Crazy August

I spent half of the month of August away from home. The last of August we spent moving. In between we had Josh's birthday, the first day of school and family visitors.

I felt good just surviving the month.

But now we are in our new house (rental) and school is in session. We have internet hooked up again and now I need to acknowledge some fun times.

Cody brought some friends to our old house and they played at the beach. I didn't get any pictures - silly me, but we had fun hosting some college boys. While they were here, Cody mentioned that Devon was here in Southern California. Since the cat was out of the bag, Devon brought his friends over so I could say hi. Again no pictures. I have no idea why I didn't get the camera out. I was happy to see them.

Our housing contract ran out, and we just happened into a new rental. Our friends in the ward bought a new house and wanted to rent the old one out. Timing was perfect and this new house has more room for guests and cars. It is a very nice house. We are lucky to be living here. Since the house was empty, we moved over in stages. I'd pack some boxes and take them over and unpack. I moved most of the kitchen and the closets during the week. On the last Saturday of August Craig got a truck and we moved the big stuff. Josh was a huge help. We wore him out. Monday and Tuesday we finished up the little stuff and I cleaned. Just like that, we are in a new house.

Karly came out the first weekend in September. Friday she and I went to Sea World. I did take a few pictures this time.

At the entrance.

We focused on seeing the shows. First up was the dolphin show. They are amazing. We sat in the soak zone and loved being up close. We got wet, so I had my camera away during the show.

We peeked in at the feeding the sea lions. They are so loud and the egrets hang out for the occasional fish as well.

Karly taking pictures of the Bay.

We caught the Seymore and Clyde show. But we were so far away, I didn't take any pictures. The otter was darling and I love sea lions. It is always a fun show.

We wandered through the shark exhibit and the smaller aquariums. 

Of course the highlight was the Orca show.

They are amazing and beautiful.

I hope they like showing off for the crowds. We certainly loved watching them.k

They were enthusiastic splashers.  I thought is was so interesting how they curled their tails to get the huge splashes.

Last time I was here, years ago, the trainers actually got in the water with the whales. But then a trainer was killed. I think during a show. So the trainers stay on the side lines and do what they can from the safety of the dock. 

I wonder if the orcas miss thier friends. They seem so aware and full of personality. I can't imagine that they hate doing the tricks and interacting one on one with the trainers.

At the same time I know it's not like being in the wild. I'm torn on the animals in captivity thing. I love seeing them close up. I know the money raised is used for animal rescue - Sea World is quick to point out they rescue tens of thousands of animals a year. And being able to see them in action raises awareness for conservation and protection.

The entire zoo/aquarium dilemma.

Saturday we went to the beach. It was a perfect day. The water was warm, the waves mild. We all got in and danced with the tide.

The boys were the first to go, of course. Then I put away my camera and joined in. It was fabulous.

Happy in the sun.

Happy in the sand.

Karly actually able to get in the Pacific Ocean. It's way too cold in Oregon.

Drying off. It's too cold in Oregon for this too.

It was sad to see her go on Sunday. Hopefully she had enough fun to come back.