SeaWorld Mania!!!

Today was the was the day we've all been waiting for. We all went to SEAWORLD today! The kids and I have never been there, and John and his mom last went when John was little. It was truly a special day! We went up on the Sky Tower first of all to see all the things we wanted to try. Then we went to the "Bay of Play" and let the kids ride a couple of rides. After that we went to the Shamu Show! It was so amazing!! We sat in the "Soak Zone" and boy did we ever get wet. The kids just couldn't stop laughing. After Shamu, we went to the Dolphin show and met Dolly the Dolphin.

That was almost as great as the Shamu show. John and I wanted to go back to Shamu, but we got out voted. The kids were ready to play on the rides! We went down the Shipwreck Rapids ride and petted the horse (that one was for Amanda!), then down the Journey to Atlantis rollercoaster ride. At the end the kids wrapped our day up with a net climb in the Bay of Play. We went to our new favorite restaurant, came home and took showers, and were all collapsed in bed by 9:30pm after 9 hours of playing at SeaWorld.

Tomorow we have to move our family to Los Angeles, Anaheim to be exact. Now we're on to Disneyland, California Adventure, and Universal Studios. We've got a lot of work to do to get packed out of our hotel!

On a down note, Mom goes home tomorrow. We've really enjoyed having her play with us and helping to keep us organized. She's worked so hard the entire vacation and we really appreciate it. When I told Amanda she was going home, she started crying. She said "I don't want her to go, we're having too much fun with her!". I know none of us will ever forget having her go on such a thrilling vacation with us! Thanks so much for helping to make this trip possible and so incredibly special, Mom! We love you!

Koalas, Pandas, and Trams, oh my!

We went to the San Diego Zoo today. We asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was. Nicole answered "seeing the Koalas because that is my favorite animal (and they are not bears!)". Amanda's answer was "seeing the pandas". Nate loved riding the tram over the zoo. They all had a wonderful time, and so did Mom and I! Want to know what Shari's favorite part of the day was? Picking up John from the airport!!! We've had a wonderful time on this vacation, but the only thing that's been missing is John. He's finally here and enjoying the vacation as much as we are. He came into a manager's hosted barbecue at the hotel and they really know how to throw a barbecue! Tomorrow we're going to Seaworld. I can't wait!!!

San Diego Sea Lions...

We arranged our schedule a little and decided to go down to Seaport Village and ride the amphibious vehicle around the bay and into the water.

We saw lots and lots of Sea Lions and sea birds like pelicans, terns, seagulls, and other wildlife. Nicole and I even saw a dolphin being trained by the military for underwater marine assistance. The tour guide said they will go out into the bay and let a trainer know if a boat needs to steer clear of obstacles in the bay. It was an overcast but still very beautiful day! After we rode the ducks (that's what we call them in Seattle), we shopped in the stores at Seaport Village, ate lunch on the grass there, and then let the kids play at a play structure right on the water. For dinner we took them to a wonderful restaurant called "Souplantation". They loved it and so did we! Tomorrow we're off to the Zoo...

Today is a better day!

Okay, so I avoided talking about it yesterday, but the condo we rented SUCKED! It was filthy! The bathroom hadn't been cleaned in years, the floor was a grimy black, the toilet was disgusting, and the carpets around the toilets had little bits of, well lets just say stuff on them. Mom cleaned the countertop in the kitchen and the rag turned black. We didn't even try to tackle the floors. The condo concept was good, and if it were clean it would have been perfect. I woke up at 1:30am this morning and noticed a few very questionable people hanging around our van. Remember my little van break-in last month? I was petrified that it would happen again. I stayed up practically all night watching them to make sure they didn't touch Betsy!

I called Expedia first thing this morning and got their okay for a full refund for the condo. Then I booked a two bedroom, two bathroom penthouse suite at Marriott Residence Inn for just a little more than I paid for the condo. It is gorgeous! It has a pool, free hot breakfast, free hot appetizers and food at night, and a cocktail hour with wine and beer. I guess it was a learning experience and I guarantee I will never make the same mistake.

After all the drama this morning our day was spent in relatively relaxing activities. We went to the beach and let the kids play in the sand while Mom and I relaxed. Then we checked in at the new hotel and threw them in the pool to play until they could barely move. We fed them, bathed them, and tucked them into bed after a big day. What a wonderful day it turned out to be! I owe the Marriott big time for getting us in on such short notice! They even presented us with a nice welcome basket with tons of goodies in it to try to turnaround our day! I would recommend that hotel chain in a heartbeat! Tomorrow we're off to the zoo.

Finally San Diego!!

We got a later than usual start to San Diego today because we stopped to have a real breakfast at Denny's in Anaheim. We weren't sure where we would get our next meal!

On the way to San Diego, we stopped in Las Vegas! Okay, not really Vegas, but Legoland, where they had all the most famous Las Vegas casinos in miniature. They also had New York, all the famous landmarks (Mt. Rushmore, Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Daytona Speedway, the painted ladies of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc.) and quite a few rides.

We finally ended the day at our condo in San Diego. Tomorrow we're off to the beaches!

Fun with the cousins!

We met with Cheyenne and Jeremy today and their two adorable sons. We had an awesome lunch and chatted about everything under the sun it seemed. We really enjoyed getting to know Jeremy again and meeting his family. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with us Jeremy and Cheyenne!

We traveled over 400 miles to Los Angeles today after we visited with family. We saw trucks full of tomatoes, onions, and garlic on the highway which was very cool.

The kids were unimpressed with the view (miles and miles of desert grasses and sandy hills) and got more and more bored and unruly as the day went on. We were very glad to see our hotel tonight and get them tucked in for the night! Tomorrow will be a new and better day for them, since we only have to travel a couple of hours to San Diego and go lay on the beach for a while!

Sunning Ourselves in Sacramento!

We traveled from Medford, Oregon to Sacramento, California today, a voyage of a little over 300 miles. It was another uneventful day thankfully. We stopped just as we got into California to get gas and the air was so smoky we could barely breathe. As we traveled further south, the air got cleaner and we could finally see the mountains when we got to Lake Shasta. We stopped at a campground high above the lake and ate a nice lunch and let the kids run around for a few minutes.

The kids got to see a yurt (a portable domed tent) that is available for rent at the campground.

As we climbed higher into the pass, we saw more of the lake. We were surprised to see a huge float plane in the middle of the lake, surrounded by dozens of really nice houseboats. There were tons of people everywhere we looked and it looked like they were all having lots of fun.

We continued on our journey to Sacramento and ate an early dinner, then came back to the hotel and let the kids play in the swimming pool for an hour or so. The hotel is part of a complex of three Marriott properties and all of them were completely full. Our hotel was full of soccer players and they are really living it up in the lobby and hallways. Luckily, our room is at the end of the hallway on the top floor so we haven't had much action down this way.

Nate noticed this car in the rest area we stopped at and thought it was really neat.

Tomorrow we're meeting my nephew Jeremy and his wife Cheyenne and their two sons. We'll end the day in Anaheim late tomorrow evening.