San Diego Megapost!

Hey all! Guess what? We spent the past 5 days on vacation in sunny San Diego, CA!! It was a lovely way to spend MEA break, to say the least. And we packed so much in to our 5 days. So I’ll share it all with you here.

I want to preface this by saying we had an AMAZING TIME and ALSO THERE WERE MANY MELTDOWNS.  But those are not what I whip my camera out for.  So enjoy the good stuff.  Also, I will be posting a lot of links for videos.  It is a time commitment, but I hope one that is worthwhile if you choose to watch them.  I'm excited to have these videos for the girls to watch and remember our trip by.

Here we go!

TUESDAY 10/16/18

We picked the girls up from school a couple hours early and headed to the airport! They were pretty excited to get to fly on the plane.

I was able to get Maya’s wonder on video as we were taking off...or as she says, BLASTING OFF. Click here to check it out.

While landing we saw the pretty sunset and then got into our rental car, which had a full sunroof!

We got to our house late that night and didn’t even get a chance to find dinner because the girls were WAY past their bedtimes. So they ate Goldfish and granola bars in the car. Solid parenting moment right there.

WEDNESDAY 10/17/18

When the girls woke up (early! 4:50am but I made them go back to sleep until 6am) they explored the Airbnb house and yard a bit.

We left the house about 8am and stopped at a coffee shop named Joy, so we had to get a picture with our Callie Joy. Then headed to the SAN DIEGO ZOO.

As you can see from the map Maya is holding, the zoo is MASSIVE with pretty awesome animals.

We ate lunch at Albert’s, a restaurant in the zoo, and then did the Skyfari gondola ride!

This was maybe the one meal that our picky 8-year-old didn't have a meltdown about.
Traveling with a super picky kid is hard!

After that we took a guided tour on a big golf cart (which was perfect timing because we were all TIRED) and got to see more animals up close and personal. The girls got to touch real panda fur too.

Maya was tuckered out but I don't think Chris minded the snuggles.

Yes, the turtles definitely looked like they were humping.

Throughout the day I took video clips of some cool animals. Click here to see them!

We ended the zoo experience with a trip to the souvenir shop (of course) and then found some ice cream nearby.

Maya goes for vanilla EVERY DANG TIME.

After the busy day we had a couple of tired girls (thank goodness for car naps). We spent the evening at our rental house, playing outside and checking out the sunset.

THURSDAY 10/18/18

I couldn't seem to get used to California time, so I was awake at 4:50am and had listened to 2 podcasts and watched an episode of Survivor by 6:45am.  Callie woke up before 6am, but thankfully Maya (and OF COURSE Chris) slept til past 7am. 

So since Cal and I were the early birds, we got in the hot tub before 7am, and then Maya joined us shortly after. Chris stayed in bed (I'm jealous of his sleeping abilities).

Later that morning (and by later I mean like 8:15am) we headed out for the day. Our first stop was a brief visit to the ocean at La Jolla. 

To see the girls having fun exploring the shore, click here!

Then we headed to SEAWORLD!! It was part aquarium, part amusement park, and lots of fun.

We put our hands in a tank of fish that came right up and ate off your dead skin cells. It tickled.

My lifelong fear of fish was tested in this moment and I survived.

Then we did some climbing stuff and little kid rides.

The various aquariums were SO COOL.



At 11:45 we went to the dolphin show!  It was HOT and SUNNY and I LOVED IT.  The girls were a tad whiny but once the show started they were enthralled.  Then Callie and Chris went on a HUGE roller coaster and we got a treat.



This video truly is a time commitment (8 minutes!) but if you want to see what Seaworld is like, click here!

After Seaworld we headed straight to a beach on the island of Coronado. The sand was so soft.  It was lovely.

The waves were pretty big and the water was pretty cold.  But we had a blast.



There was sand EVERYWHERE.  Callie yelled when we were showering off in the public shower, "Mom there is SO much sand in my butt."  So then Maya used the lower sprayer to take care of business.



To see beach video, click here!

We went to dinner at a place recommended by Craigles called Crack Shack (lots of great chicken items on the menu). It was so fun! 

We stopped at Subway for our picky child.

We were hoping to get back somewhere on a beach to see the sunset, but California traffic is pretty much ridiculous all the time, so we watched it a bit from the car.

While driving around, I spotted a sign with my life motto.

 We had a couple of VERY tired girls as we headed back to the house for showers and bedtime.

Friday 10/19/18

Our last full day was another busy one, that started off with a little 7am hot tub.

We headed out around 8:30 to the SAFARI PARK. This is a MUST DO if you are in San Diego.

It was my favorite of the three big parks we went to. It was amazing from the animals down to the landscaping. It felt like we were in another world.



There were long, looping trails with so much to see.



We were SO CLOSE to tigers it freaked me out a little bit (see the video later) but it was so cool.



As we were walking down one of the trails, we happened upon a couple of trainers working with striped hyenas.  And then saw a few sleeping lemurs and the beautiful hot air balloon on the grounds.





At 11:30 we went on a 2 hour behind the scenes adventure called ELEPHANTS AND FRIENDS.  It was so cool.  We got to meet a few random prickly animals at the animal care center not open to the public (see video for more on that) and then we were driven behind the elephant enclosure (also not open to the public) and were SO CLOSE TO SO MANY ELEPHANTS...INCLUDING BABIES (again, so much more on the video).  The girls got a little hot and tired, but Chris and I were enthralled with watching them.  And a couple of trainers were out doing observations and training sessions, so we got to talk to them and watch them work with the animals.  So so so so cool.





After that experience we went to a lunch spot that overlooked all the Africa animals.  Such a great view.



All in all we had quite an exciting adventure at the Safari Park...click here to see more on video!

After the Safari Park we headed up to Temecula to see Chris’ Aunt Jan! We picked fruit from the trees right out her front door, made fresh squeezed OJ, and enjoyed seeing their beautiful property...and meeting her cute dog Coconut! 

Then Jan took us down into town for some shopping (at a cute little Japanese store that had Maya's name in it...she was excited) and a sushi dinner. Maya even tried fried calamari (see the video for evidence)!

I have never really eaten much sushi before, but I'm now a sushi convert.
Our picky child had a Lunchables, in case you were wondering.

See video from our time in Temecula here!

Saturday 10/20/18

We got up early this morning and packed up around the house, while also snuggling and doing stunts off the couch.

We had a long travel day but we made it home to our psycho doggie and messy house.  

The girls (and Chris and I) are exhausted but definitely happy after an amazing family trip.

So there you have it! If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read about it and see our pictures. I wrote this blog as we went so I wouldn't forget anything.  One good thing about California traffic is it gave me time to get my pictures and videos together on my phone in-between all of our adventures!

And I have to give props to Chris for planning the whole thing.  The girls and I were just along for the ride and we were definitely spoiled rotten!

A Picture Update...tomorrow!

I didn’t get it together today because we have been too busy having FUN. Come back tomorrow for a big one! In the meantime...here’s a little taste...

Timehop Tuesday

First up- Callie baptism and subsequent Bible!

Then, the girls as babies and big girls.

Lastly, me and Angie! We rarely see each other but it is always a blast when we do.

Weekend Wrap-Up

So this happened this morning:

Get it together, MINNESOTA. It is only mid-October and we had a freaking blizzard in mid-April already this year.

Anyway.

Yesterday morning we had some chill time at Target and outside, and so much drawing inside.

The girls spent some time at Auntie Cat’s house in the afternoon, so Boom and I met up to get blue pedicures.

The big event of the day was the KIDZ BOP concert. Callie and I went with Jenna and Mabel. We went out to dinner first, and then headed to the theater!

And I got some video too, of course. The girls were pretty overwhelmed, but eventually they bopped a bit.

Here are a few video 

clips!

This morning Callie was officially given a new Bible at church! And Auntie Yoda and I were there to give it to her, as a fulfillment of the Baptismal promise. During the sermon I wrote down a few my favorite verses for Callie to find and write out.

We came downtown for lunch and play time with Lucy!

Uncle Dan and Auntie Hanna stopped by tonight! The girls showed off their Halloween costumes and were generally nutty.

But Hanna and I matched!

Here are some videos from the weekend. Enjoy!

A Picture Update

It is Friday afternoon and I’m SPENT. I went on a field trip today. I hate field trips.

Anyway.

There are not very many pictures this week.

We had swimming lessons:

And a sleepy dad and doggy:

And our pretty tree in the sunshine (finally there was sunshine today!):

And ADORABLE SCHOOL PICTURES:

And finally, playtime in the yard, which you can see here!

Have a great weekend!