Sea World... and it's special place in my heart, and, uh, on my butt

Back in 1997 there was a soon to be college graduate with a dolphin tattoo on her (upper) butt and a dream – a dream to train dolphins at Sea World. Being that eager young thing with a degree at her fingertips and the determination and confidence that comes from 4+ years of college, she researched and talked to people and realized that it was almost impossible to go straight into training at Sea World.  It turns out most trainers start off in other areas, and move into the coveted animal positions. With a talent for public speaking, she was thrilled to be able to try out for a position as a narrator in the Education department. Slightly hungover from the night before (hey, no judging, she was just 22 and living in Pacific Beach) she stood up at the Tide Pool exhibit and gave a thrilling speech about stomach evagination and tube feet, a speech that landed her a job telling people all about the animals living at the park. But little did the perky blonde know that getting that job would lead to her meeting her future husband and father of her children, along with making life-long friends. And while the dolphin dream was never realized, the job would change her life forever.

Ok, so I never became a trainer. Life, love and bad timing got in the way and when I left Sea World 12 years ago to move in with Jason, my then boss (SCANDAL!) and pursue a more lucrative (ha) career in Public Relations. Maybe it’s that long-lost dream, or maybe it’s that Sea World was such a vital part of my early 20’s, but that park will always hold a special place in my heart.

Lucky enough to still have good friends that work there and share the love of free annual passes with us, Jason and I have been able to pass the love of sea creatures down to our kids, and Sea World is a favorite choice amongst things to do. Since we are local, ex-employees, and maybe a tad bit snobbish, we don’t normally go to the park in the summer months, saving the less busy, cooler months to enjoy days roaming the paths and staring for hours at playing dolphins and killer whales.  With Jason out of town this past weekend, it was a perfect day-long destination and time-suck for the kids and I to enjoy. Since we hadn’t been for a few months, this was the first time we were able to see the new dolphin show, Blue Horizons.

As we sat in the stands, the kids got more and more excited checking out the new stage, the birds in the back and the dolphins doing laps in the warmup pools.  Then with a blast of water and the rise of, in Zoë’s eyes, a “PINK PIN-SESESES CA-SEL!” a pink wetsuit-clad trainer started to act out a whole performance of a young girl’s dream of dancing dolphins, birds and jumping pilot whales.

While I guess the “word on the street” is so-so about the new dolphin show, I have to say that the kids and I loved it. It was a performance with a bit of Cirque du Soleil flavor - high divers and flying acrobats and large birds that fly within feet of your head. The dolphins were adorable and the pilot whales were featured more than they had been in previous shows. I was extremely impressed with the performance and am looking forward to seeing it over and over for the next 10 + years.

It’s interesting seeing a place I used to work through the eyes of my children. The wonder in their eyes at the large Pacific octopus, the excitement bolting through their little bodies when Shamu jumps up and splashes the crowd.  It reminds of why zoological parks are so good for kids – zoos and aquariums get them excited about the earth in which they live. It also made my heart do a little flip when Lucas exclaimed “One day I’m going to be a dolphin trainer!” Will he fulfill the dream I didn’t? Or will he also forgo a fantasy job to opt for a “real world” career?

It has been a rough few months for our Sea World family. The death of the trainer in Orlando, followed too quickly by the untimely passing of a killer whale this week has left the trainers a bit raw and emotional. No matter what your stand on animals in captivity, from personal experience I can tell you that the people that work at Sea World love those animals like you love your own pets. My heart goes out to them all…

***disclosure: While we were gifted the annual passes, it was from Sea World employee's that are friends, not through the Sea World PR department. 

*** disclosure #2: Yes, I took the kids to Sea World the same day as the horrible Target meltdown. It was for my sanity. 

I had a {parenting} moment

This past weekend Jason had the opportunity to go to/speak at the M3 Summit in Atlanta. The conference was touted as the man's BlogHER, and I can honestly say I was thrilled that he was going to have a slice of the fabulousness it is when you are good friends with your twitterblogger friends. But, it also left me in an interesting spot. Home. Alone. With the 2 kids.

I know a lot of moms that do this weekly or a few times a month. I also have a good friend who's husband is on his fourth deployment to the middle east - and is going to be gone 9 months total. And honestly? I don't know how you all do it. I'm going to make myself feel better and say that you must have more of a routine down or something, because in all fairness, I almost lost my shit this weekend. 

Last week Rock On Mommies posted about disciplining your children, and I am SO right there with her. But my question is WHO are these moms that can tolerate their kid's bad behavior without screaming or time-outs? What are they on that they can calmly ignore the tantrums? And, where do I get some?

Blame on all the recent changes in his life, or being overtired, but Saturday did not start off well for Lucas. Within moments of waking up he was crying about some toy not working. He perked up a bit after breakfast, so I thought I could run into Target and get a few much needed items like toilet paper and milk. Well, we never even made it past the $1 aisle. 

Between Zoe refusing to sit in the cart and Lucas not putting down some Styrofoam sword, I was already on the edge. Then Lucas takes the sword (that I had told him 6 times to put down) and smacks his sister on the back with it. While I did need to get things, I made the parenting decision to leave the store immediately. I picked Zoe up and grabbed Lucas' hand and started to walk out of the store when he flopped on the ground and started kicking like a 2 year old. I was mortified. I grabbed his arm, pulled him up and walked out the door and through the parking lot all while he was screaming at the top of his lungs "OW MOMMY, DON'T HURT ME! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK MY ARM! MOMMY DON'T HURT ME! DON'T BREAK MY ARM!"

On the verge of my own tears, I put both kids in the car, slammed the doors closed and stood there taking deep, "calming" breaths. Repeating to myself "I can do this, they are MY kids, I can do this" I go to get in my car and I look up to see a Mom with two kids staring at me. I then realized that this woman was in the $1 aisle with me moments before, and had actually followed me out of the store. I looked back at her and she looked away, as if she was looking for her car, and it hit me - she was worried for my kid's safety and had followed me to see if she needed to intervene. 

What, a bitch. 

In my opinion, I did the best parenting move I could do. All parenting books tell you to follow through with your threats and remove the child from the situation when they are having a meltdown. I resisted the urge to yell at her "OH DON'T TELL ME YOUR KIDS NEVER HAVE HAD A MELTDOWN AT TARGET!" and I just took another deep breath, drove home and put my kid in the biggest time-out he's ever had. 

But it got me thinking about Theresa's post and the question of when did it become a bad thing to discipline your children? When did any and all parental disciplinary action become synonymous with being abusive?

Lucas and I had a long talk and the rest of the weekend was salvaged. While the milk and toilet paper had to wait until Jason got home on Sunday, I still stand by parenting decision - because it was MY decision.

And I'm the parent, goddammit. 

iPhood: Smashburger my 5,000 calorie lunch of dreams

Some of the girls in the office were talking about burgers and an event...I was half listening/half trying not eavesdrop, but then something lured me into the conversation... something about "butter and smashing the burger" and "crispy fried butter burger." My ears perked up, my mouth started to salivate...

They were chatting about the new Smashburger that opened the night before at Hazard Center. Then the magical words "We're going back for lunch today - wanna come?" I replied that they had me at "crispy butter burger."

MEAT

I got the basic All American burger. Smashed and fried to perfection, this was a greasy delicious mess of a burger - just how I like them. I know the trend is towards "grass fed" beef, but those burgers lose that juicy ooze when you bite into them.

This burger was spot-on for me. It didn't fall apart after one bite, but you still shoveled it in your mouth as fast as possible for fear of disintegration or just because it tastes so freaking good. 

Seriously had a Fat Bastard moment where I wanted to look at the burger and scream at the top of my lungs: "GET IN MA BELL-AY!"

It was so good, I forgot to take a picture of it until I was almost half-way done. 

 Pickle me this...

I've talked about pickle fries before. While I love me some fried potatoes, there is something almost sinful about deep frying pickles. They've (unfortunately for my thighs) become one of those items that when I see on a menu I must order. 

Hey, I did it for you guys! (sure...)

While not as amazing at the pickle fries from Corvette Diner, these babies were crispy and crunchy and a great side to the burger.

Shake it up baby, now.

And just because the butter smashed fried burger and deep fried pickles were not enough to make me unbutton the top of my pants, I topped this entire, decadent meal off with a Lime Milkshake. 

Yup, LIME MILKSHAKE.

Before you squeal and declare my taste-buds deformed, think of a key lime pie in a glass. Creamy, sweet and tart, I may go back to Smashburger for this shake alone. 

 Maybe it was the sugar high. Blame it on the deep fried overload. But heading back to work I noticed 2 little heads peeking up from the top of the dumpster in back of the office. Much to the HORROR of my co-workers Carrie and Jennifer, I reached in and rescued from dumpster despair two of the creepiest, crazy little Mexican Mariachi statues and gave them a new home in the back of the office.

My contract may be up at the end of the month, but my legacy will live on...