southern California 2010: monday and tuesday

The big thing we had planned for Monday (this was back in June -- see my other posts) was a trip to SeaWorld. We'll wait until the kids are older to go to Disneyland. D had never been to SeaWorld, and I hadn't been in probably 15 years. We finally took advantage of the free admission we can get once a year.  We -- I mean, my husband :) -- had to do a lot of driving on the freeway, but the joy we saw on Shboogoo's face definitely made it worth the drive. We first stopped at Target to buy a few snacks and a new umbrella stroller (we had accidentally left our beat-up one at home). The day was warm, but not hot. SeaWorld wasn't too packed with people. However, it was funny that in just one "stroller parking" area we saw four little pink floral strollers like the one we'd left at home, and no others like our new one. The one show that was full before we reached it was the sea lion show. We stayed for about 3 and a half hours because we had a commitment for dinner away from San Diego. 

First we saw Blue Horizons, a show featuring more than just dolphins. The music reminded me of Disney's The Little Mermaid for some reason.

 

 

Sharks:

Penguins, puffins, flamingos, Shamu . . .

               I adore this pic of L that my husband took!

At the beginning of this show (a few minutes after this picture was taken) one of the animal trainers asked all members of the military to stand, and everyone applauded them.

I'm amazed by how many fish the killer whale can eat at once.

She tried to pick up the seashells that are part of the cement.

That afternoon we wanted to go to AJ and Jon's place so D and Jon could meet each other, but there wasn't time. It takes over an hour to drive back north, and we didn't want to cancel our 6:30 appointment with more friends from D's mission. Mel was the bishop back then. They are both so cool and so nice, and she made a delicious meal. One of their grandsons took the picture for us.

Tuesday was relaxing. We didn't know where we wanted to eat breakfast. We started driving and ended up choosing Ruby's, which was fun.

We packed up our stuff, swam hung out in the pool and hot tub, and then I begged D to let us go to the beach during the little bit of time we had left. We couldn't go to Huntington Beach but a stranger told us the best way to get to Newport Beach. The girls were a little scared of the ocean. L dislike the pool and the ocean equally; they weren't very warm. Yep, at a year old it was her first time in a swimming pool. We left the beach, grabbed some fast food, and drove to the airport.