Barbara Manatee... you are the one for me....

Seriously??? Explain to me how to get out of my own kids way while we discuss our sleepover with BARBARA MANATEE!!! Ok, I know, we are talking about a fictitious character here, but in my house… Veggie Tales can be very real!
Where do I begin? Well, we had a fieldtrip/ sleepover at Sea World with school. Our class got to sleep with in the Manatee exhibit while the other class slept with the Beluga Whales. (We got a concrete floor with a thin layer of carpet to sleep on while the other class just got the concrete. I think we won the coin toss) So we arrived at Sea World and were instantly issued these lovely green shirts that we had to wear on the outside of our clothes, including our jackets. Let me tell you… that was not so comfy! It was cold and the sun was going down and we walked and walked and walked the park. We went to feed the Manta Rays, we went to see Shamu and since there was noone but us there, he was trying to get our attention and we could hear him talking to us. It was SOOO way cool! The animals were so playful!
We ended up in the Manatee exhibit around 10:15PM when we had 15 minutes or so before lights out. We unpacked our sleeping bags and made our trips to the bathroom to change and brush the pearly whites. Then it was just us and the manatees. Seriously, it was one of the most AMAZING experiences ever! When we first got to the exhibit they were all asleep, but once they knew we were there they were ready to put on a beautiful show. I couldn’t help but watch them as I drifted to sleep. With 20 kiddos and maybe 10 adults sleeping on a hard floor we didn’t sleep all that great. Let me tell you… it was worth it! Yes, I woke up all night long… but to these beautiful creatures swimming so graciously through the water. AMAZING!!
We awoke at 7:00AM and packed up our stuff. We headed down to feed the Sea Lions their breakfast and then headed to see the Beluga Whales and Polar Bears.
By this time we were all getting a bit hungry ourselves. We went to have breakfast with…. you know…SHAMU. We ate and watched a little show with our favorite Orca.

We had the rest of the day to do as we wished. We played on the play ground, went to say hi to the dolphins, fed the Manta Rays again. (actually, a bird stole Dylan’s fish before it got to the ray. He was a little bummed.) I have to say…what a great day! We had SOO much fun!! What an experience!!! We wish you were there!!!