Sea World Trip

Well, if you actually spent the time watching that slide show then I know your thinking "how many pictures did she take?". Only about 500 in three days. So if you average it out then I don't think its that bad. Its not, right?

She had the time of her life. I am SO GLAD we took the time to take her. We enjoyed our time with the kids and made memories that we will cherish forever. I kept watching Ashley Kate and thinking back to the last trip we took to San Antonio. Allie was Ashley's age. It was really hard for me to not compare the two of them, but I did manage to take it all in and appreciate that our little girl was here to experience it all. She was so very happy to see all of the ocean creatures. She LOVES fish and all things that come from the sea(except for the lobsters. She thought she liked them until one crawled right in front of her at the aquarium and then quickly decided she did not.) We spent HOURS and HOURS in the aquarium and penguin encounter. Ash cried her eyes out each time we left. It was a perfect way to cool her off in the heat of the day. Not too bad for mom either! Dave and the kids ran around the park during those times riding roller coasters, water slides, and lots more things Ash and I just weren't interested in.

My favorite memories of the trip had to be watching the interaction between the older kids and Ash. They love her so, so much and truly enjoyed making sure she had a great time and got to experience everything she possibly could.

Ash was blessed with some up close and personal time with the whales. God orchestrated some amazing experiences for us that I would have never dreamed of. One of the trainers spent some time visiting with us during our "dinner with Shamu" and treated us to a private encounter inside the stadium with the whales. One of the larger female whales become very curious as the who Ashley was and spent some incredible moments right in front of her. It was more than AMAZING to see this HUGE creature that our God created interact with our tiny daughter. I so appreciated "Amy" for taking this time with Ashley and for being so interested in the miracle of our girl.

I have story after story that I could share(like another trainer at the dolphin area who noticed Ash's chair and made sure too bring them up close and personal so that she could see them too. Again, only God preparing the way long before we arrived. So cool!), but I'm sure it probably isn't as cool to all of you as it is to me. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that it was incredible and we are so blessed to have had the opportunity to take her.

Its been a busy week. Lots and lots to write about. My computer finally came home and ALL my pictures were still inside of it. Thank you Lord for that blessing! I won't stay on here anymore for now, but promise to post again later tonight or perhaps tomorrow. Thanks guys for continuing this journey with us. You have no idea how blessed we are to "know" all of you. Take care. Trish