A big Happy Birthday to my big sister Linda!

Captain Walt is leaving.  He is taking Wolverine III his fishing boat back to Florida.  We went to his going away party held at Chris and Maddy’s restaurant.  He was a great neighbor, always great with the kids, alway giving us ice.  At Dan’s birthday party,  Tristan was showing him the pictures of the boats he had drawn, and Walt was talking to him about designing boats.  Tessa was always out talking to him about Marlin fishing, which is what he loves to do.  When I told him I liked sushi, he gave me a big piece of prime sushi tuna he had caught.  We are really going to miss him!

 Today we had our long awaited Dolphin Swim at Ocean World.  It was great.  Tessa was over the moon with excitement!  We were in a lagoon with four other people and the two dolphins.  The first thing we did was swim to the middle of the lagoon.  There we held hands, Tessa in the middle, and the dolphin jumped over us.  It went so fast we really couldn’t see him jump, so I am so glad we have a picture!

Next, we each went up individually to get a hug and kiss from the dolphin.  This was great as you actually got a close interaction with the dolphin.  Their skin so smooth, and they have such a great looking face.  It looks like they are always smiling. 

The dolphins kissed us on the cheek and then they kissed us on the lips.  That was interesting!!

We also did some dolphin dancing.

I think the kids were a little nervous when it came to actually feeding a fish to the dolphins!

The big highlight, and hands down Tristan and Tessa’s favorite was the dolphin tow.  You swam to the middle of the lagoon and held your hands out to the side.  Both dolphins would then come under the water next to you, and when they surfaced, you grabbed ahold of their fins and they pulled you.  I was surprised how fast the went.  I was also impressed that the kids were able to hang on!                                

After that, we lined up and the dolphins swam in front of us and we were able to touch them on their backs and stomachs.

The dolphin swim was really fun, and I’m glad we did it!  Dan is supposed to do a Shark Encounter soon, so stay tuned for that!