The growing Roza family: MW excursion on Carson's 1st birthday

On July 26th, Carson's 1st birthday, we all headed to Marine World to celebrate his big day. Yes, he did have a party the weekend before. But Shea wanted to spend the day with him on his birthday, so she took that day off of work. We thought going to MW would be a great idea. My brother Jacob was in town so he went with us also. We met up in the morning at the penguin exhibit. As usual, the penguins were a blast to watch!

Next, we took the kids over to the kiddie ride area for some fun. Since I'm pregnant, I couldn't join Lilah on any of the rides. But thankfully Lilah had Uncle Jacob, Auntie Shea and Uncle Shaun there to step in for me! They rode the train ride and loved it. Then we went on the carousel. I actually snuck on the carousel, he he! I was wearing a fleece jacket and I zipped it up over my baby bump. Between my jacket and carrying Lilah, I was able to disguise my belly. And the carousel is very tame, so I certainly wasn't in any danger. I knew Lilah would want to ride the elephant, and Kai was very interested in the zebra, so the two kids got to ride right next to each other, which was great! Because Carson is still unable to walk, he was only allowed to sit on the non-moving bench seat on the carousel. He still loved it though! He peeked behind his chair to watch the rest of us, and he clapped during the ride. The kids wanted to go again and unfortunately the elephant wasn't available, so we went for the gorilla instead. Thankfully the gorilla was positioned next to another zebra, so Lilah and Kai rode side by side again. I was on the carousel taking photos with my iphone and Jacob was nearby the carousel taking photos with my camera while we went round and round.

Up next was the seal/sea lion show. Shea and her crew had never seen this show before, so they were excited about it. Lilah and I had seen it once before. We sat up closer this time so she could get a better look. After the show, we enjoyed watching the playful walruses. Two of the walruses were very active and they put on quite the show for everyone! Next door to the walrus exhibit was the penguin helicopter ride. I was so excited for Lilah to enjoy this ride! The kids needed a chaperone, and Auntie Shea was the chosen one. I couldn't go because I'm pregnant, and Jacob and Shaun are too tall to ride that ride (can't be over 5'7" tall). Shea had a great time with the kids and she said Lilah was signing the word "more" because she wanted to ride again.

The sharks and fish were our next stop. As always, we had a blast in the aquarium! The park has a reptile exhibit and we were lucky enough to get up close and personal with a snake and a baby alligator. Kai even got to hold a milk snake, which just made his day! Both Lilah and Kai got to touch the baby alligator, which was awesome. After that, Lilah enjoyed a hot air balloon ride with Uncle Jacob and then the jeep safari ride with Kai and Uncle Shaun. We quickly swung by the giraffes and lions on our way to the African elephant show in the afternoon. Lilah fell asleep in her stroller on the way to the elephant exhibit, so she missed out on watching Valerie take a bath and perform her tricks during the show. My poor babe! Almost every time she has either slept through the show or not really been able to enjoy it because she's been too tired. That 2:30 pm show time is terrible for my kiddo's schedule! Thankfully Lilah did wake up in time to catch part of the Asian elephant show, and she even got to hand-feed the Asian elephant. That was super cool! After that, it was time to head home.