Sea World

The highlight for this trip (although there are many wonderful memories) is sure to be the day we spent as Sea World. The weather was nice, the people were few, and the smiles were many. We arrived very early and walked right in - way different experience than Legoland. We were greeted by some very friendly animals....



After enjoying some photo ops, we meandered our way through the park. It was so enjoyable and fun. We had plenty of time before our first show started, so we leisurely made our way around the exhibits.



Can you sense the excitement in the air?





First stop - the Blue Horizons Dolphin show. Definitely a great experience. The girls enjoyed watching the dolphins swim, jump, dance. It was a good show. We made sure to stay away from the "soak zone." Those dolphins can produce a pretty big splash.





A nice visit with some of our special friends from Sesame Street. Paloma made sure she got a personal hug from every last one of them.



It wasn't long until we were able to head over to the big stadium for the show that the girls had been waiting for. They wanted to see Shamu. They had been watching him on the 24 hour camera that Sea World's website has set up. Both girls giggled as this massive animal came swimming out (along with some friends) for an absolutely amazing performance. This show was incredible to say the least.



We were amazed and dumbfounded. Again, good thing we stayed out of the "soak zone." Shamu has one big tail which produced some pretty big splashes.



We had a wonderful day as a family and would definitely recommend Sea World to anyone headed out to San Diego. I'm sure the girls would go back in a heartbeat.

This Girl Can Rock It

No Words Needed

California Christmas Vacation - Day 1

What an adventitious day our family had yesterday. After an uneventful flight over to California, we settled into Dave's company condo for the night, only to awaken bright and early (darn time change) and make our way down to Legoland. The kids were excited and so it didn't take much to get them fed, dressed, and loaded into the car for the drive down. We arrived at our destination in good time but found ourselves waiting in the car for over an hour and a half just to get into the park. We were lucky that nobody had to go to the bathroom and nobody had a temper tantrum. Once we were finally parked and able to exit the vehicle, things quickly became apparent of what we were getting ourselves into. We would later learn from another woman who had visited the park over 50 times that yesterday was the busiest she had ever seen it.

Hmmmm, good planning on our part? Oh well, we didn't let the ginormous crowds of people get to us. Although we were not able to ride hardly any rides, the girls had fun walking around, touching everything, staring at people, and of course enjoying some good food.

If this photo doesn't just scream FUN!!!



I love this picture. Paloma's face is priceless.





As you can see by the photos, there were smiles all around. As closing time quickly neared, we were able to make our way over to the aquarium. The girls enjoyed that as well until one of the sharks swam right up to Paloma's face and scared the living daylights out of her. I truly think she had believed she had seen JAWS. Poor baby, I thought she was going to wet her pants. We quickly made our way to the exit, piled into the car and headed home. The girls were exhausted. The parents were exhausted but man was it a good time.

I love seeing the smiles on my girls' faces. They are so excited to be here. We are having a nice vacation and can't wait for the upcoming days. Today is Christmas Eve. We are laying low for now, sitting back and resting. We will be heading out to Christmas Eve service tonight to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus.

Wordless Wednesday

Lesson #1

"We paint on the paper honey, not on our faces...."

She's Got Talent (or not)

Mattea is definitely taking this cheerleading thing seriously. She is already practicing her moves.

Wordless Wednesday

(take notice of what exactly is stuck in her and then ask yourself how in the world she got it stuck there?)