San Diego–SeaWorld, Day 2

Our second day at SeaWorld was fun and long!  We spent all day there and had a blast.

We went to the Wild Arctic exhibit which was really cool.  They have made their exhibits really neat with settings and props and it makes you feel like you are really in an Arctic research center.

We saw Polar Bears!
Abby immediately started yelling, “dah-dah” (dog-dog) when she saw them and she stood and watched for a long time.
This is the remnant of Adam’s “polar bear growl”

A glacier wall made out of real ice!  Somebody pressed their hand into the ice for a long time to get that handprint.  It was freezing!

Sitting inside a polar bear cave!  (This wasn’t real ice!)
It was actually really dark in the cave so Abby was freaking out and the look on my face is, “Hurry up and take the picture!”….through clenched teeth! :)

Beluga Whales
Abby absolutely loved looking at the fish and whales through the glass.

Abby’s favorite part of every exhibit….the stuffed animals in the gift shop they funnel you through!  She ended up with a polar bear after considering sharks, dolphins, penguins, and Shamus.  Most animals are either dogs or bears to her so we thought a soft polar bear would be perfect.  She snuggles it up to her face every night now!
And no, we didn’t get the giant one!

Poor Abby spent most of her time in the stroller, but her preferred mode of transportation was walking.  We heard, “wah!!” a million times every day when she was stuck riding and wanted to get out and walk.

And Adam’s preferred mode of transportation was the stroller!
He especially liked looking at the map and telling us where to go.

After lunch, and before the Shamu Show, we spent some time at the Sesame Street Bay of Play where they had several kid rides, bounce houses, and a rope playground.

This is how Abby spent the time.

The best part of SeaWorld…..Shamu!!

Adam loved the cheer they taught us, “Shamu – Shamu – Shamu!” while bringing your hands together like a tail fin.

At the end of the day, we let Adam decide on which stuffed animal he wanted and without even gentle prodding from me, he chose Shamu!  I was so thrilled.  You gotta have a Shamu!

We went to El Torito for dinner that night.  I grew up eating at El Torito so when we drove past it on one of the first days there, I knew we had to go!  I was so excited to get to wear a bull hat!!  Funny how some things don’t change in 18+ years!

That night, Adam had lots of fun flipping his Shamu around.  It made my mother-heart melt to know he had experience something I loved as a child and now he was loving it too!

I snapped this sweet photo.  He had a really hard time falling asleep with the light on each night but Nat and I just couldn’t bring ourselves to go to bed at 8:30 or 9:00!

Our next stop…LEGOLAND!

San Diego–SeaWorld Day 1

SeaWorld!!

On our 1st day at SeaWorld, we saw the funny sea lion show, Seamore and Clyde.  I remember this show from when I was a kid!

Don’t be fooled, she kept her sunglasses on for all of 15 seconds.

After the sea lions, we headed straight over to the dolphin show.
Nat and I both thought there would be more dolphin tricks, but a lot of this show was Cirque du Soleil-type acrobatics with people.  Still cool, but we wanted more dolphins!

It was really sunny during the show and the stadium completely blocked the breeze, so by this point the kids were hungry and hot so we headed back to the car to eat the sandwiches and snacks we packed and then decided to head back to the hotel for naps.

After naps, we went back to SeaWorld and had a great time!  There was hardly anybody there, the weather was wonderful, and we could let Abby out of the stroller to run!!

We visited the dolphin tank…

Touched starfish…

And went inside the aquarium that was packed earlier in the day.  It was almost empty and Abby loved the fish!  She would sign ‘fish’ and say, ‘feee!’ and loved touching the glass.

We took the sky coaster out over Mission Bay…

And walked along the waterfront.

Our last stop of the night was the sea lion area.  We got a good laugh at the one on the rock.  He figured out how to stand out above the other barking sea lions by yelling in a high-pitched tone and waving his flipper.  There were many impersonations of this guy throughout the rest of our trip!  We even heard him while we were eating lunch at a nearby restaurant the second day we went!

 

Stay tuned for Day 2!

San Diego – Flight, Temple, and Mormon Battalion Site

We went on our very first family vacation (we’ve gone places with family, but not our own) to San Diego!  I’m going to break up the posts by activity so stay tuned for LOTS of posts and pictures!

Adam was SO excited about the plane ride.

He spent most of the flight playing the iPad.  Oh, how I love the iPad!!

Abigail did pretty well also and spent the flight climbing all over us, eating snacks, and also playing the iPad or Nat’s Xoom.

I don’t know if it shows up very well on here, but she has beautiful green eyes when she wears green!

Our first full day there was on a Sunday so we took a trip to see the San Diego Temple.  I was almost 10 years old in 1993 and living in Rancho Santa Margarita (Orange County) when the temple was dedicated.  My Dad sang in a stake choir in one of the dedication sessions so we were able to be in the Celestial Room for the dedication.  I remember how beautiful that room was with the staircase where the choir sang.

It was a cloudy, cold morning!

Adam got to touch the temple which has been one of our stake goals in recent years.

I love how you come up a hill on the freeway and all of a sudden see the temple.  It is VERY close to the freeway!

We walked around the grounds and the kids had fun running around and I had fun taking pictures of all the flowers of my “homeland”!
By the way, I lived in San Diego from about age 3-5 and Orange County from 5-10 so most of my young childhood was spent in California.

Poppies and Agapanthus
We had both of these in our backyard in California
There are more flower pics to come! :)

True to Coastal California, the sun came out in the afternoon and our next stop was the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.  A couple weeks before we left, a man in our ward bore his testimony about this place that he visited while on a business trip in San Diego.  I’m so grateful that he did because we wouldn’t have known about it and it was awesome!

They had a really neat interactive movie experience where we went to different rooms that were decorated like a campsite, army outfitter store, and old court house.  The Sister Missionaries were great and Nat and I really enjoyed the history.

Adam was our Mormon Battalion member fitted for duty.

At the end, they had a kiosk where you could search for any ancestors who were members of the Battalion.  My Mom reminded me before we left that my 5th Great Grandfather, Thomas Karren, served in the Mormon Battalion.  He got sick and stayed the winter in Pueblo, CO, and then went to the Salt Lake Valley, rather than continuing on to San Diego where the Battalion helped build homes and establish the city.  It was neat seeing his picture and biography there.
We had our picture taken as “Honorary Members of the Mormon Battalion”

Outside, they had a place to pan for gold (which many of the members did once they arrived in California).

Our big haul of gold!

Adam had a blast playing in the water

And Abby loved running around and building with bricks.

More flower pictures

Bougainvillea!
We also had this in our yard and I’ve always loved the hot pink color!
 

It was a great first day!

More posts to come….it might take me a few days to get everything posted.   Last week was filled with laundry, cleaning, errands, and a sick baby girl and I’m still playing catch-up on real life!

6 Years Ago Today….

I married my best friend!

It’s amazing how fast 6 years goes by!  I love the life Nat and I have created together, even with it’s ups and downs and daily stresses of kids, homemaking, work, school, and church callings.  I couldn’t ask for a better husband and I’m excited to see what the next year will bring!

We are spending our anniversary in a very romantic way.  Flying to San Diego with 2 kids, 3 bags, 3 carry-ons, 2 car seats, and a stroller, and then sharing my bed with a 3 year old.  I guess other than Nat, there isn’t any other guy I’d want next to me! :)

I love you honey!