The first week of October we took our first real family vacation EVER! I've gotta say, it was long overdue. I haven't had so much fun and been so relaxed in a really long time.
We decided to go to San Diego for a few days and do some of the fun things there. I haven't been since I was little, and Brian has never been. We didn't have a ton of money, so we didn't get to do as much as we would have liked, but we're definitely planning to go back sometime and do the things we didn't get to do this time (like going to the zoo and the Wild Animal Park). Still, we had an INCREDIBLE time!!!!!! It was so much fun, and we'll always have such good memories from this trip!
This first picture is of the girls the first morning of our vacation. Sadie loves staying hotels, so she woke up really happy and excited to start our little adventure! It was a great start to a super great vacation!
Sea World was kind of our big thing on this trip- well, that and the beach (because who DOESN'T love the beach?) But Sea World was the first big thing we did in San Diego.
On our way into Sea World!!!
Too bad we couldn't bring one of these fun cars home as a souvenir ;)
The dolphins were AWESOME! And it's not just because I've always loved dolphins... :) They kept swimming up to the tank right in front of us and clicking and squeaking at us. It was so cool!
Waiting for the Shamu show to begin!
Petting a bat ray.
Before we went on vacation, we had told Sadie we were going to the ocean. She would always reply "Where the mermaids live, huh?" I always just told her yeah...I don't know if that will turn out to be a good or bad lie, but she seemed excited ;) Anyway, while we were at Sea World, they had a woman dressed up as a mermaid taking pictures with kids! Of course Sadie had to go sit by her and get her picture taken too. She was so excited, and it was so fun!
On our way out of the park, all of a sudden Sadie started crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said she wanted to see the princess. I looked back, and we had passed this woman dressed up as a princess. I told Sadie we could go see her, and she lit right u! She ran up to the woman and gave her a hug, lol!
After Sea World, we went to the beach for the first time during our trip. Sadie absolutely LOVED it!!!! Ambrie was afraid of the water, but she had a lot of fun playing in the sand on the beach.
Ambrie didn't really like the water, but she loved the seashell she's holding! She held onto the thing the whole time we were there, which was a couple of hours.
For Sea World, we got two-day passes for the same price as one-day passes, so we got to go back and finish seeing the park! The only damper (pun intended) was that it rained the whole day. That was ok though, because they sell slickers! Yay! We bought a couple for the girls and we were able to do everything we wanted to, despite the rain!
Ambrie totally drowned in hers, but how cute is she?
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They have some fun little rides for little kids, which was a cool surprise for us.
The seals were way friendly, and Sadie was so excited to have them so close. Ambrie...not so much, lol! She wouldn't let me take her anywhere near them.
I'm glad the owners of these teeth are extinct- I would never want to meet a shark whose teeth are as big as my hand!
tLook at all those teeth!
A great-white shark jaw....oooooohhhhhhhh
Sadie and I holding starfish. It's been almost a month, and if you ask her about it, she'll still tell you that you need to hold them underwater so they can breathe. She LOVED being able to hold the starfish, and was so careful with them.
The girls' and my favorite part was the killer whale viewing area, where the younger killer whale was swimming around. Over and over it swam right next to the glass in front of us, and it was so awesome! I could have stayed there for hours.....but alas, my 1-year-old, not so much.
We had hoped to go to the beach that day in addition to Sea World, but with the rain it was just too cold. Sadie still insisted on wearing her swimsuit all day under her clothes (just in case I guess) and didn't want to take it off after we got back to the hotel. Ultimately, she fell asleep in it :) She also fell asleep with her and Ambrie's souvenirs at the top of her head- I promise you, she's the one who put them there! It was so cute, I had to take a picture!
Brian's only request for this vacation was that we HAD to see the San Diego Temple. We've both seen pictures and heard about how beautiful it is in person (as if you couldn't tell from the pictures), and it truly was beautiful! We walked around the grounds a bit and just took it in for a little while.
Sadie's so goofy, lol!
And of course, we had to go to the beach a few times while we were there. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip- it's just so cute!
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we had to go back home. On the way back we stopped over in Vegas and checked out the Fall exhibit at the Bellagio Botanical Garden- because you can't go through Vegas and not see their latest exhibit, right? It's always so cool, plus its free! Anyway, it didn't disappoint, and it allowed us to extend our awesome vacation just a teensy bit longer :)
All in all, we had a great time! I'm so glad we decided to go, and San Diego was the perfect destination! I can't wait to go back one of these days.
