Hurley's Headlines: Dolphins, Penguins, Whales, Sea Lions, and more on Day 2 in San Diego

Day 2: Sea World

Today we adventured to Sea World for the day. Caitlin couldn't wait to see all the animals in the park. The day started overcast so it was nice and cool for part of of our perfect day!

Caitlin reading to her Daddy the Sea World brochure while walking to the entrance

Happy girl and happy Daddy ready for a fun day

Mommy and Caitlin waiting to get in the park

Allison and Grammy Linda greet the fun penguin they spotted at the entrance. Caitlin didn't care to talk to the penguin.

First animal we spotted: A Tortoise His name was Buster and he is 16 years old. He roams the park freely. Caitlin walked right up to him and was ready to pet him.

Gently petting the shell

Action shot of Caitlin tapping the shell. Don't worry, she wasn't hitting the tortoise. Notice in the photo how close Allison wanted to get to the tortoise.

Mommy rented a double stroller to practice having to stroll two children. Uncle Kenny was a good driver for the girls.

Next animal: The Penguins The exhibit inside is too dark for great photos. We had the chance to see the penguins being fed outside while we were there which was pretty fun to watch.

These two penguins were having fun playing together and kept hitting their beaks against each other.

Next exhibit: Wild Arctic Animals - Beluga whales, polar bears, and a walrus. The beluga whales were very active and swimming around. We even got to watch the baby beluga whale swim with his Mommy. The polar bear was walking around as we approached the window and then went into his den. The walrus was not very active today either.

Caitlin, Allison, and Uncle Kenny watching closely as the big beluga whale swims by

First Show of the Day: Pets Rule This is Caitlin's favorite show. We don't know any other place you can see dogs, cats, birds, pigs, ducks, ostrich, and a kangaroo interact with humans and have fun! If you haven't seen the show, it's a must on your next visit to Sea World! After the show, kids are able to tough some of the animal stars.

Caitlin and Allison greeting the pig after the show

Caitlin wanted to play with the dog, but the dog wasn't too sure about Caitlin at first.

The dog loved Caitlin pettin him

More Interactive Animals: A Porcupine and a Donkey While Mommy got lunch, Daddy and Caitlin interacted with a porcupine and a donkey. Caitlin wanted to touch the porcupine, but that would have hurt. She did get to pet the donkey.

This was Caitlin, Mommy, and Daddy's first time seeing a porcupine

and the donkey was just Caitlin's size

After lunch we went to the Dolphin Show! Mommy didn't take very many photos during the show, but just believe us when we say it is a great show! Besides dolphins and whales, you will see acrobats flying and diving into the water.

The girls were ready for playtime after the dolphin show. Sesame Street Bay of Play is perfect for the girls. There are rides and a huge jungle gym for the kids to play. Today the girls just rode the rides.

On our way to play, Daddy and Caitlin spotted this Mommy duck and her ducklings taking a stroll through the park.

Ready to ride Abby's Sea Star Spin

Uncle Kenny, Aunt Stacie and Allison were ready to ride too. If you look closely you can see Nana waving in the back as she watched us ride.

Relaxing and having fun on the ride

Allison, our flying fish! We learned about flying fish while waiting to ride Elmo's Flying Fish.

Is it our turn yet?

Caitlin excited to ride

Daddy and Caitlin looking at each other's shades

Thumbs Up!

Playing ring around the rosey is a great wait to kill time while waiting to ride

Mommy snapped this photo as Allison told her, "No more cheese," which means no more pictures.

Daddy and Caitlin ready to ride the zebra flying fish

Allison and Aunt Stacie ready to ride the piggy flying fish

While the girls rode the rides, some of our group went to save us seats at the brand new Shamu show. Daddy, Uncle Kenny, and Cousin Amie went to ride the water ride instead of the seeing Shamu. Caitlin fell asleep before the show started. Unfortunately, we all thought the Shamu show was anything but spectacular. The show is new, the trainers don't interact with the whales very much, and we mostly just watched the killer whales swim around for 30 minutes. We really hoped this was a flop just because the show is brand new.

After the Shamu show, Allison joined Caitlin for a nap in the stroller.

New exhibit: Turtle Reef This exhibit doesn't officially open for a few more weeks, but we were able to preview it today. It was fun to see the turtles swimming next to us and above us. It was also fun to see them try to eat off of huge heads of lettuce.

If you ever wondered what the underside of a turtle looks like then this photo is for you.

This turtle was swimming rather fast that it looks like it is flying

The turtle exhibit had turtles of all sizes

Next stop: The Sea Lions We didn't feed the sea lions today, but we had fun listening to them talk, watching them swim, and watching them sunbathe.

Happy Sea Lions

Next Show: Sea Lions Tonite! This show is different than the daytime show because the show makes fun of all the other Sea World shows. As we walked into the stadium, Caitlin asked Daddy to sit in the front row. This is also known as the soak zone. Caitlin was beyond excited to be in the front row!

Caitlin and Daddy waiting for the show with a churro snack of course.

Another silly pose by Caitlin

Our silly girl is a ham sometimes when it comes to photos

The 4th pose was almost normal

The show had Caitlin's undivided attention

Daddy and Caitlin definitely sat in the soak zone. Daddy shielded Caitlin and so he definitely got more wet than she did, but Caitlin loved it!

Next Show: Sesame Street in 4D Some of group members were starting to get cold so we decided this would be the last show of our trip. We went inside a cozy theater to watch a Sesame Street movie in 4D. The girls were excited.