A Day of Play
One of the coolest things about blogging is that it has opened the doors to some great opportunities for me and my family over the past couple of years. This weekend, for example, my family was invited, by the lovely Kami and the good folks at SeaWorld to attend the opening weekend of SeaWorld’s new Bay of Play – a child-oriented play area with a Sesame Street theme.
The even cooler thing was that a bunch of other local bloggers were invited to attend as well. We were graced with royalty as The Queen of Spain arrived from the north with her lovely family. Socal Mom, Joy Unexpected, Sweatpants Mom, House of Prince, Shama-lama Mama, Wannabe Hippie and Wannabe Urban Housewife were also there. Jason and Whit were supposed to come but they wimped out after spying a few measly sprinkles.
And while it was a little gray to start the morning, we eventually shed our jackets and had a blast. The play area is a lot of fun. There are a few rides (flying fish, tea cups, and a big rocking ship) that kids taller than 42 inches can ride on their own (under 42 ride with a parent. Since my kids are midgets, score!). Then there’s a ginormous climbing structure made of netting, bridges and slides. There’s a little bouncy pit for toddlers and babies to play in, a sand box and some water jets to run under and around.
The best part is that the Sesame Street Characters do a show every now and then and then you can get your photos taken with one. Swee’Pea and TheMonk got to hang with the Cookie Monster (which is pretty cool considering they do a mean Cookie Monster voice impersonation) and had a great time.
If you do travel to San Diego, SeaWorld is a fun visit. It ain’t cheap, however, so get there early and enjoy the day. In fact, if you get there when the park opens, you have fewer crowds. Shamu the whale’s show has a 10:30 a.m. showing with seating to spare. Later in the day, the show fills up to the point that you might get left out if you don’t get there really early. You can get in and out privileges as well so you can return at night and watch the evening festivities which includes a fireworks finale.
We only stayed a half day, however, as Swee’Pea was getting over a cold but we had a great time at the Bay of Play and I could easily see us returning for more fun at SeaWorld.
As a parting gift, we received a Bay of Play cookie jar with a plush cookie monster inside. I was going to take a picture of the cookie monster but Swee’Pea hasn’t let it go yet. TheMonk got a Shamu stuffed animal as well and as I write this they are both asleep with cookie monster and Shamu tucked under their arms respectively. I am told we can offer one of these cookie jars with Cookie Monster inside to a reader of this blog. So, the first person to mention Big Bird’s “imaginary” friend will win the cookie jar. (Hint: He was only imaginary back when us old folks were kids.)
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I know it, but I have enough stuff. Sorry we missed it.
Comment by Whit — May 26, 2008 @ 9:30 am
I was worried about that big, gray cloud, but it sure turned out to be a beautiful day, didn’t it?
It was so nice to meet you and your beautiful family.
Comment by Y — May 26, 2008 @ 9:45 am
Snuffy! Snufulupagus, or some spelling like that.
Comment by Lisa — May 26, 2008 @ 10:02 am
fun!
Comment by ali — May 26, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
If someone hasn’t already won, its Aloysius Snuffleupagus,Mr. Snuffleupagus or Sunffy for short.
Comment by Michelle — May 26, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
That looks awesome! Do you know if there’s a Bay of Play at the Sea World in Orlando??
Comment by cathy — May 26, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
i am old. but i didn’t know (or am so old i forgot) that the snuff was imaginary. thanks for the education/reminder.
Comment by betty — May 26, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Oh, that looks like FUN!
And I knew it was Snuffy, but I’ve been out all day and didn’t check in first thing this morning.
Comment by Deanna — May 26, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
That looks like a blast! You took some AWESOME pictures.. the children of course are as adorable as usual but the whale pics..WOW, Seaworld should pay you for those and use them in a national ad campain..
Comment by mp — May 27, 2008 @ 6:38 am
I wish I lived closer to you guys.
I am jealous you got to hang out with The Kaiser. He is totally my boyfriend.
Comment by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — May 27, 2008 @ 11:44 am
The Bay of Play? I think this name was devised by a grandparent with a preverted sense of humor and a great sense of history. The first thing that came to my mind was the Bay of Pigs. Not to mention all the weird images I had of TheMONK and Swee’Pea in Cuba and Fidel Castro.
Comment by Grandmother — May 27, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
Awwww, looks like you all had a great time! We may just have to check out the Bay of Play, since Da’Gorgeouses love Sesame Street so much. Maybe sometime this summer we’ll stop by when we head down to the Wild Animal Park (that is nearby right?!–lol, DrillSgt is the geography guru). GREAT PICS!!!
Comment by MamáChanga — May 27, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
That sounds like fun. And only reinforces my belief that I must move somewhere warmer. And closer to other bloggers.
Comment by Redneck Mommy — May 28, 2008 @ 9:15 am
What an awesome opportunity!
I can’t wait to learn more about your twins. It is so much fun reading blogs about twins. Mine are almost 5 months old! Talk to you soon!
Jennifer
Comment by Jennifer — May 28, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
In the photos you take, your kids always seem to have gigantic grins… I didn’t think anybody could smile that big….
Comment by Anon Poster — June 1, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
Oh, that looks like sooo much fun! We are huge fans of Sea World, Orlando. I don’t think I’ve been to Orlando without going to Sea World. We’ve skipped the Mouse, not Shamu. We’ve never been to San Diego.
Comment by ladybughugs — June 27, 2008 @ 1:34 pm