San Diego Zoo

Well, while in Southern California, we have seen our share of zoo animals.  We went to the Safari Park, saw more animals at SeaWorld, and then of course, had to spend a day at the San Diego Zoo.  Unfortunately, it was darn crowded that day, so it made for slow going.  But we did manage to see the famous panda bear, which the kids liked.   We were blessed to have Adam and Christy drive south from Orange County to meet us at the zoo for the day, so we had a lovely time with them.   We also had two other friends, Heather and Richard, join us for the day.  (But, um this mama does not need to visit another zoo for a looong time!)









And the cutest monkey of all:

SeaWorld

We spent two days at SeaWorld while in San Diego and we loved it there.  The place has a great mix of animals, interesting shows, and crazy rides.  I couldn’t believe how brave Andrew and Hailey were; they rode this one rollercoaster over and over!   We saw a fabulous dolphin show and also got a chance to feed and pet the dolphins.  We decided that we wanted to take one home with us! 



It was so awesome to spend several minutes right next to the dolphins while they were having a training session.  We were able to feed them, pet them, and watch them review their tricks.  We were so close!



This pic is from the Dolphin Show…


Here we were able to pet the manta rays… eeewwww!

Drew really wanted to ride the gondola that goes over the SeaWorld park.  Here he is riding it with Daddy.


This was totally comical to me… but SeaWorld made a “SnowWorld” area for Xmas where they actually had real snow and kids could go sledding.  The girls did this for a few minutes and loved it.  But, um, sorry kids, we did not fly to sunny California so you could go sledding!


The first day we were at SeaWorld was Dec 24th, Christmas Eve.  The park had zero crowds, which was great.  We had such a great time exploring the park and then left at 5pm, changed into our church clothes in the parking lot (yes!) and headed to a great 6pm church service!  Now, that is cramming everything good into one day!  This is as we were leaving…

Disneyland

Greg and I cannot get over how much joy we felt as parents by taking our kids to Disneyland.  Yes, it sounds so corny, but their amazement at the rides, the princesses, the Disney characters, etc. was awesome.  We had the most wonderful two days at the park, and the kids were super well-behaved.   They all walked at least six miles on each of the days we were at the park – without any complaining.  Greta was actually the last one standing, as she proceeded to sing songs at the top of her lungs the whole car ride home.   The highlight of the whole day was having a yummy dinner with the Disney princesses.  The girls were so excited to get their autographs and meet each one in person!
Meeting Lightning McQueen in person!!!!!!!




If you know the movie Cars, then you will appreciate the pics of the Radiator Springs city that was recently built by Disney; it is amazing.







Scared to ride the ferris wheel!

Daddy, Hailey, and Drew ride the water ride…. they loved it!

Having dinner at Ariel’s Grotto, which included an amazing meal and personal time with the five main princesses.  So recommended!  Here we are with Princess Ariel…

With Princess Belle…


Cinderella…

With Princess Aurora, who is Sleeping Beauty…

Greta was so overjoyed to meet these princesses!  This is what her face looked like the whole meal!


Sunset at the end of Day 1 (above) ….. and the beginning of Day 2 (below).


We visited Pixie Hollow, where all of the Disney fairies live.  We waited in line to meet Periwinkle and Silvermist, two of the fairies…


Some of the seven dwarfs, as seen in the afternoon Disney parade…

We love DISNEYLAND!