Trainers for a Day - BEST DAY EVER.

I love that my parents are always thinking of super cool things for Violet to do... like working with the baby horse. A few months ago at a benefit fundraiser, Papa saw an auction item for a DOLPHIN ENCOUNTER and he knew it would be the COOLEST THING EVER for Violet to experience - so he bid on it and won! The plan was to give it to Violet for her birthday, only my parents realized it was going to expire before then. So in early April, they presented it to Violet as an early birthday present, and needless to say SHE WAS ECSTATIC. And frankly, so was I. Of all the things I have experienced in my lifetime, swimming with the dolphins at the Mirage was definitely in my top five. 

We called and got her scheduled for April 26th (exactly two months shy of her birthday), and we all headed down to the Dolphin Habitat. We were met at the entrance by Jimmy, one of the lead dolphin trainers, who took us back to the locker rooms to let us know how the experience would go. On the way back, he really took a liking to Riley, whose hair reminded him of his own son's. 

As I was filling out the paperwork, Jimmy took me aside and asked if I would mind if Riley took part in the experience too! He didn't want him to feel left out, and they had wetsuits that would fit him just fine. I couldn't say yes fast enough! And I couldn't believe that this day, which was already completely AWESOME, was going to be even BETTER!

Seriously. My boy in a wetsuit is pretty much more than I can possibly handle.
Here he is posing with Lightning :)
And here's Violet, RIDING on Lightning's dorsal fin!

Riley got to go for a ride, too! He rode on Maverick.
Another kind of ride here, holding onto Lightning's pectoral fins...
And Riley, getting ready to do the same thing...
Violet, slappin some skin with a dolphin...
Seriously. BEST DAY EVER. Hundreds more photos and even video... these kids will never ever forget this day. I am so happy they got to do this!! ♥