San Diego

My parents invited us to San Diego over Memorial day weekend. They have a home they like to rent that fits us all perfectly, and is right by the beach. There is nothing better than being a few steps away from the beautiful ocean. My sister and her husband stayed in a hotel not far away which was wonderful to have them there too.

The first morning we were there we all walked down to the beach and found a dead sea lion. It was so sad to see it just flopping around in the waves. It was also kind of cool to see it up close. We were not sure what to do so my mom ran over to the lifeguard station to let them know it was there.

After a few poses on the beach they sent over a tractor and dump truck to take the sea lion away. They have obviously done this many of times by the way they maneuvered the tractor.

Of all the things we did this weekend the girls definitely loved the beach the most. They couldn't wait to get their swim suits on and jump in the water. Unfortunately the wind was blowing most of the time which made it chilly.

We took a trip over to Sea World which was a lot of fun. We went on a Friday thinking that it wouldn't be extremely crowded from the holiday weekend yet, but it was crazy. There were a ton of school groups there a long with everyone else who must have been thinking the same thing as us. Not to mention they closed at six o'clock.

We did see a lot of the shows, and are glad that we will be going back in July to see everything we didn't get to see this trip. A lot of the newer rides had really long lines, so we will hit them next trip.

I had to get a picture with Avery and the surf boards. Her dream is to surf and loves everything to do with surfing right now.

Avery spent her money on a portrait of her surfing. It turned out pretty cute.

Liz and I enjoyed some of the rides while they waited for them to draw her picture. She loved it.

We had Lizzy stand up really tall (and maybe on her toes a little) to get her on this ride below. She was so close in size that I'm sure it really didn't matter. I'm glad we were all able to ride together.

This ride simulates you flying to the Arctic. When we got off it was super cute because Aliza really thought we flew somewhere, and was wondering how to get back. Love that girl.

The starfish area is always one of our favorites. It's so interesting to touch these amazing animals.

Whenever we were not at the beach the girls were begging to be at the beach, so we spent a lot of time watching them play in the sand. Micah dug this really big hole one afternoon.

Above is Avery and Abbie trying out their boogie boards. It was still too cold for Aliza so she was content to just dig in the sand.

We celebrated Avery's birthday a little bit early with dinner in Old Town, and cake and ice cream that evening. My mom ordered this cute cake with a surf board. When we went to pick up the cake they had written Happy Anniversary Avery and were out of surf boards (the whole reason she ordered it). They changed the writing and we found a surf board magnet to stick in the top.

We had such a wonderful weekend, and loved spending time with family. That car ride home from vacation seems to take so long. We were worried about hitting traffic on the way home due to it being a holiday weekend, but  we had no problems. In fact the other side of the freeway headed to California was backed up for miles and miles. We are all very sad this amazing weekend is over.