Ocean Adventure

Thursday, Dec. 26:

After breakfast at the hotel, we packed up for a day of fun at the ocean.  First stop, Ocean Adventure Marine Park.  A smaller version of Sea World, with different marine animal shows to watch, and some hands-on activities too. 

We got there pretty close to opening, and headed for the main adventure of the day:  the two oldest cousins signed up for a Dolphin Encounter.

They got to be in the water with the dolphin trainers for about 45 min, learning all about the different signs, etc. that the trainers use with Loki, the dolphin.

Jackson was a little unsure of the experience before he got into the water, but once he was there, he totally enjoyed himself.  It was fun to watch the boys have so much fun together and hope that it will help instill a love and interest in animals and marine life in our son.

The rest of us watched the dolphin from the sidelines

The dolphin show,
(I'm pretty sure doing stunts that wouldn't be allowed in the States!)

It was a pretty hot and humid day, and all of us were interested in cooling off with some ice cream after watching the dolphin show and before heading to the sea lion show.

This smile was the biggest I've seen on this child in a few days.  She has had a more difficult time adjusting to being in a new place with lots of new people than the rest of us.  She has asked several times if we can go home, and in general she just hasn't been her happy, chatty self.  She wasn't really enjoying the crowds of people at the dolphin show, so I suggested that we visit the aquarium together instead of going to the sea lion show.  The aquarium was almost empty, dark and quiet, and suddenly my girl started talking and behaving like her old self.  She just came to life, pointing to all of the different fish and telling me all about them.  It made me realize again that she is more of an introvert and thrives more with fewer people around.  With each day that passed, though, she warmed up more and more with the family and we saw our friendly girl coming out again.

After we left the Ocean Adventure park, we headed back to the Cayaman Beach Resort 

for the rest of the afternoon to play in the sand and water.  

Our cabana on the beach!

We rented a cabana on the beach for the afternoon & evening.  It was a fantastic idea, and gave us a place to keep our things, relax, and even nap while the others played on the beach.  We even ordered our dinner to be delivered to us out there!

The baby didn't nap all day, she was having so much fun!

Our beach beauties!

This little one overcame her fear of going into the
waves, and couldn't get enough of it all afternoon!

In addition to all the playing in the waves and sand, there were also some sea turtle eggs that hatched on the beach and some of us got to watch the hatchlings make their way to the ocean (unfortunately, I didn't catch this on camera).

Enjoying dinner in the cabana

We love the ocean!