Vacation Day 4 (School Shopping and More Baseball)

Day 4 of our vacation was spent doing the kids school shopping-yep we really put it off until the last minute. Good thing we were able to find everything they needed. The main thing on both Tanner and Chloe's list being there shoes :) We went to a big outlet mall with tons of stores-it wasn't to bad when we first got there but by the time we left it was so crowded and busy we were grateful to be leaving. Bryce even got a souvenir-a ninja turtle from build-a-bear.

After shopping we decided to have a nice lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. The food was great-but Bryce was over it by then so dealing with him while we were there wasn't the funnest thing in the world.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel, cause it was time for the boys to leave for day 2 of baseball Redsox vs Angels. Luckily Bryce and I were able to take a nap while Chloe watched some tv after that I took them both down to swim again and then we just hung out as late as we could before we fell asleep waiting for the boys.
The baseball game Landon and Tanner were at ended up lasting 19 innings!!! Can you believe it-and they actually stayed for the whole thing-HAHA! It is not the longest MLB baseball game ever, but it was the longest one that has been played this year clocking in at 6 1/2 hours. They had lots of fun and Landon even got lots of pictures. They brought all of us a souvenir back with them.

I couldn't resist buying this picture of the two of them as a souvenir :)

Vacation Day 3 (Beach and Baseball)

Our day started of well enough. We go up loaded the car and headed to pick up some snorkeling equipment that we had rented. Then it was off to find La Jolla Beach. We were almost to the beach...when we heard and felt the unmistakable sound of a flat tire. Luckily we were able to find a small cul-de-sac that we were able to pull into and Landon went to work fixing putting on the spare tire. We then continued onto the beach.

By the time we got to the beach and found parking we were all starving so we opted to each our picnic lunch in the parking garage before heading on down to the beach, but finally we got there. We donned our snorkeling equipment and headed out to play in the water. (I bought the kids one of those underwater disposable cameras and we all had fun trying to get some pictures with it.-as you can see they aren't the greatest but oh well)/

It was so cool because the sea lions were swimming right next to us-can you spot the one in this picture? Bryce would have leaped out of our arms and went right over to them had we let him-he absolutely loves ocean animals!

We spent a little time playing in the sand as well.

Beach Bums...

Before we knew it our time at the beach was over and it was time to hit the road. We needed to have time to get our tire fixed and get to our motel so that the boys could make it to the Angels vs Redsox game that night. Luckily we had the full coverage warranty on our tires so they quickly replaced it and we were on our way.
Look what greeted us at the motel-cute isn't he?

We barely got to the hotel and it was time for Landon and Tanner to head to the game. They dropped us off and headed out. They had a great time-the Redsox won!!! While they were gone Chloe, Bryce and I walked over to a nearby restaurant and had dinner and then went swimming in the hotel pool.

Vacation Day 2 (Sea World)

We didn't sleep in on our second day of vacation...we wanted to be there when the park opened...plus as soon as Chloe woke up and remembered what day it was she was up and out of bed barely able to contain her excitement. Today was the day she would finally swim with the dolphins- for two years she had been waiting for this day!!!
At the entrance to the park...

At the entrance to the park looking at and touching some of the fish-Bryce like to look  but was not interested at all in putting his hand in the water. 

The first thing we did after entering the park is head for the new ride MANTA-it is an intense and super fast roller coaster. Chloe and Landon rode it while Tanner, Bryce, and I went to look at the real sting rays. They were able to get me on it later in the afternoon, but I'm not sure if I would do it again-ha-ha-it was seriously fast.

 After that we stopped by to see the seals and sea-lions...of course we bought some fish to feed them.

 Next stop-Shark Reef

 Then it was time for the "Dolphin Show"

 After that we headed out to our car to eat our lunch. Sad thing-the subways we had bought the night before went bad-because the fridge in our room wasn't plugged in and we didn't realize it! We bought more subways on the way to the park and ate those-even though we had to pay for lunch twice it was probably cheaper than eating it in the park once.
After lunch the time had finally arrived for Chloe to Swim with the Dolphins...

 In her wet suit headed to the dolphin tank.

 She got to interact with two different dolphins-Callie and Dottie. She was in the water with them for about an hour. She got to touch them, teach them signals, get splashed by them, float with them, and even take a ride on them. She loved it-the only thing she didn't like was that she didn't have longer.

 After the dolphins it was onto another thrill ride-Journey to Atlantis. This ride contains a couple 50 foot drops and I am not the biggest fan of roller coasters (either is Tanner) so while Landon and Chloe rode that Tanner and I took Bryce to the Sesame Street Village and took him on the kiddy rides. Bryce love the rides as long as they were going-he did not love waiting in line or waiting on the ride for it to start-impatient!!!

 After riding the rides we went to the Polar Bear Exhibit.

 Then it was time to take a little break. We left the park and went back to our hotel were we ordered pizza and ate it while we took a little rest.

 After dinner we headed back to the park-there were a couple of night shows that we wanted to see and also fireworks.
First show was Seamore and Clyde. Bryce loved this show so much-he would cry and say more more every time one of the animals went backstage and wasn't visible to him. One of the words now in his vocabulary is 'Seal'.

 Last on the list-The Shamu Show. Another one of Bryce's favorite moments he was enthralled by these giant animals. He would get so excited every-time he saw them and cry when he couldn't.

 After that it was finally time to head home. We watched the fireworks go off as we excited the park. It was a fun filled-long day. Everyone went right to sleep with their souvenir stuffed animals as soon as we got back to the hotel.

 Chloe is already ready to go back. Her and her best friend are making plans to save enough to go together-this time Chloe would like to swim with the Beluga Whales. There are some big changes coming to SeaWorld in 2018 so she is shooting for then. She also has big plans to attend college in California and become a dolphin trainer. We'll see if that changes over time or not.