This fourth of July weekend we were very lucky to be able to go to San Diego. Brian's dad, Allan, was attending a conference in San Diego and invited us to meet him there. It was impossible to turn down since it was only about a 5 hour drive and we had a place to stay for free! So we headed out on Thursday and got there in time for dinner. As soon as I opened the car door the first words out of Josie's mouth were "Mom, it's cold here." She is an Arizona girl that is for sure. Needless to say even though it was 75 degrees, I was glad I packed the girls sweatshirts and pants. I was very happy that just across the street from out hotel was a
Bennigan's! They are hard to find these days. So I insisted that we were going to eat there before we left town, and lucky for me I got to eat there first thing! I miss the
Bennigan's food that I lived on for two years while working there so I tried to get in the things I missed most, potato soup and a turkey
O'Toole.
They were both as good as I remember and it was a fun throw back for us.
Friday morning we had big plans to
conquer SeaWorld. We got there bright and early after a quick breakfast at Denny's.
I
don't' think that Josie was quite sure what to expect when we told her we were going to
SeaWorld. Her friend
Tayia that has been playing with us this summer went last summer and was telling Josie all about it in the days leading up to the trip, but I am not sure she had any idea what she would see or do when we got there. Our first stop of the day was to see
Shamu. We first stopped to see the
Orcas in their tank swimming. Josie and Ellie were both amazed by
their size.
We then decided to go get seats for the show. They tell you when you get there to try to arrive at the show 30
mins. prior to the start of the show to get good seats. I don't know how they expect to all of us parents to get our kids to sit and wait for 30
mins., but we survived. We sat in the splash zone thinking that Josie would love it, but when she figured out that she would get wet she wasn't very happy. We got lucky and some how
Shamu missed us. Josie loved the show and thought it
was so cool when one of the trainers jumped in the tank with
Shamu and got to swim with him and do tricks. Josie quickly decided that was what she wanted to do when she grew up. Luckily for her they said to work at
SeaWorld you have to love animals and be an excellent swimmer and she has both of those things down. Ellie was also very entertained and gave us lots of
oooooh and
aaahhhs!
After the
Shamu show we hit up the Sesame Street Bay of play. They had rides that both of the girls went on and loved. Here is Josie and Ellie on Elmo's flying fish. They were in a catfish!
One of Josie's favorite experiences was feeding a
sea lion! Josie and Daddy bought a tray of fish, which they had to protect from the seagulls. The
sea lions barked and waited for the fish to fly. Josie wasn't a fan of the birds so she fed the
sea lion through a feeding tube, which she thought was very exciting, she was very proud of herself!
After a long day Ellie conked out in the stroller. We did happen to catch a few more exciting things like watching the dolphins, seeing penguins and polar bears and watching a
sea lion show.
Here is Josie filling Papa in on all the things that she saw that day at SeaWorld. The highlights she made sure to tell Papa included: she fed a sea lion, she wants to swim with Shamu when she grows up, and the long list of all the other animals that she saw that day!
For dinner we went down to Seaport Village. It is a beautiful spot by the water that has all kinds of shops and restaurants. We walked for a while and the girls were happy to be out of the stroller and running around. They must of looked like they were having a lot of fun running and climbing on the sculptures in the park because Papa joined right in. Mom and Dad were tired from a long day of pushing around the huge double stroller, so we enjoyed watching the kids have fun.
Papa and two of his best girls.
After we had a great dinner at the Edgewater Grille, Papa had a special surprise for Josie. There was a carousel in the park. Josie loves to ride the carousel, she rides just about everyone she sees. So Josie and Ellie picked out a couple of horses and took a spin! This carousel was hand carved in 1895 and had been moved a handful of times before ending up in it's current home in Seaport Village.
Because of Josie's love of riding carousel's Ellie has, at a young age, become a pro and loves to ride along with her sister. When Josie was Ellie's age she had no interest all in riding, but because of mom and dad's persistence she quickly changed her mind and has been in love with them since just before her second birthday when the local mall got a 2 story carousel. Ellie being our little adventurer has loved them since day one. It also probably helps that she wants to do EVERYTHING that big sister does! 
