Our kids thought we were heading home after spending a week in Orlando. However, we couldn't be so close without making one of our kids dream come true!
M loves animals! She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up and has designated her piggy bank as her "college fund." Her favorite movies are about animals and for the past year or so she has been crazy about Dolphin Tale! She's seen both movies so many times she has them memorized. She even started our families Marine Animal Club! For several weeks in a row we met on Wednesday nights to play games, create art, and learn about new marine animals. She repeatedly told us how much she wanted to go to Clearwater Marine Aquarium (home of Winter and Hope) in Clearwater, FL. After a little research, we found that Clearwater is only 90 miles from Orlando!
When we left Orlando, our kids buried themselves in movies and were oblivious to the fact that we were heading in the wrong direction. We were able to keep them distracted until we were pulling into the aquarium parking lot. The video of M realizing where we were is priceless! Unfortunately, it wouldn't upload to the blog. This picture is pretty awesome too though! To say she was excited is a vast understatement!
T And P tried to act like they didn't want to be there at all. However, they enjoyed it too! Just maybe not as much as M!
Here is Hope with her trainer.
Everyone was mesmerized watching Winter swim without her prosthetic tail!
This is Cooper, an otter whose back legs are paralyzed. CMA's mission is rehabilitation and release. Their permanent residents - like Cooper, Hope, and Winter - cannot survive in the wild on their own.
M was pretty excited to learn that the aquarium's first resident was a sea turtle named Mo!
This is Nicholas, the aquariums only male dolphin! He is a great football player and high jumper. He actually plays Mandy in DT2!
Part 2 of the surprise was back stage passes. A tour guide showed us around behind the scenes of the aquarium and told us the aquarium's history.
We learned that when sea turtles are brought in they are placed in holding tanks, given names, and as little human interaction as possible so they can hopefully be returned to the wild.
There are huge dry erase boards that list each turtles name, arrival date, where they were found, medical issues, etc. This guy was released back into the ocean the day we visited the aquarium!
I love these souvenir photos! All in front of green screen but still awesome!
This board gave visitors a chance to write which city, state, or country they were visiting from. It was very neat to see how far people had traveled!
Part three of the surprise, and the most awesome part, was M getting to actually touch Hope and have her picture made!
Of course we had to try out the hurricane simulator!
This little guy makes me smile every time I look at this picture!
This is the largest hermit crab we had ever seen!
The aquarium admission included admission to the movie museum downtown. Here we were able to view parts of the set, learn what parts of the movie were fact and what parts were Hollywood, as well as walk through a set experiencing a hurricane. This is the garage that Sawyer works in during the movies.
This was an experience that I know M will never forget and I am so grateful that we were able to provide it for her!
After leaving the aquarium, we stopped in Gainsville, FL for dinner and to stay the night. What does one wear in Gator country??? Maroon and White of course!
This whole vacation was incredible. Words cannot express how blessed I feel to have such an awesome family and to have been able to spend this time with them and these experiences with them!
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