Day 3

Tuesday: San Diego Zoo

lil' L didn't sleep well last night, he was coughing all night and I woke up with head congestion, therefore on our way to the Zoo, we stopped by the grocery store for medicine for both of us. Today, we walked around seeing all of the fun animals,

especially the ones we don't see at our local zoo. We bought passes through Costco, which was awesome. The passes included the free rides on the Skyfari (the sky ride) and the bus tour. F was so excited to see the polar bears, unfortunately they were never in the water. We also loved seeing the hippos. Two animals we hope will come back to our zoo (apparently polar bears are currently in the works) I really enjoyed seeing the Koalas. Because of my cold I couldn't smell the eucalyptus, which is my favorite, bummer. We smartened up at lunch time, lil' L, lil' K and I split two kids meals (They are quite expensive) so they could each have a souvenir bucket and cup. They were more than enough food. (At Sea World, the kids both got their own kids meal, F and I got our own food, and ended up with a big bill and leftovers.) Their kids meals have a hamburger, chips, raisins, animal crackers and a drink. The kids split one hamburger and shared everything else. Plus, one less meal to buy. Other animals we loved and saw. The panda bears, even though there was long line (but not as long as when we passed it later) and you have to be quiet, which is hard to do with two small kids, one of which doesn't understand. When we got to the pygmy hippos, the main attraction for lil' L was the fish. He loves fish, if you can't tell from the big smile on his face. I was shocked he even turned around for his picture. On the way to see the monkeys and apes, they have section filled with statues of gorillas. They have gorillas laying down, playing, etc. Lil' L was fascinated with the one of a mother and her baby. He would stick is hand in the gorillas hand and also in the mouth. It was hard to pull him away from the gorillas. We did have one adventure today. Along with others, we stopped to watch the orangutans. A mother and baby cuddled in a tree, a few scattered around, and then this "couple." They were playing around, and one began doing somersaults along the glass. Everyone is laughing and enjoying, when to our surprise the other follows her, and well, let's just say it was "raw" nature. I don't think any of the children knew what was going on, but many of the adults got quite a laugh about what was going on. Some parents grabbed their children and hurried away. As the two were by our children, the female was knocking on the glass, our little boy, knocked back. I am grateful we did not have to answer the question, "What are they doing?" Overall, it was a fantastic day at the zoo. The weather was completely gorgeous and a lot of fun. After leaving the zoo, we headed into Old Town. We walked around for a little while before heading to dinner at Pizza Bella. I was feeling horrible, even though I had taken more medicine. I laid down on the table until dinner came, and I still couldn't eat much. We took about half of it back to the hotel, and thankfully, our place had a small kitchen with a fridge and a microwave, dinner for another night. F was kind enough to take care of the kiddies back at the hotel, while I slept for a little while. Before I knew it, I was awoken to children in the pjs ready to say good night. Another great day of vacation!!

Pictures on the Left side: Sleeping koala; Munching panda; F with children on Gorilla statue

Pictures on the Right side: Children on polar bear; lil' L excited about fish; lil' K and lil' L

Day 2

Monday: SEA WORLD!!
For Memorial Day, we chose Sea World. Being a major holiday, it was not too crowded. We got to Sea World close to 10 a.m., starting off by seeing the Anheiser-Busch Clydesdales and their one donkey (from the commercials, who wanted to be a clydesdale) I cannot believe how big those horses are! Our next stop was the Wild Artic. This attraction has a helicopter simulation ride. F was going to take lil' K, but the line was long, so we did the "walk through." In here are beluga whales, seals, polar bears, and walruses.

The attraction is set up as if you are at a remote research station, as you walk through there are cargo boxes, food, luggage, research computers, hanging laundry. There is also a wall made of ice, people place their hands on it to leave a handprint, others pushed pennies into the wall.

The children both loved to touch it. We all took a little walk through some polar bear caves.

Next, off to see the penguins and my favorites, the puffins. It amazes me how the basically swim through the waters.

Sea World, not only has various animals, but also is well known for their "shows." The first show we saw for the day was the Dolphin Discovery show, this features bottle nose dolphins and pilot whales. All the dolphins do is jump around, splash, and other various tricks with the trainer. F did not putting sunscreen on his legs, it was quite apparent that night it was a mistake. The tops of his knees were bright read (from sitting at the shows) .Whenever I go through the Shark Encounter, I flash back to scenes of "Jaws," Does anyone else do this? In Shark Encounter, you walk through seeing different aquariums filled with different fish, sea life, and various species of sharks. To end the "encounter" is a moving walkway through an underwater tunnel, with sharks swimming overhead. This is when I picture "Jaws 3" where Jaws gets trapped in Sea World, and people caught in the underwater tunnel. The people who were walking behind us also had a small child with them, who screamed from the moment they entered the tunnel until they exited. Our children were fascinated with it all.

By this time, we were all getting hungry. We stopped for lunch and suited up for more. The second half of the day, we got in line to see the "Elmo 4-D" show. As we waited in the hot sun, the preview movie started and stalled. We waited with no explanation. At least 10 minutes later, they led us into the theater. The movie began and again stalled no more than 2 minutes in. We ended up being escorted out saying it was broken. So, whe went to feed the sea lions (lil' L fell asleep in his stroller) and to play at the new "Sesame Street Bay of Play." lil' K and I climbed the cargo nets and running around while F stayed with the sleeping child. After this, F took lil' K on one of their new kiddie ride, Oscar's Rockin' Eel. lil' L woke up and played in the playground and wanted to follow Bert and Ernie around. We then saw the "Clyde and Seamore, Sea Lion show" and the flamingoes, salt water aquarium filled with various fish, including eels (yuck!) They also have a great tidepool, which houses several sea stars. I showed lil' K how to hold them and let her pick one up. She and her bro also experiences the rays. We were lucky enough to have a few swim close enough for us to touch, without dropping the children in the pool. Quite a day at Sea World! Back again to the hotel for relaxing our feet in the pool.

Pictures on Left side: Polar bear at Wild Artic; Polar bears lil' K and me; F, lil' L and lil' K waiting for Elmo 4-D; F and lil' K on Oscar's Rockin' Eel; lil' K holding a sea star; The Clyde and Seamore show.

Pictures on Right side: lil' K's hand on the icy wall; Dolphin Discovery show; Shark Encounter; Sea Lion waiting to be fed; F and lil' K with flamingoes in the background.

San Diego - Day 1

We arrived, by airplane, on a Saturday afternoon. The kids did absolutely fabulous. Minor crying, but not to the point we were asked to never fly again. Our shuttle took us to our car rental place. As we walked out to our car, the rep. with us asked, "We can upgrade you to a mini-van or a SUV if you might be more comfortable." Us? I wonder what could have given this man the impression we might like a mini-van?

Was it
A: the two small children?
B: all the suitcase we were towing?

C: the fact we also had two carseats? or

D: All of the above?

Nope. No mini-vans for us. I respectfully declined. I say we got a better deal. A 2008 Toyota Avalon Touring, leather interior. Quite the sweet ride. I could get used to this.

After we got to our hotel, we found some lunch, settled in a bit by going to the pool. Ahh, kiddie pools. Both of the children loved it. We met a nice little family there, they asked for our room number and told us theirs. For what? I don't know. Maybe to "get together." Never did see them again. We grocery shopped for bottled water and some food for breakfast and snacks. Off to bed, but lil' L didn't sleep very well. He was up coughing and ended up in our bed.

Sunday: Point Loma Lighthouse, Cabrillo National Park, and Coronado Isle.
F and I accidentally stumbled upon this lighthouse/national park when we were on our honeymoon a few years back. Both of us thought it would be fun to bring the kids and have a low key activity for Sunday.
We made the short walk and enjoyed looking off the coast and walking through the lighthouse.

I loved experimenting with the black and white on the camera. I think the picture of the staircase of the lighthouse was awesome. We learned about

WWII and the bunkers and cannons housed in the area to protect our lands. We also found lizards running everywhere (There are 2 in the pic with lil'K in the bottom left corner) lil' L was afraid of them. We spotted about 10 lizards. After the lighthouse, we headed to the visitor center and the statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a spanish explorer. In this park, there are also some tidepools. We walked down the rocks and got our feet wet. Tried to get the children used to the waves. They were not a huge fan, which is exactly why lil' L is not in the water.

By this time, we were beat, but after a wonderful afternoon siesta at our hotel, we were ready to hit the town again. This time, off to Coronado. Another place we had visited on the honeymoon. We walked the beach looking for shells. We found plenty and also a few broken sand dollars. When it comes to the beach, the children would rather play in the sand than touch the water. Therefore that is just what happend, they played in the sand and lil' L even tried to eat it. He loved it when I buried his feet and asked were his toes were. Then he would wiggle them and break free.

F loved watching the pelicans fly around, then dive into the water and catch fish. He's a nature man. As we ventured along the beach, we found a crab. Not our children, but a real crab. When we felt we had enough for one day and the dinner bell had rung, we loaded up our stuff and made our way to our favorite California eatery - In-n-Out burger, YUM! Back to the hotel for more sleep and preparing for a big week!

Pictures on Left side: Staircase in lighthouse; lil' K and lizards; lil' K and I at the tidepools; crab; and lil' L enjoying the sand

Pictures on Right side: Point Loma Lighthouse; lil' K and lil' L gaze off into the ocean (note: they are standing behind a pole and I caught them for the split second they were not playing "ring around the rosie"; F with children at tidepool; the fam, take note of who is touching water and those who are not)

Coming to a Blog near You!!

Last week we returned home from a glorious, fun, and jam-packed week of San Diego sun. We have hundreds (no exaggeration there) of pics. So, little by little, I will share a vacation with all.

From the Mouth of a Total Babe

lil' L's vocabulary is increasing daily!

I have compiled a list of words he says,

but it may already be outdated.

*Amen *Apple * Baby * Backpack * Ball * Balloon * Banana * Bath * Beep * Bib * Bird * Blanket * Boat * Boo * Book * Bottle * Bowl * Boy * Bread * Bubbles * Bug * Bus * Bye-bye * Car * Chair * Cheese * Choo-choo * Cold * Cookie * Cracker * Dad * Dance * Diaper * Dog * Done * Door * Downstairs * Duck * Elmo * Fish * Flip-flops * Girl * Go * Grandma * Grandpa Guy * Hi * Hippo * Hot * Hot dog * Hurt * I want Dada * Jesus * Jo-jo * Juice * Let’s go * Me * Meow * Milk * Mine * Mom * Moose * More * Night-night * No * Nose * Outside * Ow Pie * Play * Please * Prayer * Push * Roar * Roll * Ruff * Seat * Shoes * Shush * Snack * Socks Sorry * T.V. * Teeth * Thank you * Tickle * Toast * Toes * Touchdown * Truck * Turtle *Uh-oh * Up * Upstairs * Washcloth * Water * What’s that? * Wipe * Work

Mother's Day

First of all, I know Mother's Day has past, but I am a little behind the times right now. Second, Happy Mother's Day to all women!! I thought I would share my Mother's Day. It began a few days early. Friday before, our family went to Home Depot and armed ourselves with vegetables. "What?" you say, "Vegetables?" Yes, that is correct. My mother's day gift was a vegetable garden. Saturday we planted our garden filled with Cucumber, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Cilantro, and Salsa Peppers. We also planted planters of herbs for our Mother's. The smelled delicious. Saturday morn, lil' K and I came home from a princess party, to my surprise, and I was greeted by 2 dozen roses chosen by my men. (as seen in photo). F had taken lil' L to Costco and lil' L picked out the flowers by pointing to them saying, "Mama, Mama." They did a wonderful job.

Sunday was a little less glamorous, just because I sang a duet in Sacrament meeting (I know what your thinking "Can she do that?" apparently I can) While we were singing, the other in our duet began to cry at the end, so I had a slight solo. It worked out better than we had thought it would. I also had to teach in Relief Society. F wasn't able to give me breakfast in bed or a special lunch because I had to leave early and he had to stay after church. I did get to relax a lot. We visited both of our families and had a dinner prepared by the men at my parent's house. It was a beautiful day. I have the best family who make me feel it is Mother's day all year round.

As for me, I couldn't be the mother I am, or want to be, without wonderful examples to follow. Our Moms. I have a great mother who has be a perfect example and a mother-in-law, who teaches me and has raised a hard-working man. Thank you, Mom(s)!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Here is how I left the house yesterday.

(and yes, I know it is from the back,

I haven't turned into Cousin It)

This is what I came home with.
A 12 inch ponytail, now detached from my head.

I am going to send this ponytail to Locks of Love

(unless I get better offers $$)
This hair took about 2 years to grow.
I feel as if a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders,

well maybe about half a pound.
My hair is now shorter than ever before!! Crazy!