It's taken me til now to muster up the desire to try to re-post after Wednesday's fiasco! So here we go again.

After we had nearly killed ourselves walking round MGM and staying to the bitter end to watch the amazing Fantasmic show we decided we better rest. And what better way to rest than to spend the next few days shopping! Shopping in America is the best fun, especially with the exchange rate so good right now. We did outlet malls, bookstores, Downtown Disney (again) and Wal*Mart. I can't tell you how much I love Wal*Mart! That place has the best birthday/party/office supplies sections anywhere! I always come back laden with cards, notebooks and about a million cute unnecessary things. Not to mention toiletries! Although I'm always thinking about weight restrictions on the flights as I'm deciding whether to lift another bottle of Jergens body lotion (seriously makes my skin feel smooth as a baby's bottom, and I have a pretty cute baby's bottom to compare it to!) I did think about taking photos in Wal*Mart but I was worried they might throw me out and it wasn't worth taking that risk! We even managed to get a system going which meant we shopped in shifts so that we didn't have to trail the boys with us. Patrick and Conor, I mean. Dad pretends he doesn't like shopping but ask anyone who was the last out of Barnes & Noble! And as for Michael, he shops like a girl! I'm a very lucky wife!!

Next park was Seaworld. Such a great place. In fact when I was a teenager I even wrote to enquire about job opportunities there! The last time I was in Seaworld was on my honeymoon in San Diego and it wasn't the great experience I remembered from yore. We had borrowed my dad's video camera for our trip and but it died in Seaworld. I still maintain it wasn't our fault. We were BEHIND the Soak Zone, and we had the camera protected in a towel under the seats. Had we done everything necessary to protect it? Yes. Were we looking forward to the dolphin show? Yes. Did anyone mention there were Beluga and Pilot whales in this show too? I don't think so! All was good until the end when the whales splashed and the spray went past the Soak Zone. And that was that. So I was keen to enjoy a positive experience this time!

First up was the Sea Lion show. This is always a pretty funny show and this one was exceptionally so as it seemed the trainers may have been out on the town the night before and couldn't remember their lines. Little as funny as someone struggling to get their lines out because they're laughing so hard. Patrick really enjoyed this show as it had a pirate theme.

We were pretty hot even this early in the day - my dad looked like this a LOT during the holiday!

It was fairly sticky the whole day - we were glad that there were some cool exhibits indoors too. This is the closest I hope to ever come to a polar bear!

Obviously the main attraction at Seaworld is the killer whale show starring Shamu. We kept missing this in a bid to find cool air or because we got lost trying to find the stadium (duh!) But eventually we got there. And it was a fantastic show. There is a part of me that's thinking there's something wrong about such massive animals contained in a pool, but watching them with their trainers and knowing that so many of them were bred there eases my conscience.  Patrick was completely entranced during the show, Conor was mostly asleep. Oh well, at least we have the pictures to show him!

And of course no trip to any park is complete until you've parted with some hard earned cash for some nonsense items! See below.

This would be the lunch box Patrick's kids' meal came in which we had to carry around for the rest of the day and have yet to tell him was left behind in the villa. Shhhh!!

We had to do the evening shows on a second day because we were so hot and tired by tea time. The ticket entitled us to a second day free anyway so it made sense to quit while we were ahead. Michael, Lesley and I took the boys back a few days later and it was so worth it. Patrick got to go on the Shamu Express, a little roller coaster for kids that I was sure he would back out of at the last moment, but he actually persevered, although I'm not sure 'enjoy' would have been his word of choice after, but I was so proud of him for being brave enough to go on it. And the evening shows really were fantastic, especially the Shamu Rocks show. Mum and dad made the right decision not coming back because the rock music they played as we sat sweating for an hour waiting for the show to begin would have killed them. Which in turn would have killed the rest of us! Michael and Patrick were very brave and sat in the Soak Zone. I think slightly damp zone would have been more appropriate, but the wee man got a bit wet and everyone went home happy! After having shelled out some more money on these ridiculous glasses! Oh well, I suppose you leave your common sense behind on holiday, or maybe you just can't resist seeing your kid ecstatically happy for a while until they forget about them!

Ok, now fingers crossed while I try to get this online......