San Diego Fun In The Sun

While in San Diego we had a FEAST!!! Tio Memo is a GRILL MASTER and grilled us up the most delicious BBQ dinner I've had in a while. We had just about every kind of meat you can imagine on the menu: Steak, chicken, pork ribs, salmon, lobster, and this amazing sausage!

This was Nick's personal steak!

There he is, the man himself ... in his natural habitat! lol

What was left after the damage was done on Nick's GINORMOUS steak!

Shelby was a little jealous she didn't get any of the goods!

Seth found the hotel pool table and was making up his own way to play.

Tia Cindy with Shelby girl.

We all took some much needed relaxation time the next morning ... including Seth! (what a crack up!)

Shelby instantly made friends with Tia Cindy's dog CoCo ... it was a diva bond!

We went swimming and Shelby was so excited to sport her cute suit!

She absolutely LOVED being in the pool and in the sun ... Aunt Danika was her pool pal!

Seth stuck to "swimming" by the stairs ... I don't know where his fear of swimming came from all of a sudden? But he had a blast anyway, so I guess that's what matters most.

Shelby girl herself in her cute sun hat!

Nick and Seth playing in the pool.

The whole gang (minus me taking the picture obviously)

So Shelby and Coco were seriously bonded. Coco who was all over the place most of the time would just go and sit on Shelby's lap .. it was hysterical. Like I said, Diva bond!

On our way up to Anaheim we stopped in to visit some Utah friends that live in San Diego now and Seth played with his little friend Cami for a few minutes. It's always fun to see friends that have moved away.

We had so much fun in San Diego. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. So much so that I used it as a excuse to get a pedicure while we were there! Tia Cindy and Tio Memo were fantastic hosts! We loved getting to spend some time with them and were so thankful for all they did for us. Thanks so much ... maybe we'll have to think of another reason to visit before you leave!

San Diego Zoo

So, lets backtrack a little. BEFORE we went to Disneyland we headed down to San Diego for some fun in the sun! We stayed with Nick's Aunt and Uncle and had a couple of fun days down there. First off we headed to the Zoo.

This Zoo in MASSIVE! I mean, everyone knows that, but seriously, it's huge and the map is totally confusing. We got lost in MONKEY land forever. No matter what we did, we just couldn't get away from the Monkeys.

Seth (and the rest of us to be honest) were a little tired from Jet Lag and the crazy day before getting out there. So a few little brakes were taken along the way.

Shelby had a blast and was just loving the warm air and being outside!

It was so nice and actually hotter than I expected it to be this time of the year.

We were there most of the day and didn't even see half the zoo ... like I said huge and confusing.

So, I thought this was totally weird. Throughout all the exhibits they had examples of "scat," yep you heard me. So, if you were wondering what Giant Panda Scat looked like ... here it is!

Speaking of, aren't they cool? I'd never seen Giant Pandas before (or any pandas for that matter) and they were pretty amazing.

This dude was just chillin' like hey you want my picture, go ahead and take it ...

Because it was so hot we got a little cold treat to keep us cool. Shelby was all about it and ended up eating 1/4 of my cone! At least one of my kids likes ice cream!

Toward the end of the day we took the bus (there are buses to get around this HUGE zoo) back to the front of the zoo. Seth and Danika were best buddies all day!

Then we rode the "Zoo-fari" it was pretty sweet. It goes across the entire zoo WAY high and we rode it back and forth before heading out.

Once we were on it I realized how High it actually was and was getting a little freaked out. I was worried the kids would be nervous (especially Seth) but Shelby LOVED It ... she was just giggling and cracking up the whole time! And Seth was all about it too!

She was loving the outdoors!

The zoo was totally fun. It was huge and I really wanted to see the koalas because I've never seen one before ... but we didn't make it. I guess that adventure is for another day.

(more San Diego soon)

Disneyland Part 3: More Characters More Fun

Well, our second day was pretty exciting. At this point Seth knew EXACTLY what he was getting himself into and he was just so excited to get back to Disneyland. Here are the kiddos in the hotel before we left.

They are pretty cute ... if I do say so myself!

Poor girl was still a little sick, but she was a true champ all day and held up great!

We first went in to Disneyland as the park opened to see if we could spot anymore characters and sure enough Seth spotted Donald and we got in line just before they cut it off for the morning. He was REALLY excited to see Donald.

Okay, funny story: A few people in front of us were Asian and it was hysterical. As soon as they got up to get their picture with Donald he shot out peace signs at the exact time they did. LOL ... They were prepared on Asian photo op poses!

Anyway, here we are (Shelby was asleep in the stroller)

Then we headed over to California Adventure for the day. Right as we walked in there was Minnie. Not just Minnie, but how cute is pilot Minnie?

Seth was so excited and told her, "We saw Mickey yesterday!" Yes, I did wear those ears all day ... when in Disneyland, right?

Before we knew it we lucked out and Saw Captain Mickey! This line was only like 5 minutes long and Seth was all about seeing Mickey again!

He was giving him high fives and ...

another great big hug for Mickey!

All day everyone kept asking where I got Shelby's ears because they wanted some for their babies. Aren't they cute? Well, I in fact made them and am thinking about adding them to our shop soon ... they were a HUGE hit everywhere we went at Disney!

We LOVED the Toy Story ride and saw Woody walk by while we were standing in line, which Seth thought was awesome! Anyway, I guess they have Buzz and Woody pose with people in this cute little photo booth ... how cute. Seth was just fine striking a pose by himself though.

California Adventure (if you aren't familiar) is set up like a Pier/Carnival and they had a few carnival games to win prizes. Seth REALLY wanted to play so we worked it so that we could be on all the machines so that someone in our party would for sure win. We did the squirt water gun at the target to make the fireman go up the latter game. Well, sure enough Seth WON!!! He was so excited and proud carrying around his huge Dumbo! It was pretty cute.

Miss Denzer herself posing by the Point Mugu sign (that's where she's stationed right now)

We went on the huge Ferris Wheel (heads up, get in the line that doesn't have the carts that move while you're going around) Anyway, it was starting to get cold and at the top it was so windy. Shelby was getting the biggest kick out of it! She was just cracking up!

Okay, so apparently Disneyland has a new mascot. WHAT? yeah, that's what I thought ... isn't Mickey kind of their mascot? Anyway, apparently Duffy the bear is their new mascot. Also, no one was EVER in line to see him because no one knows who the heck he is. Seth went over to get his picture and autograph .... oh, wait he doesn't sign autographs? WHAT? Basicall, Duffy is a pointless random character in order to Disneyland to sell build-a-bears with Disney outfits? NOT.A.FAN

Seth was all about his Mickey Pretzel ... he thought it was pretty perfect!

Oh yeah, we also caught up with Mater and Lighting McQueen! Seth was so interested in checking them out from front to back. We finally had to get him out of there because there was a line to see them!

That was the last day in Disney. We saw the parade, but I don't have picture because I'm stupid and left my camera charger at home! (I'm ridiculous) Luckily we made it for all the important stuff. We did video tape the parade and it was so fun that we did. Shelby was all about it. She was singing and dancing the whole time, cracking everyone up. A few of the chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins came over during the parade and were telling her how cute she was in their British accents! Too fun ... and we got it all on video! LOVE IT!

Disney was a blast ... I wish we lived closer and could go with out making a HUGE deal about it. Maybe we'll get to go again soon. Seth is dying to go back. He keeps saying "lets go on Saturday!" I wish we could.

He keeps telling anyone who will listen about it and his favorite thing was "Seeing Mickey" it pretty much made his life to this point!
This morning when we woke up he told me he had a dream that Mickey and Minnie were watching US on TV.
LOL ... a little role reversal for ya there, he's still on cloud 9 about Disney and I hope it stays for a while because it's pretty awesome!

More on the rest of our fun California Trip to come!