Gobble! Gobble!

I wanted to share some great pictures from our family trip to Florida for Thanksgiving! Mom and Dad graciously hosted all four of us this time - - - Bill got to come, too!

The day before Thanksgiving we headed off to Sea World, with a little trepidation about the huge holiday crowds. (Last spring we took the boys to Sea World over "spring break" week and the park was so crowded that they literally ran out of food! We had to serve the kids ice-cream sandwiches for lunch because it was the only thing we could find.) Needless-to-say we were a little freaked out about the potential crowds, so we got up and out early and made it to the park at 9:00 on the dot!

As a Thanksgiving treat to us all, the park was the slowest we've ever seen it! We headed first to the Wild Arctic, where the attraction was magically transformed into The Polar Express. After a short viewing of the movie highlights (my kids have watched the movie at least 6 times in the past few weeks!) we headed out to explore the North Pole.

And what did we see as we rounded the corner into the beluga whale exhibit? The Big Cheese. The Main Man. Santa Claus in the flesh! We had no idea that he would be there, and the boys were thrilled to have the opportunity to impress upon him their wishes of a Space Shuttle Mission Launcher Lego thingy and Spiderman Pajamas!

In addition to the great decor around the almost deserted park, we saw the Shamu show as well as the Whale and Dolphin Show, we all rode the Shamu Express Roller Coaster 3 times, and Bill and I hit the big Kraken roller coaster twice! And as a special treat Johnny the Polar Bear was actually up and around - and hanging out within three feet of the boys' heads! This was a rare occurrence, as he's normally sleeping with his back toward us when we're there.

Since Daddy was there, the boys loved getting to bungy jump for him and show off how big and brave they are! Add in the free beer and easy to find seats in the Anheuser Busch pavilion and the trip was close to perfection! What a fabulous way to share with Bill all the things we love about Sea World!

Mom created a delicious turkey meal for us all, and we enjoyed some relaxing down time while the boys played a little golf. And to top off the trip, we headed home BEFORE the crack of dawn in order to watch Tech win over GA... adding the cherry on top of a great vacation!

How Thankful and Blessed we truly are! Enjoy the pictures!