san diego

Last month, I had the opportunity to fly to San Diego with my sister to attend my cousin's wedding!

And while there, I kept thinking how fun it would be to come back with my whole family!  There is simply so much fun stuff to do there!  I LOVED San Diego!

So...with the girls finishing school for the summer, we deliberated on where to take our family trip.

We initially wanted to go to Seattle to visit my family, but with the flight loads looking so full, we had to scratch that.  Another option was Arizona but we were just there!  Plus, I wasn't too keen on enduring 100 degree plus weather...so I kindly hinted at an exploratory trip to San Diego.  And Mitch agreed!

On condition that we stay with my Aunt and Uncle who live there.

With the blessing of my Aunty Midori, we planned...booked...and WENT!

Here's just a brief glimpse of what we did.

 Our boarding ticket.

Don't ask me why...but I always seem to snap a picture of my ticket stub.

It's sort of a memento shot.  Even though I end up throwing away the actual ticket. 

 Mitch trying to entertain our antsy little boy with the iPad.

It worked!  For a little while, at least.

Apparently not for Jolee, who you can barely see behind Mitch.  

*she's the one standing up on her seat annoying talking to Kela sitting behind.

 Anna.  Watching some cartoons on the DigiPlayer.

She could do this for HOURS.

(and probably did...)

 My desperate attempt to pacify this boy.

I know...SO GROSS, right?
But it kept him calm and happy.

Besides, that's what soap is for!

And THIS!

Did you know Hawaiian Airlines upgraded their cabin snacks?

These are actually YUMMY!

I snagged 10+ bags and ate them throughout our trip.  :)

So, onto our whirlwind (goodness, I use that word a lot when summarizing our vacations, don't I?) 3 day trip.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Day 1: San Diego Zoo.

 As you can see...the day was super sunny and warm.

Or, maybe I should say HOT.

Here's Anna with a Camel.

Who, although is supposed to be a desert animal, felt it too hot to venture out of the shade.

Or even stand up for that matter.
Can you even see it?!

 *NOT a real elephant.

 Who got the best workout while in San Diego?

Yeah, that would be Daddy.

Do you know how hilly San Diego Zoo is?!  

It's VERY hilly.

 We had to tour the reptile house TWICE because our Anna and Jolee LOVE reptiles.

And this particular venomous snake (doh! can't remember it's name) kept eying and following Jolee.  

It was pretty creepy.

And I was thankful for the thick glass.

 Apparently the highlight of the zoo was this sky tram that hovers above the entire park.

Jolee looks smiling here...but she was actually near tears for fear of falling.

Believe me when I say, she had a tight grip on my neck the whole time.
It's a miracle I managed to snag this picture with her actually looking at the camera!

After 6 hours at the zoo, the kids were BEAT!

Well, 2 out of 4 were KO'd while the other two were very much wide awake with energy to burn!

And since we were still fighting off some jet lag...Mitch and I were also pretty beat!

After driving back to my Aunt's house, 1/2 of us took a nap (thet half that didn't encompass me) and ate a late dinner.

 Mexican, of course!

Can't go to San Diego without eating some yummy Mexican fare!

 *~*~*~*~*~*~*

Day 2: Lego Land

 So, day 2 was Lego Land.

And wouldn't you know it...there are Lego's EVERYWHERE!

Which in some ways was a blessing because we spent quite a bit of time waiting in line.  

And Lego's saved the day in keeping Kaden occupied.

 See?  Waiting in line.

One of the few rides that Kaden could actually ride.
I think he liked it!

But more than anything...THIS was his favorite.

Yup, he pushed this Lego car ALL OVER the Duplo play area.

I kept an eye on him here while Mitch took the three girls to ride on a helicopter ride.
(Not a real one, mind you.)

Which evidently took FOREVER because... this is how Kela measured up to the height restrictions.

She couldn't ride solo on any of the rides.

And since one of us always had to sit out with Kaden, this left the other parent to take turns with each child on most of the two-seater rides.  

See what I mean about taking forever?! 

 So anyway, here's a recap of the girls' favorite rides of the day.

Jolee rode this car three times around a small oval track.

Or, maybe it was four times...either way, she loved it!

 Kaden wasn't old enough to ride in a moving car, but that didn't stop him from playing around in this stationary one.  Which he also loved.  

 The older two rode in these cars on a much larger course.

They loved it!  And rode this particular ride three times as well.

 Ah, more waiting...

Me and my girls on one of the few rides we could all three fit in.

And good thing too, since we waited 45 minutes to ride it!

Jojo loved this ride the first time around...

...But for some odd reason, hated it the second time around.

Still can't figure that one out...

By the end of day 2, we were tired... but not TOO tired.

Less walking around, and lots of train rides, car driving and a roller coaster or two apparently invigorates children rather than exhausts them. 
The same could not be said for the adults, however.

After Lego Land...we stopped by a U-Pick strawberry patch right across the way from the entrance to the park.  I heard from a friend that the strawberries are yummy and since our girls have never picked fresh strawberries, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity!

 The verdict?

They all loved it!

 Even Kaden.  Who kept wanting to shove them into his mouth WHOLE!

Had to keep a close eye on this one to prevent any major disasters.

And by disasters, I mean the red stain variety...

The strawberries were HUGE and yummy!

Success!

 Dinner on day 2 was Five Guys.

Since I've never been, I convinced Mitch to go here instead of our usual burger joint of choice: In-N-Out.

I thought it was pretty yummy!

Mitch preferred In-N-Out, apparently...

But In-N-Out doesn't have hot dogs!

Or sauteed mushrooms for the burgers.  :)

It was yummy.

 And we actually met up with a friend from way back in my grade school/primary days in Edmonds, Washington!

Adam and his family met us at Five Guys and took us to a neat park nearby.

 Which was AWESOME!

 Except for the poison oak nearby.

Seriously?  Poison oak right next to a playground?!  

Only in California.

Adam and his family.

Yikes. I swear, it's the camera angle that makes him look 3 feet taller than me!!

(Or, maybe not...)

*~*~*~*~*~*

 Day 3: Sea World!

 We saved Sea World for our last day in San Diego.  

As a finale of some sort...and I thought it was a great ending to our vacation!

Here Jolee is getting a close up of Shamu before the show.

This was their first time ever seeing a real killer whale.

 Waiting for the show to start!

In the BLAZING hot sun.

Really...I should have put sunblock on the girls because we ALL got a little burnt from this day!
Oh, and I probably don't need to mention the crazy looks people gave us for wearing sweatshirts on such a hot and sunny day... but in our defense, the wind was a bit chilly. 

Still waiting....

 And then...Shamu emerges!

The show was spectacular!

We loved it!

 Oh, did I mention we sat in the "soak zone"?

This particular splash?

 Sprayed directly onto me and Jolee.

We were pretty soaked.

While the rest of the kids and Mitch remained dry.

Even though we were sitting right next to each other.

Weird...

 Then we watched a dolphin show.

Which was pretty cool...with acrobatics and birds...but we were way up in the upper rafters so we couldn't see too well. 

But we also didn't get wet.

We did, however, get very hot.  

Did I mention it was a hot day?  I later found out it got up into the 90's!

 Perfect excuse to rest in the shade and enjoy some ice cream.  :)

Mitch's attempt to wake the girls up since they were starting to get a bit tired by this time.

 See? 

 One highlight of the day (at least for me) was that we got to see a polar bear!

I also neglected to mention that Anna got sick on our second day.

She managed to muster the energy during the early hours of the day...but towards late afternoon, she was wiped out!  Maybe a slight fever...but nothing major.  She simply rested in the stroller while we took the others around and rode the rides in the amusement park area of Sea World.

 Me and Jolee on one such ride.

Mitch and the kids on this tea cup ride...that I cannot handle.

But apparently all the kids can since they all loved it!

Even Kaden.

 And...since I forgot to snap a picture of my Aunt Midori and Uncle Robert while the kids were awake...here's me with them the night before we flew home.

The kids fell asleep on the way home from Sea World, and since we planned on flying out early the next morning, we didn't wake them up.

I'm so grateful for their generosity in allowing us to stay at their home!

And their patience with my kids (especially Kaden) who couldn't stop messing around with all the fun ornaments and dolls that my Aunt has displayed in her home.

With my cousin, their only child, married and gone...they've not had to baby proof their home in years!

And my kids definitely took great delight in playing with everything in sight!

But we really couldn't have made this trip without their willingness to open their home to us.

We were truly blessed and fortunate to have family right there in San Diego!

All too soon, it was time to head home.

Here's Kaden, enjoying the rocking chairs at the San Diego airport.

 On the flight home...Kaden did really well!

He checked out all the emergency exits...

 I kept him occupied in the back galley by propping him on the  flight attendants' seatbacks...and then catching him when he slid off.  I don't recall how many times he did this...but it was a lot.  

As in, I think I got an arm work out from it. 

But it's all good when it occupies him enough to prevent any screaming or crying.  

And, 5.5 hours later, we landed safely in Honolulu with 2 happily awake and 2 sleeping children.

It really was a whilrwind 3 day trip...but SO worth it!

The kids had fun, Mitch and I got to be a kid on some of the rides as well, and we got to check off San Diego Zoo, Lego Land and Sea World off our bucket list. 

Yes, it was a great vacation!

Oh, and if you know me, you know that I can't NOT take pictures on a trip.

So, if you have the time and are curious to see what the other 200+ pictures I took look like, you can see them on our family photo site, HERE!