Pictures will come later. They are still on the camera & I'm pretty sure I'll need to put them on as a slide show because there are so many I want to share.
I was sure I would be sick for this vacation because I felt a sore throat starting on the Tuesday before the trip. My colds always last 10 days or more. I went to the doctor immediately but he couldn't pinpoint what I had so early on. Bummer. I thought I'd get it killed before it really brought me down. God blessed me with the quickest recovery I've ever had. I felt better that Saturday morning that we left. Yay!
Our short San Diego trip was near perfect-so much fun & we're ready to go back. We left Saturday 2/20 which as a side note was also my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Great accomplishment, huh? We left around 8:15am & it rained most of the way there. We stopped for lunch in Yuma. We forgot about the time difference so we were early for check-in but our room was ready anyway. We were staying at the Navy Lodge on the navy base on Coronado Island. I am quite enjoying the perks of Todd's civilian job at Luke. The room was nice with a beachy feel but I'm easily impressed. It had a little patio & a partial ocean view. If we were staying longer I would have made much better use of the good size fridge/freezer. Many of you know how my kids need cold water. Okay, I need it too. Warm water=yuck. So a freezer that can actually hold and freeze a bottle of water is so exciting to me. The walk from our door to the edge of the sand was less than 1 minute, then another 3-4 minutes to walk to the water across the sand. Very cool. Of course getting that for $80/night with no tax is the kind of perk I enjoy. We had the beach almost to ourselves that afternoon. We picked up so many shells that were still hinged together. It was a heavy bag! Todd & Hannah had wetsuits so they went in the water a little bit but it was cold. We ate dinner & then went for a walk on the beach that night. No one else was out there. Joshua said he liked the sound of the ocean "better than TV". Me too. Joshua decided to re-name the beach from Breakers Beach to Shell Beach. I have been spoiled & may never enjoy a public beach again! Well, I'll try....especially when we get to Hawaii again.
Sunday morning we walked the beach again and found hundreds of sand dollars. We didn't take hundreds-only 89 made it home safely! Now Joshua re-names Shell Beach to Shell & Sand Dollar Beach. Again, there was hardly anyone out there. After that we headed to Sea World for a bit. The weather called for rain & it did sprinkle a couple times & then got heavier around 2pm but we had not planned on staying all day anyway. We got there close to opening time & the first thing we did was get in line to feed Hannah's favorite animal-the dolphins. They move you through there pretty quick once they open it. Both kids fed 3 dolphins. Three fish cost $6. Yikes! We ate lunch early and got to see a bunch of exhibits. The kids loved them all:Beluga whales,sleeping polar bears,walruses,sharks,penguins,sea lions,otters,touching manta rays & stingrays, & I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
We also went on the Journey to Atlantis ride. Joshua went with us to try it but didn't like it so Todd had to take Hannah again by themselves. It's a cross between Splash Mountain & a roller coaster. I think if Joshua had a raincoat he would have done it again. We didn't find out til the next day that you could pay a quarter & spray people with water canons. Todd & I have always enjoyed spraying complete strangers with water on wet rides even before we got married so this was an activity we could pass on to the kids! It's one great way to spend .25 cents. We will bring a roll of quarters just for this reason on our next visit. We did not try the raft ride this time although I'm sure we'd love it because it looks just like Grizzly River Run.
Around 2pm we were waiting for a show to start & had a half hour to wait when it started raining hard & we decided to leave. By the time we got to the van it cleared up but we needed to find Todd a cheap sweatshirt because he forgot to pack one. So we thought we'd find a Wal-Mart before meeting up with my parents who were arriving that afternoon. We found a Wal-Mart & I will never complain about lines/crowds at any of our Wal-Marts again. Well, I might complain but I'll still know it could be worse.
We met my parents at their motel & then went for dinner at Applebee's. We took them to our hotel & walked on the beach a little bit. We loaded up a bag of shells & sand dollars for my mom. Then Todd took them back to their motel.
Monday was supposed to be rainy all day. It was not. It was bright & beautiful all day. Todd's mom and aunt & uncle came in from a cruise in the morning. We picked them up at their hotel to take them to Sea World. My parents met us there. Luckily my parents got there before us & saved a spot in line at the dolphin feeding area. My mom & the kids got to feed the dolphins and we did some things over again. We also saw the Shamu show. We all left Sea World & met my parents at TGI Fridays for dinner. My parents went back to their motel as they were leaving early Tuesday morning. We dropped Todd's family at their hotel & went back to our room. Todd walked the beach with the kids again but it was too cold for me. We had another early day planned for Tuesday.
Tuesday morning we checked out & went to pick up Todd's mom,aunt, & uncle for a whale watching trip. We boarded the boat and saw one whale before we were completely out of the harbor. They are not supposed to be that close in. That was the only one we saw & since they are quick I could not get a picture of it. We did get to see a bunch of dolphins which worked out well for our dolphin-loving daughter. I like them too. I did get a good picture of one swimming under the water right next to our boat. The "cruise" was about 3 1/2 hours. After that we went for lunch,dropped of Todd's family, & headed home. We got home Tuesday night at 9pm. On the way home I told Joshua he should be an Orca trainer as he could just use hand signals & not have to talk. His reply: "I WILL talk when I'm an adult". After yesterday's accident in Florida though I'm not too sure I want my kids to have that job. Maybe just the dolphins.
We had a great time. It was a much needed mini-vacation. Todd has been working hard with 2 jobs & we miss him when he's gone. It was great to share the trip with family. We want to make it back to Coronado/Sea World again in September if real estate goes well for Todd this year. We also think the kids are ready to enjoy Hawaii. Now I need to split up money between 2 vacation funds-Disneyland & Hawaii!
Joshua got his 1st touchdown all season & he pulled the flag off 3 people. Those pictures will have to be posted later because I got a new camera for Christmas & I have not learned how to take them off the camera yet. I' hoping to do that soon.
