Fun in California

Every February our kids have a week off for what the school district calls "Mid-Winter Break". We have always wanted to sneak away during this week and go somewhere sunny and warm but have never done such. So after many years we decided this was the year to do it. We talked about many different sunny places, and in the end decided to visit California. The weather wasn't hot by any means but very enjoyable. Most of all we loved getting away as a family and making many great memories.

First the flight:it's as fun as an amusement park ride for Lydia

(not so much for her parents though)

I love the ocean!! I tell Zeke that I have to see it at least once a year, which I always do, since we reside not to far from the Northwest Beaches. But seeing the California beaches with surfers, seals and sun is amazing!

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of the CA beach (and it was taken from the car:( . Somehow we lost on our computer 1 1/2 days of pictures. It makes me sad, because they were some of my favorite pictures all from the beach and some from Sea World. I asked Zeke for 2 weeks to work his magic and retrieve them, and to give him credit he did everything he could think of with no luck.

I am trying to think positive though, because we could have lost them all.

SEA WORLD
We loved Sea World!!

Lydia was so excited because her first grade class had been studying about Penguins and she was able to see so many different kinds of Penguins in this amazing exhibit.


Jacob has a fascination with fish! He would out last everyone of us while observing all the fish life at Sea World.

Our first show was the Sea Lion show and it was so much funny that we had to go back the second day to see it again!

We spent more money on feeding the seals then we did on our own lunch that day, and boy the seals aren't too shy wanting the goods.

We loved the Flamingos too.

Sea World has a Sesame Street area. Jacob loves Elmo, but we weren't too sure how he would react to all the characters until he ran right into Elmo's arms.

The Shamu Show was spectacular!

Besides this one picture, all the other pictures of the show were lost.

Landon, Mason and Zeke braved the front rows and had blast getting splashed.

Out of all the shows we saw on our trip this was our favorite!

WILD ANIMAL PARK

We spent one day in the Wild Animal Park. It is an 1800 acre zoo in beautiful Escondido. We didn't know this at the time but it is a breeding zoo for the San Diego Zoo, so they try to keep the animals in as close to their natural habitat as possible.

We were so excited when the first animal we saw at the zoo was a 6 day old elephant.

Born on Valentines day!

It was beautiful there.

We were able to ride a tram, this allowed us to get very close to the animals.

We even joined the jaguars during their lunch time.

Would you want her job?

Lions are the boys favorites!

So many interesting birds were throughout this park.

We so much walking it was fun to stop at the Zoo's playground for awhile.

Jacob got up close to his friendly bird.

The birds were so pretty and friendly I decided to feed them some nectar. Didn't know I would turn into the bird lady. The one on my must of thought my hairspray or something had nectar in it, because he ate some of my hair.

Mormon Battalion Center

One day we went to visit this newly remodeled visitor center. We didn't know what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised. It was so wonderful! If you are ever in San Diego go it's AMAZING!!

Landon and Mason have always had a great interest in church history, and I will admit they knew more about the Mormon Battalion then I did prior to visiting the visitor center. They were trilled to dress up like the and feel what the soldiers had to carry for 1,900 miles.

At the end of the tour we were able to mine for gold. Our tour guide happened to be from Washington, and I had worked with her mom many years ago while serving in a Stake calling. It was neat to have that acquaintance and have her share a piece of her mission with our family.

Later we visited Old Town.

SAN DIEGO TEMPLE

Our family had only seen pictures of this beautiful temple, so it was neat for us to go and walk the grounds in person.

DISNEYLAND

We ended our trip with 3 days in Disneyland.

We had seen so many animals at Sea World and the Zoo we were ready for some rides!!

And more shows...

It was hard to tell if Landon was embarrassed that he was picked out of the crowd to join the HSM3 parade or if he was excited. I think maybe a little of both.

Then there is the characters. Jacob and Lydia loved them ALL!

I was even able to get my big boys to pose for a few character shots.

What a HAPPY place.

Lydia and Landon got their dancing bug out during this fun parade!

But the ultimate favorite of all 3 of my big kids was the Jedi training.

Lydia was just as excited to get trained as were her brothers. For a few moments she was the only one that had been picked out of our family to join the training, and we thought oh-no! Luckily the boys were picked shortly after so they could all become official Jedi Warriors.

Below: Lydia fighting Darth Vader (who would have thought)

Mason showing his Jedi skills. Can you tell how serious he is?

Landon was serious also! Zeke and I had some good chuckles watching.

Lydia is an offical Jedi now:)

More characters and more hugs.

And of course Mickey!

We played so hard at Disneyland, that we would put off eating, until the park was closed. Here is Mason late one night building a Mickey Pizza.
O--what fun it is......
Jacob completely suprised our family during this vacation. He walked everywhere! We brought a stroller everyday, but he insisted on walking and holding our hands instead. I can't imagine how many steps those small legs took, but not once did he complain. He was in heaven!

So much fun!

Bye Disneyland, Bye California!

Thanks for the memories!!!