A(nother) wake-up call

 

The last few years have afforded the opportunity for much revelation. Stuff I never wanted revealed, mind you, but when presented with something rather like a large, cold, wet fish flopping about your feet and splashing water all over, it seems best to address the situation as it stands. Or flops.

I felt like one of those fish out of water when Rebecca turned 30; how could this be? My daughter, my kid, my forever-young child was THIRTY. Time snapped into perspective; I was responsible not only for my bucket list, but hers too!

I was stunned.

Rebecca….one day would be…..old? Well, yes…..if we’re lucky that’s the way it works out. Now, how to wrap my mind around this and more importantly, what memories could I help her make?

The plan

She had said for years that she wanted to swim with dolphins. She had always been fascinated with them and had dolphin wind chimes, switch plate covers, toothbrush holders, figurines; you name it. So, after some homework I settled on SeaWorld’s Dolphin Interaction Program and I gave her the certificate for it at her birthday dinner. She was amazingly underwhelmed but as it can take a while for information to sink in I was not surprised when the next day she called me almost in tears when she realized what her certificate meant.

Once she gets it, she gets it.

The adventure begins

Our first day at SeaWorld began with “Breakfast with Shamu”. The food was great, poolside seating was deliciously up close and the trainers were informative and interactive with both whale and people. Rebecca is a shutterbug and a point and shoot digital camera is something she really enjoys. It’s easy to use and she likes photos as screen savers on her computer as well as hard copy in albums. She also has a phone with a camera on it and figured out how to shoot video with it long before I did. She has a knack for photos and seeing what she thinks important enough to preserve in a picture gives me some insight into how her brain works.

The Dolphin Interaction took place our second day. She positively glowed as she stepped into the water. I watched from poolside as Toby the dolphin did her stuff and I silently blessed her little dolphin heart for being there for Rebecca. It was pretty amazing. I splurged and bought the CD of the professional photos taken by the SeaWorld photographers; it was worth it to watch her enjoy it all over again while looking at her album back home.

Bonus!

The rays were the surprise of the park; both the “Manta” ray roller coaster ride (we did that 3 times) and the bat rays that could be fed and touched. Rebecca probably spent $30 and 3 hours feeding them. I am still not sure why she was so taken with them but I swear they knew her after a while and seemed to follow her when she moved to different areas of the pool. I, however, was not so anxious to hold the little food fish and let the rays eat out of my hand, but she didn’t hesitate and I realized that sometimes she is the bravest person I know.

Room service was our big splurge (twice!); for an extra $3 our order was delivered to our room and we sat on our beds and enjoyed leisurely meals. We felt quite decadent and as I had never experienced room service, it was something off both our bucket lists! She still likes to remind me that it was HER idea!

Checking this one off

It was a *perfect* trip; no sunburns, great weather, nice people and exotic animals. A cloud shaped like a whale tail waved us home and we watched it until we flew out of sight.