on her face as she sat in Bops’ lap and watched Shamu jump and flip and do all that other Shamu stuff. Without even looking away for a minute, she said “Oh Mama, when I get big I’m going to swim with that Shamu”. And you know what, I think she will because no matter what, I want her to know that she can do anything she puts her mind to.