Sea World Again!

Back in June when we went to Sea World we bought season passes. The SP ticket was the same price as an adult ticket and since we are only 4 hours from San Diego we thought for sure we would have a chance to go back. I started planning our trip back in June!!! October was tricky. We wanted to go during Elodie's fall break but were glad we didn't after we heard how packed both Sea World and Disneyland were. Between Halloween Activities, field trips, school, and work, we had a really hard time trying to find a weekend open. Thankfully, I made it our priority and we made it work! We found a great hotel for $30 a night, brought our own food for breakfast and lunch, and enjoyed a fun weekend getaway. Like I mentioned before, we didn't tell Elodie we were going so when we were leaving town on Friday morning we told her she was going to be late for school because we had some errands to run...and one of the errands included seeing Shamu!! She was so shocked! She just kept asking "Are you for real mom?" Great weekend! Below are just a few pictures to recap our weekend! We got into town early evening on Friday, played for an hour at Sea World then headed to our hotel. Saturday we spent the entire day at the park and Sunday we went to the beach and headed home!

Family Pictures 2009

Before we even made our hotel reservations in San Diego I emailed my friend Gretchen about having our pictures taken on the beach. Gretchen use to live in my ward and is an amazing photographer. I also use to visiting teach her...I wanted her to take our family pictures before she and her family moved back to San Diego but we never got our schedules to coordinate. It couldn't have worked out better that now she lives in San Diego and we were able to meet up with her the night before we left town. We've never had family pictures taken on the beach and I'm so glad we were all able to work it into our schedule. If you are ever in San Diego and want your family pictures done, she is the girl to go to! Thanks Gretchen! Your amazing!

These pictures are in no particular order but I do think the first will be the big 11x13.....

I love this little picture of Addysen even though she isn't smiling. A dog had just walked by and she was frantically saying "DOG!" "DOG!" over and over again! I love how her litle lips are shaped and the sand on her eyebrows and in her bow. Something we didn't think about when we thought how nice pictures on the beach would be!

Sea World Day 2

We got up bright and early Monday morning and headed straight over to Sea World. One of the best parts about our hotel was it was an extended stay hotel and had a full kitchen and fridge in our room. We were able to buy a bunch of groceries and eat breakfast and lunch from "home". It definitely saved us some money and I don't know about the rest of you, but after day one, I'm so tired of eating out. It was nice to eat a pb&j at Sea World instead of a heavy cheeseburger.

Anyway, we were also happy we bought our tickets in advanced because while there was a long line waiting for tickets, we breezed right in. The other awesome thing about our tickets was Sea World was running a promotion. If you bought an adult ticket at regular price you got a fun pass that is good for the rest of the year! So we did that and I was planning our next trip for October before we even made it inside the park! Christopher loves that about me. Always planning the next trip before the first one is even over!

We spent the entire day in Sea World. Addysen missed both of her naps but was AMAZING the entire time. I'm so glad we decided to go Sea World because I think Addysen had just as much fun as Elodie did. She loved all the shows and loved looking at all the animals! We had a great day.

Waiting for Shamu to start..when it finally started, Elodie kept leaning over and hugging me saying "Thank You Mom! Thank You!"
After a few shows, we let the girls get their wiggles out at the Sesame Street playhouse. This was a huge hit for both girls because there was a playhouse for Elodie's age and one for Addysen's age.

After the playland we went to see the dolphins....
And played with the starfish....And this is about how we all felt after day one....tired and ready for bed.

Favorite

I love this picture of my girls...

San Diego Day 1

We left for San Diego bright and early Sunday morning. We had a grateful uneventful trip over and both girls did amazing! Besides the fact that Addysen couldn't get comfortable enough in her new car seat to take a nap we had no complaints!

The first thing we did after we checked into our hotel was go to the beach! It was heaven to be on the beach in the cool 70 degrees weather! I would live in San Diego if it weren't so expensive, clustered together, and had way too many pedestrians! The girls loved and it and it was fun to watch their reactions to the ocean. Especially since this was Addysen's first trip.

We also drove over to Sea World to buy our tickets which I'm so glad we did. The lines were outrageous and buying them before hand made it so we could just walk right into the park on Monday.

Missed Me?

Bet you didn't even know I was away!! We took a little vacation up to San Diego the last couple of days. We left on Sunday and came back this afternoon. We had a great time. We went to Sea World for 2 days, went to the beach, relaxed, and even got family pictures taken on the beach by my friend Gretchen. The girls loved Sea World, did amazing in the car, and we all had a nice time!

Pictures to come...for now I'm trying to tackle laundry, catch up on emails and blogs, and get back on a routine. Vacations our wonderful but coming home stinks! Especially when your hotel room reeks of cigarette smoke and everything you brought home does too!