We headed down to Phoenix on Fathers day to celebrate with my dad and to cut some time off our travels to Cali. We left bright and early around 4 am for San Diego. We figured we would drive as much as possible while the kids slept. Worked like a charm. We arrived at our first stop, Balboa Park, right around 10am. We rode the trolley around the park (Lukas thought this was amazing!), did some walking around the rose gardens, and rode the kids train and the carousel.
AAddilyn was a bit unsure of the carousel ride, but loved the Rose Gardens!
Next stop, Mission Beach. I love the beach, I could have spent all week sitting on a towel, sinking my toes in the sand, soaking up the sunshine and watching the waves. But life with 2 little ones, ages 1 and 2, is not that peaceful. I'll save my beach bumming days for another time in life, huh? Anyways, watching my kids just light up at the sight of the ocean and discovering the wonders of the waves and playing in the sand was just awesome.
Lukas was ready right away to jump right in the waves. No holding back for that kid! Addilyn, however, took her time getting used to the water and watching Daddy and Lukas in the waves. In the end, the playing in the sand won over the water. ;)
After some playing in the sand and waves, and swimming we walked around the boardwalk at Mission Beach, watched the roller coaster, Lukas kept reminding us that one day he will be bigger and can ride that thing, had dinner and headed to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
Next day, Sea World!! We had been talking to Lukas about "seeing the whales" for like, ever, so you could say he was beyond excited to be at Sea World! The kid never stopped smiling for 8 hours straight!
We started the day at Sesame Bay where they have fun rides for the kids, a splash zone, a bouncing thing, a super awesome adventure course, and a bunch of other kid-friendly activities.
Lukas was set on seeing the whales ASAP but since we had a few hours before the first show, this was a good way to keep him occupied. Addilyn loved the rides, and walking around and climbing thru the fun tunnels. Next stop, the manta rays that everyone got to pet and on to Shamu stadium to wait for the Shamu show.
Lukas' face was so priceless when Shamu came jumping out of the water for the first time! It was like all he ever dreamed of Sea World being like, came true in that moment. There sure is something amazing about getting to watch your kids experience such things for the first time. Look at that smile!!
Addilyn liked it too, but you know, she's 1, and also loved to watch the birds flying overhead and loved pointing out all the "teeeees" (trees).
The shows were just amazing and so entertaining! We saw a dolphin show, a sea lion show, a pet show, Elmo and friends, and of course the Madagascar Live show! I must say Jeff and I were just as impressed with the shows as Lukas (and Addilyn was with the birds).
We also saw all the sea creature exhibits and rode the sky tower.
Somehow our kids made it 8 hours with no meltdowns. I'm still amazed.
Addilyn of course took several power naps but did SO great overall! She of course had to be sleeping during our family picture, haha, Oh well.
The kids each got a stuffed Shamu, and back to the hotel we went for showers and baths and the kids were sleeping by 7.
I think one day I will make an album of just the weird pictures of Lukas making faces and it will be awesome.
Despite the kids sleeping, Jeff and I weren't done at Sea World yet. You see Shamu does a "Rock Show" at 9:30 and, well, you can't miss a whale rocking out, right? So much to our kids dismay, we woke them up and back to Sea World we went. Good thing the hotel was only a few minutes away and good thing they both had smiles when they realized where we were going. Shamu did his rocking thing (and it totally rocked!), Lukas and I got on the mega TV for our sweet dance moves, and we got to watch the nightly fireworks before heading back to the hotel and to bed.
After sleeping in, we headed off to one of our favorite beaches, Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. I love this beach. Mostly because it's not very busy, it's clean and has a super fun park for the kids to play at. We had a picnic lunch on the beach, buried Lukas and Daddy, made sand castles, played in the waves and played at the park pretty much the whole morning/ early afternoon. (My spacing is about to get really funky- not really sure what happened here, ugh blogger, sometimes you drive me crrraaaaazy!)
We headed home to freshen up, had some dinner and then to La Jolla to see the seals. I've been to La Jolla several times and it still amazes me. It is so beautiful. Check out the view!We saw the seals in the cove and the kids chased some seagulls and squirrels around in the grass.
And back to our little haven we went. The boys went swimming, and the girls hung out in the room and snacked and read books.We were planning on heading to Inflatable World in the morning, but that got delayed a bit when Lukas started feeling sick. Poor thing, he was trying so hard to pretend like he wasn't sick, but when you're 2 you're not very good at pretending such things. We let him rest all morning and then he seemed better so we headed to Inflatable World. I'm sure it wasn't the best parenting move we've ever made- take a sick kid to a place like this... ha.Lukas played for about 15 minutes, and was obviously feeling sick again so I got to snuggle him in the shade and observe the fun. On the other hand, Addilyn and Daddy had a ball!! This place was so much fun! They had 20+ giant inflatable slides, obstacle courses, etc to play on and climb in! And the best part, even the adults can play!We carried Lukas through most of it (I'm sure I got buffer after such a feat) and once Addilyn and Daddy had their fun, we headed off to do some shopping and let Lukas relax in the stroller.This is Lukas' "ICK. I can't believe they drug me here and I feel like I'm going to puke" look. Aw. I just want to pick him up and snuggle that sweet kid!After dinner we headed back to the hotel early and sweet sick Lukas was sleeping by 6. It was such a bummer that he got sick, but I must say he is the sweetest little sick boy ever. Ah, love him.Thankfully Lukas woke up feeling almost all the way better and we headed off to my all time favorite place in Southern Cali, Coronado Island, for the last part of our trip. This little place is like a fairy tale, I just love it! Silverstrand beach is just beautiful and it is the perfect place to find the best shells and even sand dollars if you're lucky (we only found broken ones. Poo.).Lukas still wasn't quite himself and took a nap on the beach, something he would never had imagined doing had he been back in full swing! Ha. While in Coronado Island we relaxed on the beautiful glittery beaches, played in the sand, chased some seagulls, had some yummy food and walked the adorable streets.
Jeff and I officially decided that one day we want to move to Coronado Island. Someday. You know when we are old and gray and can sit in our little rocking chairs on the front porch and hold hands. And talk about these wonderful days raising these wonderful kids. This place is like a place out of a movie and I just adore it.Ah. Again, I am just so thankful for the blessing of being able to take this vacation. It was a blast and we have these memories to hold on to for the rest of our lives! Hope your summer has been bright and beautiful as well, and full of memory-making SMILES!
Looks like an amazing family vacation! It is so special to be able to take those.... I know how many memories I have from when my family went on vacation! So thankful God gave you guys the means and the time to do this! :)
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