Caiden's Sea World Birthday!

Caiden turned three on March 12th. It was a fun day, but we felt that we needed more time to truly celebrate his birthday. That's why we had a birthday party Sea World Style.

Dave and I wanted to have a birthday party that was cool for his "friends" to go to, but at the same time educational. We racked our brains and came up with Sea World. It was a great idea. We were only allowed to invite 25 people, as you interact with some animals but Caiden had a great time.

We started out the tour by Caiden getting a special birthday button (he refused to put it on his clothes, but was not opposed to putting it on his hat...a kid with an opinion, - yeah, I GUESS we're related) :) Caiden then was given special Shamu stickers that he got to pass out to each guest. We then came up with a team name (I think we were the Road Racers or 4 Wheel drivers or something like that - it has been a few weeks since we did this, and what can I say, I'm at at that delicate age of 30...you know where the brain cells die off). Then we were off!

We first stopped off at the sting rays. That was cool because we were able to touch them. Dave and I tried, but Caiden REFUSED to touch the sting rays. They all had their stingers removed, so there was no harm to the humans.



Next, we traveled behind the scenes to a special place where they had some sharks that the kids were able to touch. First, our tour guide (great guy, but I forgot his name...yep it's that age thing again) showed each of us how to properly touch a shark - notice the two fingers he is holding up. Caiden outright refused again, however we were able to eventually get him to touch the shark. I was SO proud of him. He is a lot like me as a child. An observer...it took a lot for him to get out of his comfort zone and touch the sharks. Once we got him to do it, he didn't want to stop! We learned all about the sharks, and even got to see the Shark Incubation tank!





Next it was onto the turtle area, where we got to feed the sea turtles. Caiden was the lucky boy who got to give them the ends of the lettuce...you know the parts you throw away because they are so hard and tasteless? Apparently this is the BEST part for a sea turtle. They went straight for it. Along the way of our adventure the tour guide (who shall remain nameless....or we can call him Bob just for fun) pointed out the various types of birds. I figured you know what they look like, so I wouldn't put the pictures. I mean, I already put SO MANY PICTURES!





After the tour, we were led into a boat where we sang Happy Birthday to Caiden and shared some cake. It started getting VERY cold, so I gave him my green rain jacket. He shook the whole way through his cake eating adventure, so Dave and I bought him some new clothes at Sea World.







To complete the evening we went to the Shark Encounter, and to see the Beluga whales and the polar bears. We had a lot of fun. Josh, Dave and Caiden even got to touch the ice wall...that was a big hit. Overall, Caiden had a lot of fun, and he even got to take home his very own Shamu doll...presented by "Bob" the tour guide! :) Although I think the adventure proved too much for Josh and Caiden...they fell asleep before we even got home.