Sharks are talking at Sea Life Aquarium!?! You HAVE 2 check it out ;)

It's "Shark Talk!!!!!"

Have you been to Sea Life Aquarium yet? yes, no, maybe so?

Have you been there lately???

I have the PERFECT reason for your entire Family to go now, ready?

This Spring, Sea Life Aquarium is in a "Shark Frenzy!"

"Sea Life Aquarium's Shark Adventures"

Did you know that Sea Life Aquarium has the only Scalloped Hammerhead Shark in Southern California?  With a second one coming to join in on the fun very soon ;)

Cool right?

 This spring, SEA LIFE™ Carlsbad becomes the only Aquarium in Southern California to feature scalloped hammerhead sharks as two young sharks move in for “The Daily Dive,” part of SHARKS! a series of three new shows focusing on these mysterious creatures. The family Aquarium is also adding “The Shark and Ray Show” and “Shark Talk,” a hilarious and engaging puppet show.

In "Honor" of the new arrival to The Lost City of Atlantis, there is an awesome puppet show called...

"Shark Talk"

Starring Hammy the Hammerhead Shark, along with Hermit the Crab,
"with no relation to the green guy" lol You have to be there to understand, lol

My Family was SO happy to attend Sea Life Aquarium and see what "Shark Talk" is all about.

Let me tell you about this interactive puppet show...

Hermit the Crab, Hammy the Hammerhead and the Octopus, who's name for the life of me, I can not remember, are just hilarious. 

Throughout the puppet show, they are teaching the children facts about Sharks, they have a "T.V interview" with callers from the oceans, A LOT OF HUMOR, and a great segment of the show is dedicated to the children being able to ask any and all questions they can think of. 

During the "Shark Talk" puppet show, my children learned... 

1. Scalloped Hammerhead Shark babies are called "pups"
2. Scalloped Hammerhead Shark can grow up to be up to 12 feet long
3. the odd shape of the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark's head, allows it to have 360 degree vision 
4. The most important thing they learned was that though sharks are ALWAYS portrayed as man eating and terrible animals, with Jaws being Hammy's mother -in-law:) ; most sharks will not go close to humans.  As with dogs, the sense of danger to itself, can lead the shark to react in a self defending mode...

The Daily Dive is another GREAT feature of "The Shark Adventures".  

Though we caught only the last bit of the show, the kids still loved the fact that there was a scuba diver talking to them through a microphone.

These unique sharks will be the stars of the new “Daily Dive Show”, an interactive underwater dive show which takes place in the Shipwreck Gallery where guests help an exploration diver uncover the secrets of the Lost City of Atlantis. The show uses a special dive mask that allows a diver in the main ocean tank to talk to guests out in the gallery for a fun, interactive and educational experience.

Another GREAT show is the "Shark and Ray Show"
This show is so cool, there is a fun guaranteed ;)  The Educator makes learning fun, she has jokes for the kids, I couldn't wait to come home and tell them to Hubby ;)
During the show, the sharks and rays get very active, swimming super fast, they know that it's feeding time, and that is their behavior.  All the kids are given a clipboard and a dry erase marker, and they answer questions during the show.  At the end of the show, when the child turns in the clipboard, they get a "cool" shark tattoo.  My children as well as myself, had a GREAT time ;)

“The Shark and Ray Show” features an adventurous educator interacting with guests and the intriguing creatures of the Ray Lagoon including Port Jackson sharks, epaulette sharks, brown banded bamboo sharks, white spotted bamboo sharks and the southern sting rays and cow nose the rays that give the Lagoon its name.

There are many feeding schedules for different Sea creatures, that the public can attend, like the shark feeding, the sea horse feeding, the Ray feedings, and if you want to feed your youngins, head upstairs to the Cafe, that is fully stocked with nutritional and delicious choices ;)

One more of my favorite parts of "Shark Talk" Day ;) was when the kids and I went to "Shark School".  There is a Professor always willing to teach everyone some really cool facts.

Did you know that a Mermaid purse is a cocoon (egg sac) for a shark? 

An egg case or egg capsule,also known as mermaid's purses, is a casing that surrounds the fertilized eggssharks. of some sharks.
Ready for my SUPER COOL PICTURES?!?!?!

The Shark Professor, helped me prop the kids for a picture in a Mermaid's Purse!
Super Cool when she gave the kids their Hammerhead Sharks to hold so they could see themselves in a purse with a shark pup.

I have to tell you something very important to me and many other parents, the ENTIRE staff at Sea Life Aquarium has ALWAYS been so helpful and nice.  I have not experienced attitude or frustration, even on days like our last visit, when Izeah was at 100% of hyper active bliss.  

From the Cafe staff to the Shark Talk personnel, everyone had patience for my son, and I appreciate it SO much!!!

As a Parent of a Child with "Special needs", we don't always find the most patient staff members to help with information or just plain kindness and patience towards our kids. 

At Sea Life Aquarium, that is the only kind of attention they have for everyone's kids: the 100% kind ;)

If you remember my previous post, about our visit to Sea Life Aquarium; Izeah found his "zone" with the water while we were there.  That post brought tears to myself while writing it, and tears to many friends that read it.  My son, who many times has felt that the ENTIRE world does not understand him, felt at home there, he felt at peace. Certain children with Autism have different "things" that calm and soothe them, my son learned, along with the rest of our Family, that water is his element.  Sea Life is his element. 

This is what he said that Day:

                                  While he was sitting here, watching the Lost City of Atlantis, he said 

'Mommy, I LOVE it here, this is MY dream come true" 

                                 I just cried, he had never "loved" a place as much as this before.

To read that days' post, click here

If you haven't been to Sea Life Aquarium yet, do your entire Family a favor, GO!!!

It is so much fun, educational, and most important in these times:

IT IS EXTREMELY AFFORDABLE!!!!!

Sea Life Aquarium has one of the lowest prices for great fun and education in town!!!
click here for ticket info

Before I leave you to check your calendars and plan your visit to Sea Life, let me show you some of our

"forever moments"

Thanks to Sea Life Aquarium...

But the BEST picture EVER?!??!

Has to be when 

Hammy the Hammerhead 

made a SPECIAL APPEARANCE in our picture!!!!...

Thank You Sea Life and to EVERYONE that made our day possible ;)

2nd Annual Underwater Parks Day Event!

As many of you know, we were invited to attend The 2nd Annual Underwater Parks Day celebrations at SEA LIFE Aquarium by Legoland ;)

Let me start by telling you that it was a wonderful experience. 

We arrived on time, yes I know, it's not normal for us to arrive on time, but we did it!  We were so excited to go, we had never gone to the SEA LIFE Aquarium before.

We walked up to the entrance and we were greeted by the "ticket-taker" as my son called her lol.  She spoke to the kids, and got them even more excited.  She showed the kids some scratch off cards that they have at the entrance, she told the kids that as they go through the entire Aquarium, there are question areas for them to read, and answer on their scratch off cards.  She told them that at the end of their tour, if they turn in the card at the gift shop, they get a special "expert" badge if they get all of the answers correct.  WE all got excited, lol.

You then have to wait for a group to form and you are all let inside to a "holding area", the kids were so excited  because it just has you anticipating what's next.  In the section we went into, there is a video that plays where you are welcomed and it shows you some great clips.

The doors opens and WOW!  there is a slide and a bridge and a wall aquarium tank

The kids had so much fun, they didn't want to move along, lol.  Once I got their attention with the first trivia question, they rushed to read it, it was very nice to see them helping the little ones with the answers. 

We moved along through different sections of the Aquarium, Izeah which seems to be "soothed" by water or sea life, was just loving every single display.   They have these plaques called "Fin Facts" they teach you something about a specific sea life fact, I loved them, lol, I was so excited to find every single one throughout the entire aquarium ;)

The kids got to make a take-home habitat for an animal of their choice.

All the kids loved the different places where they can pet the different sea animals, but I think Izeah was EXTRA happy about that, he was asking tons of questions and he pet every single thing he could.  He stood there for almost an entire hour just petting a seastar.

Our local ocean conservation organizations that were there: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, Coastkeeper, I Love A Clean San Diego, Ocean Discovery Institute, San Diego Oceans Foundation and San Elijo State Beach.  They had booths and activities for The Underwater Parks Day event at SEA LIFE Aquarium.  They gace all of the kids a paper at the antrance to the booths, and if you got a stamp from all of the booths, you turn it in at the desk for a prize.
The kids got to make a button to pin on their shirts, see animals in jar and the effects of pollution, they got to make it "rain" on a plastic mold of a city so they can see where trash and hazardous materials end up.  They did learn, and they had a great time.  At the end of it, they cashed their stamped card for a sticker, and a bookmarker that when they are done using it, they can plant it and it has flower seeds embedded inside.  AWESOME!!!

EVERYONE LOVED the underwater tunnel, even Daddy....

They found The Lost City of Atlantis!

WE ALL had a WONDERFUL time, The entire day was a learning adventure.

When we were done inside of the Aquarium, which by the way was almost closing time, time flies when you're having fun ;)

The kids turned in their scratch off cards at the gift shop for a "expert" badge.

I can not express enough the fun the entire Family had during this event.

Want to know my Favorite part of the whole day?!?!!?

Izeah, (which if you read the sidebar, has autism) had a wonderful time, his ADHD and anxiety were completely under control that day.  The water is his "zone", staring at the sea animals for hours is so therapeutic for him,

While he was sitting here, watching the Lost City of Atlantis, he said

'Mommy, I LOVE it here, this is MY dream come true"

I just cried, he had never "loved" a place as much as this before!

If you have not visited SEA LIFE Aquarium before, please do so, I HIGHLY recommend it!

The price is extremely affordable, even for our large family, the things the entire Family will learn will last for years to come, The best part, is the wonderful memories you will have.

The SEA LIFE Aquarium definitely has my Seal of Approval!!!!

My Family received admission tickets to enjoy the festivities.

A Wonderful event for everyone @ Sea Life Aquarium

I had the privilege of being invited to this awesome event and I would LOVE to pass the opportunity on to you and/or your Family to enjoy as well ;)

On Saturday January 16, 2010, Sea Life Aquarium, yes, as in the one next to LEGOland, yayyyy!!!!! ;) will celebrate their 2nd Annual Underwater Parks Day by having an AWESOME Family Friendly Festival, how cool is that?!??!!

What is SEA LIFE  you ask? :o "gasp!!!"

SEA LIFE is an Aquarium that was especially designed to be a child's interactive guide to our Beautiful Sea Life, they have different opportunities for the Families to have up close and personal encounters with many of our different sea creatures, they have hands on activities along with teaching us all about our sea life.  

We will have a chance to make our own take-home habitat, awesome right?!?!?!

Teresa Espaniola, a renowned local artist  who is known for painting seascapes as well as for her unique works using found objects and beach trash, will be leading the Happy Habitat Mural project, where children will be able to add their own cool sea creature to the Ocean Mural that will live in The Discovery Zone, what a wonderful and fun way to have the children see and show us what a healthy underwater habitat should look like.  

There will also be several hands-on activities at the Kid's Conservation Expo.

 

There will be information booths, activities for the families throughout the whole day, as well as Nine of Espanola’s “gARTbage” artworks, using our local beach trash to create her that will be on display during the event.  See if you can find all 9 ;) and there will also be giveaways, yayyy!!!!

Our local ocean conservation organizations that will be there are: Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, Coastkeeper, I Love A Clean San Diego, Ocean Discovery Institute, San Diego Oceans Foundation and San Elijo State Beach with booths and activities for The Underwater Parks Day event at SEA LIFE Aquarium.

There a several other Aquariums that will be hosting Underwater Park Day events, but SEA LIFE Aquarium is the only one created it with kids and families in mind, cool!!!!!!

Yes, SEA  LIFE Aquarium passes my test for family budget friendly prices and all activities are included in the cost of Aquarium admission – $19 for adults, $15 for seniors and $12 for kids 3 to 12 and they offer a AAA discount as well as Military discounts as well, yessss!!!

The Underwater Parks Day at SEA LIFE Aquarium takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 For anyone that is interested in attending, and for those that still weren't convinced, I have an even better surprise!!!!!!

CLICK HERE for your coupon for 2 free children's admissions with every paying adult, told you it was a GREAT surprise!!!!!!!!

With that said, I hope to see many Families there, I know My Family will be attending, and I hope yours will too.

Let me know if you or your Family will be there too ;)

Please help me spread the word about this wonderful event, what better way to have a fantastic Family fun day AND learn about our SEA LIFE as well ;)

are you on Twitter?  add me @militaryfamof8

tweet about this awesome event with hashtag #sdsealife
"example of my dream tweet from you:  
Great family event at SEA LIFE Aqu. 1/16 http://bit.ly/6o1Xi5 PLS help me spread the word & RT #SDsealife  "

My Family received admission tickets in exchange for promoting this event.