San Diego

CAUTION!! THIS IS AN EXTRA-LONG POST!

We went to San Diego again this year for Jesse's convention but this time the kids came along. It was a blast! The kids made it that much more fun! None of us wanted to come home!

Oh ya, the day before we left it was my birthday and we went to the fair. I turned 27 and in Kaden's words, "Whoa, that's old!" Jess got me a new camera for our trip! It was perfect!

I was nervous to see how Kaden would do flying. I knew Ellie wouldn't care and I was right. I kept trying to show her out the window to see stuff and she kept saying things like, "I want peanuts! Where's my apple juice?" Kaden did great and said it was his favorite part of the trip. He just had 101 questions!

The kids thought they were totally ripped off when they found out dad STILL had to go to work in San Diego! We managed to fill up our days until he was off though. The kids weren't super impressed with the temple but I still am every time.

Exploring the hotel while dad is in meetings! Don't feel too bad for Jess though! He got to eat catered meals of steak and fish while we had PB&J in the hotel room!

The kids loved the ocean, especially Ellie. She ran out into the water and then when she saw a little 6 inch wave coming she turned around and ran back to the sand! Way funny! I don't blame her I guess because it did end up knocking her over!

Kaden loved playing in the sand. He repeatedly hit Ellie with a shovel-full.

I don't know what the deal is with my kids' obsession for birds but they chase them EVERYWHERE we go! California birds were no exception.

My hair has just enough wave in it that it goes CrAzY FrIzZy with the humidity! Jess said, "You're hair is kind of crinkly!"

This is the view from our hotel balcony. Mission Bay is on the left and the Pacific Ocean is on the right.

The resort has these exotic birds everywhere to look at. They talk back to you too! I called them birds and both kids said, "No mom! It's a parrot!"

Seaworld was Ellie's favorite. We timed it perfectly-- we got there right when a Shamu show started so we were by ourselves by the other whales' tanks. It was nice.

The kids could have stayed here all day!

All Ellie wanted to see in San Diego were dolphins and Snow White. Here's half of her wish.

Ellie absolutely LOVED the Shamu show. She kept saying, "Whoa! WOW! Mommy I want to swim with the whales!"

Then I looked over at Kaden and this is what he was doing. He got a little bored!

They both still liked it though.

This is a steamboat that takes you on a ride in the bay. We took it right at sunset one night. It was so pretty!

Ellie had a tummy ache from the stale popcorn at Seaworld! Kaden loved the boat though.

We saw the best sunsets on the beach!

And of course, Disneyland. We stayed for 9 hours and only saw half of the park! It was great though, the kids had a blast. Jess and I enjoyed ourselves too. I made the kids wear these harnesses. My greatest fear was losing them somewhere in California! I felt like I had two puppies!

The Dumbo ride. Kaden's favorites were the Pinocchio story ride and the Matterhorn Mountain. He did so good on the rides! He kept asking for more! The kid gets sick in a car, but bring on the rollercoasters!

The Mickey Mouse House line was pretty short. We did really good all day! The lines went by really fast. I think we hit them all at the right time.

The only character Kaden had to see was Goofy. We finally found him after searching all day. We mobbed him right when he came out of the door. Kaden was pretty excited.

Ok I lied. All of the lines were pretty short EXCEPT the Princess line. We waited for over an hour so Ellie could see the princesses and when we finally get back there.... she won't even look at them! She buried her head in my shoulder and wouldn't talk to them. Kaden liked them though!

I felt silly getting my picture taken with princesses but Ellie wouldn't do it without me there.

Like I said, Kaden wasn't shy. Him and Ariel had a talk about sharks because she's been chased by one, you know!

Ya, this is the face Ellie had for the whole princess thing. What a stinker! She was disappointed though because Snow White was nowhere to be found. That's OK, she wouldn't have looked at her anyway!

We thought this sign was too funny not to take a picture of it.