We decided to make Rainforest Cafe a tradition also, since we had so much fun with it last time.
I wish you could tell just how massive that dragon is on top of the Lego Store.
The kids got to build lego cars and race them.
Sometimes I think Bryce looks like me, but all of these expressions of concentration are totally Marty.
That night we had one last trip to the beach.
If I don't let the pictures tell the story here, I swear I will never finish these posts....
And the next morning it was time to pack up and head to our hotel in San Diego.
Black-shirt day was for SeaWorld! We were actually not planning to go to San Diego this trip. But then I found out my Alaskan brother was going to be there just a few days after we were leaving Anaheim. So he came a couple days early and we stayed a day later - we really just had to!
Plus...who gets to go to SeaWorld with a marine biologist as their own personal guide?? The Johnson family, that's who!
I am crushed I didn't take many pictures with Corey. At this point in the trip I was slipping into survival mode. And remember, as the mom it is not just about your own survival but that of a bunch of littles depending on you. So I let a few things go so that I could more fully enjoy the experience of being with Corey, my parents, and my family at SeaWorld. It was SUCH a good day.
Here you get to experience what it would be like to take a crazy, adventurous, almost-unheard-of expedition to Antarctica. I bet Corey thought it was interesting...oh wait! He's actually DONE THAT.
I knew she'd warm up quickly. I totally called that one. (Like the "harness" Camille is wearing? I never said I'd put one of those on my kids, but my friend gave me hers for this trip and it was a LIFE SAVER.)
We got to see a few shows, eat some fun food, hold starfish, see penguins (BandB love penguins), and go on some fun rides! The rides were probably my favorite part, mainly because it was fun to hand the babies off for a few minutes and ride with Corey who hasn't been to an amusement park in years. And partly because I wasn't sure what to expect and they were really cool rides! We got totally soaked on Atlantis and had to go back later that night because we all, especially Bryce, thought that one was so cool. Another ride was just like the grizzly river rapids at Disneyland and the kids were so excited to go on it. But...it just couldn't live up to the Disneyland version so as we were getting off I was both surprised and amused to hear Bryce say, "That was SO. Totally. Lame."
Another favorite memory was the dolphin show. We sat right up front in the "soak zone." There was a "warm-up" performance before the show started where some guy was singing about how soaked we were going to get. I think we were all a little apprehensive about that, especially thinking about how MAD Camille would get whenever she got splashed on a ride at Disneyland (another favorite memory was her cute, angry yell she had both times she got wet on the Pirates of the Carribean ride). But we were here at SeaWorld, I wanted to see dolphins, and I wanted to see them on the front row. In order to miss the soak zone we would have had to go halfway up the bleachers, and I just couldn't make myself do that! So we got soaked by the dolphins again, and again, and again, and again...you get the idea. The babies were fussing and I felt like everyone was looking at me to decide if we should high-tail it out of there...but I didn't want to! It's just a little water. But yeah...we spent the rest of the day pretty wet and a little cold. Meh.
We all went to our hotel and had some yummy pizza. We split up and the Johnsons went to our room and the kids slept like logs. I was so worried about Camille knowing we were right there and wanting to spend the whole night in our bed, but everybody did great.
The next day we saw the Coronado Bay Bridge and we went to the Mormon Batallion Museum. Marty and I had gone to that museum on our honeymoon the Sunday we were there, and it was pretty cool. But since then they have redone it, and it was incredible! SO kid friendly and held up even after all of the epic things the kids had been experiencing all week. Marty had seen it on a young men's trip a year or two ago, and now I can see why he was trying so hard to get the kids there. After we toured the museum, we went and ate a picnic lunch with all the leftovers we had awkwardly brought from the Dizzy House. I was worried about our mushed bread and semi-cold everything else, but it was seriously such a delightful lunch! The kids ran around on the grass and I got to have an actual conversation with Corey. I know he pulled some strings to get out to CA early and I am so glad he could.
After the picnic we dropped him off at his hotel for his conference and headed back to Arizona. The car ride home was pretty rough, but that's typical for our road trips. Camille screamed and cried and screamed, but we made it. I'm so grateful to have been able to make those kinds of memories together as a family. When I think back on it, I know we worked and planned to make it there...but I also we are just so lucky and blessed. The end!
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