Seaworld and Full Body Workouts

We had a great day at Seaworld. The kids loved the fish, sharks, and whales. Whales brings me to the Shamu show and Kid B. I've mentioned before that Kid B and C have Fragile X Syndrome. What I haven't mentioned in depth is how this disability affects their behaviour. They don't handle crowds, noise, or new things well. At all. Kid C does much better, he's more outgoing and brave. Kid B . . . not so much.

We went early to Shamu stadium to get seats and avoid the crowd. My hubby took the girls down into the splash zone while I sat with the boys in the disabled seating. At first we got a lot of looks because they aren't in wheelchairs or anything, but then, the looks changed. To pity. It all started with the show.

The trainers and whales came out, and so did the fear in Kid B. Now, Kid B is more afraid of being afraid than he is actually afraid. Does that make sense? Anywho, he tried to run, screaming like a girl, from the stadium.

Picture this:

Me at five-foot-nine trying to wrestle down my thirteen-year-old man child, who is almost as big as me. For the whole show. Well, not the whole show. The last three minutes he decided it was great and stopped screaming.

What was kid C doing this whole time? Cheering, jumping, and loving the whales. I had to alternately stop him from trying to run down and join the trainers, while still tackling Kid B. It was an adventure. An intense full body workout.

As soon as it was over Kid B, the one who was screaming like a girl and trying to escape, raised both fists into the air, pumped them three or four times, and yelled, "Awesome! Best show ever!"

I sank into my seat and panted a laugh.

Hubby and the two girls soon joined us, and we declared Seaworld a success. We are not going back today. I can't take that kind of workout two days in a row.

Oceanside and the joy of crossing Nevada

My family is on vacation in Oceanside, California. It's great to be here, but driving through Nevada was less fun. A lot less fun. I don't think anyone likes driving through Nevada . . . if there is anyone, they have medication for that. Really they do. I think they're called anti-psychotics. Just saying.

Anywho, the kids did pretty good, thanks to the DVD player. That thing logged more hours than a slot machine in Vegas. It was humming. I think it has finally cooled down.

Just a few tidbits from the fam before we run off to Seaworld.

Kid A: I should probably do something with my hair. (She is fifteen, after all.)

Kid B: We're going to see whales and dolphins. (But when asked if we were going to the ocean replied, "No. It's closed.")

Kid C: Legoland. Legoland. Legoland. (Repeated non-stop since last Monday.)

Kid D: Can we go swimming in the pool? (She's all about water.)

Anyway, this is a short and somewhat lame post, but I only had five minutes, so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. Wait, that's what I told my kids all through Nevada. It may be a recurring nightmare.