Sunny San Diego

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to San Diego, CA the end of April.  My brother, Garratt, was able to get time off work and join us.  The girls loved having Uncle Garratt along, and Brett and I loved having an extra driver and extra set of hands everywhere we went!  We started out driving at 8:30 Saturday morning, hoping we could make it all the way but knowing we could stop for the night if we needed to.  The girls did amazingly well, and we arrived 12 hours later.  (When we were about 9 hours into the trip, Brett started studying the atlas looking for other great places we could drive to now that we know the girls can handle long drives.)

It took Abby some time to adjust to a new house and Aunt Tricia, but swimming in the "big bathtub" won her over.  Tricia turned the heat down on the jacuzzi so it was bath temperature, and the girls LOVED playing in it every evening.  Since it wasn't too hot, I even got in a couple of times, and it was just the thing to relieve pregnancy back pain after long days of walking!

I know this isn't the best picture, but see the faces of pure delight?

 Emmy got super brave in the water and was jumping (or being thrown) and then dunking all the way under.

 We spent our first day at Sea World, and both girls had so much fun!  Emmy was thrilled to discover she was tall enough to ride the "big" roller coaster (Journey to Atlantis), so she, Brett, and Garratt headed there first.  Emmy insisted on riding in the front row and was dripping wet at the end.  It was overcast and cool, so I'd dressed her in fleece pants.  Even after being wrung out, there was no hope of them drying, so we changed her into her sweater and a pair of Abby's pants that were still in the car.  After that day, we packed an extra outfit for each girl "just in case"!

I knew this trip would be a challenge because naps are so important to Abby.  When she saw this bin of super soft polar bear stuffed animals, she climbed right in and said, "Nuh-night!"  If we weren't going to put her to bed, she'd do it herself! 

 Day 2 included a trip to the Mormon Battalion Museum, a MUST SEE if you ever get to San Diego.  We included it on this trip because Emmy is so into pioneers right now, but I recommend it to everyone.  Emmy was so excited to see a real pioneer wagon.

 The tour tells the story on the Mormon Battalion as you travel from room to room, but the rooms are set up so you feel like you're really camping on the prairie or in a general store.  And they have old-fashioned portraits on the walls that come to life.  We loved it!

Here they had Garratt dress up as a soldier.

 At the end of the tour, we got to pan for gold (Emmy still thinks it's real gold.),

 wash clothes on  wash boards,

 and pump water (a definite favorite of both girls).

 Day 3 was Emmy's fifth birthday!!!
We opened presents in the morning, and she was thrilled to receive a nightcap "just like Laura Ingalls,"

 a new swim shirt and shorts (which she wore to Sea World that day in case she got wet again),

 and a wooden bird feeder for her to build and paint.

 Then we headed off to Sea World again.  We got to pet sea stars.

 Then we got to feed dolphins!  Tricia told the trainer it was Emmy's birthday, so we got some extra special treatment.  Emmy fed the dolphin several fish and got to pet it quite a few times.

 The trainer told us to do a few commands as well.  We had the dolphin wave and spin its tail.  The she told us to pat the wall in front of us.  We were all surprised when the dolphin gave us a good splash!  It was a warm day, so most of us didn't mind.  Abby, however, was not pleased!

 I think the highlight of the day for Abby was feeding the sea lions.  They were behind glass, so she felt safe, but they were close enough and active enough to be fun to watch.  I was surprised that she had no qualms touching the whole, dead fish.

 The sea  lion on the rock was hilarious!  He would scream if he didn't get tossed a fish often enough.  He never left his perch, but he let everyone know when he wanted one.  Emmy surprised us all by throwing a fish straight to him!

 Once Abby braved the Elmo's Flying Fish ride, she was hooked!  She rode it three or four times.

 And we had to get a picture with our Abby by "Abby's Sea Star Spin."  They all rode this one, too and loved it!  (I wasn't allowed to go on any of the rides in my pregnant condition.)  Tricia even bought Abby an Abby Cadabby t-shirt, and when she wore it the other day, she'd tell us it was "ME!" on her shirt. 

 That evening, after another delicious meal prepared by my grandparents, Emmy blew out the candles on her Hostess cupcake.  (Not mother of the year here, but she'd already had a decorated cake, remember?)

 Abby had a strange relationship with Tricia's dog Tiger.  She was absolutely fascinated with him and followed him everywhere, but she was also scared to death of him.  I really don't know how she could be scared of Tiger because he never jumps, licks, or even barks!  After our first few days there, she got brave enough to pet him with one finger and she even offered her favorite blanket for him to sleep with.  She and Emmy especially loved to give Tiger his dinner and carrots as a treat.

 The next two days were spent at the Safair Park and the Zoo.  We saw so many animals and even got to watch a cheetah run at full speed.  (Way cool!)  But I figure you can find good pictures of animals on the internet, so why should I take them.  Unfortunately, that means I didn't get out the camera much to take pictures of people!  But here are the girls in animal print foot massage chairs. :)

 And this peacock flew down from its perch in a tree and landed right next to Emmy.  She followed it around for awhile while I tried to get a picture of them together, but this is the best I got.

 We had so much fun being spoiled by Tricia at all the parks and visiting with my grandparents, cousins, and great aunt.  It was hard to leave on Saturday morning, but we braved the car once again, and Abby studied that atlas and led us home!