Friday, December 26, 2014

Florida trip--Shamu Show

My visit to Sea World in January, did not feature a show with 
Shamu and friends, so I was quite excited it was open this visit.

Andrew, Caden, Janna, Ammon, Grandpa and Abby waiting for
 the show to begin.  We had prime seating at the top of the splash zone.

Janna took a back shot just to prove I was really there. 

This is the high-tech stage for the show.

Not a bad shot for a point and shoot camera!

The human performers never get in the water with the animals. I guess it is outlawed now.

They do get up close and very personal when the Orca whales beach themselves.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Florida Visit-Sea World

 Our trip to Sea World was great!  It was a chilly day, so the crowd 
was minimal. Best of all...we didn't have to worry about being too hot!
Christmas was in full swing at Sea World.  (Dad)

You can see that the Smith's thought is was too chilly for Floridians.

The Big Christmas tree was beautiful (Dad and I)

Grandpa and Grandma with Abby, Andrew and Caden.

This is Abby.  You get an idea of how big the ornaments were.

Andrea, Caden, Abby and Grandpa with one of the few snowmen in Orlando. 

Janna, Ammon, Caden,Abby, Andrew and Grandpa.  It was penguin weather that day!

We followed the life cycle of a penguin through a virtual experience. 

Here were are waiting to board our car. 

The car broke down for a while in this room, but it was so beautiful we didn't mind.

We finally made it to see the REAL penguins. 

Watching the penguins swim was like watching a beautiful ballet.

 
Talk about an amazing shot of an octopus!
This is the dolphin nursery.  A baby dolphin popped up to say hello.

The nutcracker King!


The walk way bridge had floating trees that where probably lighted at night.

This is a true pearl diver. Some of the divers can hold their breath
for over 5 minutes. We thought the water was heated.

Andrew and Grandma are fearless even inside a shark's mouth!

These are flamingo paddle boats.  No one was interested today.

This is a seahorse made from garbage. (Nice red toilet brush Christmas trees.)

Chilly, but still topical!

Ammon was so excited to ride the train.

Grandma/ Me

We had a beautiful little cardinal check on us this trip. :) 

Manatee

BIG turtle with moss growing on it.

These are the only gators we saw on the whole trip! 
You see they are gaggled up trying to stay warm.

Florida Trip at the beach


No trip to the Smith's is complete without a trip to Paradise Beach.
Me and Dad
The plant life in Florida is as amazing to me as the animal life. 

Janna and Ammon...our tour guides and entertainment committee.

We had hoped to find some shells, but it was high tide. 

In addition, a storm was blowing in so the waves were BIG. (Janna and Ammon)

There were actual surfers out on the water that day. 

The classic shadow picture. 

Dad  found the best shells.  Check out the waves! 

A local was catching tiny crabs to use as fishing bait.

Florida trip-Taylor's concert

One of the highlights of the trip for me was to attend an 
outdoor concert with Taylor and his school orchestra.
The concert was part of a BIG local celebration.  Anyone was 
welcome to claim a square for their sidewalk chalk show.

Taylor is one of the younger students.


This is the stage they performed on. 

An airplane wrote a message in the sky during his concert.