Swimming with Dolphins

Tyler is an amazing man. The dedication and love he has for his daughters and me. The sacrifice and service he gives of himself for our family in order to balance our lives, his job and studies at school. His gifts are always meaningful and full of love, and what he did for my 30th birthday will be added to the many reasons why my husband is so amazing!

I don't know if any of you have seen the clip of Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown, but that is almost exactly how my dolphin surprise played out.

We went to San Diego for my birthday, and I was under the impression that the trip was my birthday gift. Tyler had us scheduled to spend my actual birthday at Sea World. He was rushing me all morning (nothing out of the ordinary) and when we finally arrived in Sea World he said he needed to take me somewhere. Completely oblivious, I thought he was trying to get me to guest services because he had told me earlier that he was going to make me wear a birthday button.

He took me to a small gift shop - It didn't look like guest services. I started to look around and saw lots of pictures with people hugging dolphins. At this point I am starting to get real excited!! "OH TYLER!" I shouted. "Is this where I can stand by a green screen and get a picture that looks like I am with a dolphin?!?"

note: Tyler's and my parents got really cute pictures like that at the San Diego Zoo a few days ago with a baby panda. Tyler knows I love dolphins (it's a Tri-Delta thing), so I thought he had set-up something similar for me here.

Tyler tells me "no" with a huge smile on his face. This is where I start to freak out. "Those are real dolphins, aren't they? I know they are! They are real?" This is also when I start crying (looking through theses pictures I get tears in my eyes). It is truly ridiculous my friends.

I was crying because I was so excited. Because I knew that this was an experience not everyone gets to have. Because how thoughtful and amazing my husband was to do something like this for me. It was all just so much to take in.

I had NO IDEA! I had tears running down my face the whole time I was in the water, the waiting time before we got in the water and probably about 30 minutes after we were out of the water. It. Was. Awesome.

I hugged, kissed, pet and swam with a sweet dolphin on my 30th birthday. What an amazing way to celebrate!