At least I can say I tried....

So, Makenna has been asking for awhile now to go to Sea World. She loves it there soooo much. And we have season passes, so we should go often. But since I had Kellen, I have been a little intimidated to take the two of them there alone.

But after a few weeks, Makenna's persistence paid off. So we packed up our bag and decided to go to Sea World for a few hours in the afternoon.
In a lot of ways it went much better than expected! Really, it did. But we had a couple of moments that I thought were worth sharing.

First, we are on our way out of the Penguin exhibit and about to head to the Shamu show (which starts in 10 minutes on the other side of the park, so we are in a hurry!) We get to the stroller fine (you had to leave the stroller outside) and I start putting Kellen in his seat. Out of the corner of my eye I see Makenna walking away from me. I call her name and tell her to come back here. She is getting further and further away. I call her name again. No response whatsoever! I then turn my full attention to her and realize she is chasing a pigeon. I start calling her name a little louder and firmer and start heading after her. The pigeon (and Makenna) head straight toward the line where people are waiting to go on a ride. So the pigeon, and Makenna, are weaving in and out, over and under, all the way through the chains and poles and people in line. And here I am, walking around the perimeter yelling her name (she is not responding in any way, shape or form...her focus is the bird) and trying to get to her...but of course I have the stroller, so how do I do that? As Makenna gets further and further away I realize I have to go in there to get her. So I bail on the stroller and leave poor Kellen with a Sea World attendant and take off weaving in and out, over and under, through the chains and line of people. Meanwhile, everyone in line is pointing and smiling and laughing at Makenna and saying things like "That is so funny" "How Cute" and "How Precious!" I am thinking "Yeah, really darn precious...You want her?" Finally I get to my darling Makenna and pick her up and carry her away. And, of course, as I go to step over the final chain to get back to the stroller my foot gets caught and three poles fall over. I pick those up and reassemble the line with Makenna in my arms (I don't dare put her down!) As we were walking away I was able to reflect on what just happened and see a bit of humor in it all. So I decide we will go on with our Sea World afternoon.
Right before we were getting ready to leave we stopped by the kids play area. I always let Makenna run around at the very end to tire her out completely before getting in the car. It's a sure way to get a nap out of her. In this play area they have areas for smaller children and little things to do on the ground. Then there are a few nets and stairs that lead up to a number of tunnels and bridges and what not that are up in the air. I have taken Makenna up there before when I've had someone to stay with Kellen. I told Makenna that we would not be going up there today because baby Kellen is too small to go up there and mommy has to be with the baby at all times. Everything was going well. We were playing down on the ground and having a grand old time. And then all of the sudden, of course, Makenna takes off in a sprint and heads right for the stairs that lead to one of the tunnels. I chase after her calling her name, telling her no, "Makenna, come here right now!" No response (you would think the child was deaf...selective hearing???) And so in the tunnel Makenna goes and I am stuck on the ground with the stroller thinking What now? Well, I followed underneath Makenna as she ran over bridges, through tunnels, across nets for a good 10 minutes terrified the entire time that I would lose sight of her in the mass of children over head and would have a missing two year old in this huge park. Finally Makenna takes the slide down, I grab her, drag her to the stroller, strap her in and say "We are going home!" And what is her response? "Thank you, mama! So much fun!"

This is just a picture of Makenna from today. She decided to put her panties on her head, so of course I had to capture the moment. It was later that I realized how appropriate this picture is for her. I call this picture "Butthead" :)