Sea Life Park

 

We went to Sea Life Park in Hawaii. Elora and Oliver got to meet a dolphin, and lucky for me they needed a parent to go with them so I got to meet a dolphin too! Here is the dolphin Kaleo coming to meet us!

 

 

We got to feed him fish, which the kids thought was pretty gross.

 

 

Everyone got a turn to dance with the dolphin. It was really awesome.

 

 

We got to pet his tummy and his back. Elora said he felt like a hot dog. Oliver didn’t like getting splashed because the water was a little chilly, so he usually hung back when the dolphin was swimming by.

 

 

We also got to kiss the dolphin and he kissed us back. Oliver said he didn’t want to kiss the dolphin, but after watching everyone else do it he decided it was okay. Elora? Pure bliss as she received her dolphin kiss!

 

 

We went to the dolphin show right afterwards which all the kids loved.

 

 

Oliver was excited to watch the jumping dolphins!

 

 

Nana bought the girls these cute shirts to wear to Sea Life Park. Elora was very sweet and took good care of Marion throughout the day. Marion really wanted to see the sting rays and Elora knew right where they were and wanted to make sure Marion got a chance to see them.

 

 

Here they are by the sting ray pool.

 

 

Both the girls really love sting rays. I have no idea why. They loved watching them swim around.

 

 

Elora found some beautiful flowers and decided to put some in her hair. I think the flowers may have been her favorite part of visiting Hawaii – she found some flowers every day that she wanted to collect or put in her hair.

 

 

James enjoyed checking out the sea turtles. They were HUGE. Oliver told me that sea turtles are his favorite animal. It might be because we got to see so many awesome sea turtles in Hawaii. Or it might be because he loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

 

There was a little pool where the kids could pet some animals. Elora loves this kind of thing and got to pet a sea cucumber, a sea urchin (It’s so pokey!), a little sea turtle, and a starfish. Oliver usually does NOT want to do this kind of thing, so I was really surprised when he giggled as he leaned over to pet starfish and sea cucumbers. He was not interested in touching the pokey sea urchin though.
 

Elora was so excited to pet the little turtle. It was funny though because she asked the lady what the turtles name is. The lady said, “There is an H on his shell so his name is H”. This made no sense to Elora because “H” is not a name, so she asked again and the lady again said the turtle’s name is “H”. Really? She couldn’t have called him Henry or Harrison or Happy Hanu?
 

There was a playground at Sea Life Park, which was awesome because when Marion found out we were going to Sea Life Park she said, “Park? Will there be swings? I love slides!” I was so relieved to see they actually did have a park with slides. The kids all loved it.
 

Marion is a sweet big sister and really wanted to take James on the slide. I am not sure what James thought of it, but Marion loved it.
 

We went over to the Marine Base in Kaneohe for lunch and Grampy took the kids to see some planes, helicopters, and artillery that is on display there. Elora liked posing on everything.
 

Oliver was really excited to see the helicopter and the planes.
 

They are so cute. I love that Elora and Oliver have such a great time playing together.
 

There is a replica of the Iwo Jima Memorial on this base, so we took the kids over to see it and talked to them about the war and what the statue represented. I am not sure they understand, but Elora seems to understand that it is important to learn about these monuments we take her to.
 

The kids found some hibiscus flowers on the ground and gave one to James. He tried to eat it. I don’t imagine they taste very good, but he likes chewing on a lot of things that don’t taste good.
 

Oliver found this great hill to run down. He was pretending to be on Splash Mountain and putting his hands up as we went down the big hill. So funny.
 

We went to the Outback because I remember coming to Hawaii years ago and having really great fish at this place. Marion had fun arranging and rearranging the menus while we waited. Some of them had a “bite” taken out of the side and she thought that was sad.