Shampoo

I have a confession to make. This is very hard for me so I will just blurt it out.

My name is Rebecca and I am a Sea World-holic.

Whew! I feel so much better now. I have been meaning to get that off of my chest for years.

Josh and I have had Sea World passes for years. I actually had one before I met him when I was still in college. They had a promotion offering pay one full day, get the rest of the year free. Pair that with a student discount and two free beers that they gave away, and I was set. Of course over the years they changed their promotions but that didn't dissuade us from getting Sea World passes. It always cost justified itself to get the annual passes and offset it by free beer and entertainment. Especially when I lived about 15 minutes away at the time. Josh and I loved the beer school which eventually morphed into beer tasting in the Brewmaster's Club. I was able to recite the beer school script back to the employees who worked there and it was even funnier if I had a few beers in me.

My best friend, Carri, was my maid of honor at my wedding. For my bachelorette party she even took the party to Sea World's Luau Dinner Show. I got up on stage and danced. I really had a great time. I remember asking Carri how she came up with the idea and she very bluntly put "You love Sea World. It wasn't a very hard decision."

The day before I found out I was pregnant with Abigail, Josh and my family were at Sea World. Josh and I attended a quick beer school, in which I had some of my beers and some of his. Then the next day I got a positive pregnancy test. Good thing I was drinking the day before.

Unfortunately, Sea World/Busch Gardens was bought out by In Bev who decided to stop all free alcohol in the parks. BOO!!! So with the assistance of my brother getting us free passes (since we can't offset the price with free beer. Just kidding. We would still go), we have continued our Sea World traditions with Abigail. Abby has gone to Sea World since she was three months old:

We even were lucky enough to stop by when Uncle Adam was at Sea World with his Busch Gardens animals.

But the real thing we couldn't wait for was until she was big enough to start playing in the kids area since the big kids (Josh and I) have been wanting to go for years.

The best part is definitely the splash pad they have there. While it can be overcome with big kids, we try to go early in the morning so we can play by ourselves.

Because of our love for Sea World, it wasn't a surprise to me that Abigail would recognize Sea World before more known characters like Mickey Mouse. However, when I drove by a Sea World billboard with Shamu on it, I would heard a little voice from the back seat. I expected to hear "whale" or "more Cheerios". However, all I heard was "Shampoo! Shampoo!" After a good laugh, I said "Sweetie, it is Shamu." She quickly corrected herself and said "Shamu. Shamu". Now, she does know what shampoo is because we use it in the bath every day so I wasn't quite expecting to hear a giant killer whale to be called the same thing as the yellow soap in the bathtub.

Unfortunately, now Ms. Smartie Pants knows what exit Sea World is and will ask"Sea World? Shampoo? Big hug for Shampoo?" every time we pass. Yes, dear. We can go to Sea World and give Shamu a big hug.

Oh what monster have we created.