Yoo 236 - An Early Christmas Gift

He was excited.

Oh boy was he excited!

We're talking like a small child about to open presents excited.



But he had been keeping this to himself for over a month.  Which is years in "Greg-keeping-a-surprise" time. Every other minute on the drive to Sea World he would ask me "Can I tell you now??".  And I would respond "Not yet!".  Because it's really amusing to watch him squirm.  And also, I like to savor the anticipation high.

I'll give the Greghype some creds though, his gift done won him some boyfriend points.

We pulled into Dolly the Dolphin parking lot #13, turned off the car, and I just couldn't corral the rodeo any longer.

"Ok I have to tell you now!"

"Alright, alright, tell me now."

And with that he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, pushed it my direction, and exclaimed, "You get to swim with the whales!"

I stared.  Slightly confused.  "Is this some implication of my weight...?"



"What..? No...they're like the skinniest whales!"

Honest.  Those were his words.  Isn't he a charmer??

Gregbanter aside, I was surprised, stoked, and still soaking up the anticipation high.  (and also psyching myself up for the 60 degree water...).

We grabbed the swimsuit he'd had the Katiefriend sneak out from under my nose, and skipped into the park.  Ok, we didn't skip, but it sounds good so picture us skipping.  All the way to the Beluga Whale pool.

And, also, picture me singing this.  Because, naturally, I was.  And the Gregblusher didn't even get embarrassed!  (that's how excited he was).

"Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,

Swim so wild and you swim so free.

Heaven above and the sea below,

And a little white whale on the go.

Baby beluga, oh, baby beluga!"

But mostly just the "Baby beluga, oh, baby beluga!" part.

There were wet suits involved.  And we rocked them.  Something about being enveloped in neoprene makes you feel like a super hero...



Or maybe it's the slipping into neoprene part.  Because that takes some work.  That aside, we watched a short video on beluga whales and how they're trained at Sea World, were told to "be cool" around the whales (uh, easy), and then slipped into the pool.

*high-pitched squeal*

That was Greg.  I on the other hand, handled the initial shock like a champ.

"Baby beluga!"

Ok, maybe we weren't so cool.  But they loved us nonetheless.

(let's pretend that I don't also have a picture of the whale missing my cheek and instead going for my jugular...)

Well, maybe they just loved me.  Emac (sp...?) seemed to just played dead around the Gregfloater...

Haha, just kidding!  Wait...

...nope, he looks dead in that one too.  I think the belugas could sense his jealousy...

"I wish someone would play with me all day and then feed me food."

(dream big children, dream big).

We spent the better part of an hour up close and personal with the floating marshmallows and oh I just loved them!

Come here so I can give you a hug!

(let's pretend my rear does not look ginormous in that picture...it's a bad angle...i swear...).

They're pretty cool creatures.  I even forgave one for spraying me.  (in his defense, I did unknowingly give the "spray" command).  And I laughed when another one just ignored the trainer and started doing jumps all over the pool in grand "I do what I want!" and "Go big or go home!" fashion.  Kind of amazing how much personality animals can seem to have.  It makes me smile.

The whole encounter went by in a breeze.  I didn't even notice how cold the water was.  (ok, maybe a few times, but those wet suits are amazing).  It was a sad moment when the trainers tired of entertaining the tourists and gave us the boot.

But overall it was a pretty original Christmas gift/memory from the boy.

He thought so too.

"That was better than this one time a cheetah at the zoo winked at me!"

I couldn't have summed it up better myself.  Though I've never had a cheetah wink at me...

Have a great day :-)