San Diego Trip - Sea World

Our mornings in San Diego started pretty early. Ada-Grace was still on Texas time, so when her body clock was telling her it was 7:30 it was really 5:30 in California! We really didn't mind too much though. So the first picture is of Ada-Grace and Sonya. Sonya is Brian's dog from college. He got her as a puppy in Louisiana where he and Jason went to school. So Jason got to live with Sonya for a while too. Jason was so excited to learn that Sonya was still alive! She had a fondness for jumping out of moving cars when she was younger, so Jason had just assumed she was in dog Heaven. She old now and pretty much just lays around, but she did not mind Ada-Grace loving on her every morning!
We went to Brian's church Sunday morning. It was a lovely service, but sorry, no pictures. Then we headed off to Sea World. The Parcel family joined us this day and AG loved having Landon and Izzy push her in the stroller! It was so much colder on sunday - that's why we're bundled up! We even had to buy a blanket for Ada-Grace.

We started with watching a dog show. Of course, Ada-Grace loved it!

She's waiting her turn to pet one of the dogs...

Here we are at the Beluga Whale tank. AG just loved it. She kept singing the Raffi song - "Baby Beluga".

I just love this picture. She's in total awe.

We're watching the penguins here. Penguins are some of my favorite animals!

There was a Sesame Street play land at Sea World, so we spent some serious time at this part of the park. Below AG is giving her "cheese" smile.

She loved running and jumping in the soft mats.

We waited in line to have our picture taken with Elmo and Zoe, but when it came time to get close, Ada-Grace said "no thank you". She loves those characters from afar, but never wants to get close up. So this was our best picture.

And then we had a go for a spin on the Abby ride. She loved it!

Landon and Ada-Grace by the sea lions.

We ended out day with the Shamu show. We could never get a pictures with the whale and AG, they both move too fast! We had a great time in San Diego!

The San Diego Zoo - Day 2

Day 2 of our San Diego trip was zoo day! We started the morning off with little playground time. Actually, Mommy stayed back at the house and got ready for the day while Ada-Grace and Daddy played at the neighborhood playground.

She just loves to slide! She can do it by herself now, but sometimes still asks for our hand. So sweet!

So after playground time, we headed off to the zoo. Luckily(?) we were all still on Texas time, so our morning started early and we got to the zoo right when it opened. We decided to take the guided bus tour first to get a lay of the land. The next few pictures are taken from the bus.

Ada-Grace riding the bus...she loved it!

This polar bear was hilarious! When we drove up, he was doing this little dance - moving his head from one side to the other keeping perfect time. Now we ask AG to do the polar bear and she moves her head back and forth just like him - so cute.

And now we're on foot! We loved seeing all the animals! The zoo is only 100 acres but felt so huge. It's so well taken care of and clean. I never got that stinky animal smell. Enjoy the pictures!

There's a panda bear in the back she's looking at. He sat there eating bamboo.

Hippo mommy and baby. The baby had been born in January. The first hippo to be born at the zoo in 30 years!

Family picture at the polar bear play area.

We took a break to eat lunch (which was very good for zoo food) and rest for a bit. Ada-Grace is showing off her new hat.

It's a "George Monkey"

These next few pictures are of the best souvenir I have ever seen! The zoo had these art booths where they were doing handprint art. They make a print of your child's hand and turn it into an animal. So stinkin' cute! We asked Ada-Grace which animal she wanted and she picked a monkey.

Painting the hand...

Making a print....

The finished product! I totally love it. They would mat and frame them too. We only got it matted because we didn't want to deal with a frame on the plane.

We found another slide...this one is at the playground in the zoo. We ended the day petting goats in the petting zoo. Ada-Grace had a great time (and we did too)!

Tomorrow's post = Sea World!

Our Trip to San Diego - Day 1

The Ross family took a trip to San Diego last week! Jason had a conference out there and he also has a very good college friend that lives in San Diego, so we decided to make it a family vacation. Jason left on Wednesday, March 2, so that left me to pack and get us ready to go on Friday. We flew out early Friday morning (the 4th). I was pretty nervous about flying with Ada-Grace by myself. We decided to get her her own seat - which was great! We also bought a travel seatbelt instead of bringing the huge car seat. I would highly recommend this seatbelt to anyone planning to fly with kids. So easy to use and takes up so much less space. So our first picture is Ada-Grace on the plane right before take off.
She did so well on the plane! Of course she had her moments of wanting to be held and wanting to walk around, but overall she was a trooper! The portable DVD player came in very handy too!(Thanks Vietti Family). She took a quick nap, ate lunch and played in her seat and before we knew it we were in San Diego! Jason was waiting for us at the airport. So after gathering all our belongings, we were off. We stayed with Jason's friend(Brian Parcel) from college and his family. Brian is a Methodist minister serving in a great church in the San Diego area. Brian actually married us, so it was great to see him again. He has a great wife, Christi, and two precious children, Landon and Isabella. The kids really took to AG and treated her like doll! Ada-Grace was ready for some serious playtime once we got to their house. The rest of the pictures are her having fun in their backyard.

Art Time!

She loves putting things on her head right now. A dirty outside bucket is no exception.

She shoots - she scores!

Landon and Izzy pulling AG around on a beanbag. She loved it!

And now a wagon ride

She's already for bed now. She enjoyed playing with some of the "baby" toys the kids got out for her. It was amazing - all three nights we were there, she went to bed without a peep! I figured it would be hard for her to settle being in an unknown place, but she did great. The first night she actually came to me and said "night-night time!" I couldn't believe it!

So we had a great first day in San Diego. Stay tune for more! Next post - San Diego Zoo!

What A Cutie!

I just had to put these up on the blog! When we got home from school today, Ada-Grace grabbed her hat and baby and went straight for her shopping cart. I guess she was a lady on a mission!

Winter Wonderland

What crazy weather we have had this week! In the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday, February 1st is started to ice and snow. The temperatures have not gotten above the freezing mark, so we have been living in a winter wonderland all week. Last night, it started to snow again. And this time, we got a ton of snow. Probably 6-8 inches all over the metro-plex. Ada-Grace is not a fan of the cold weather, but we had to get out and experience some sledding in our own neighborhood. It was so fun to see all the families out having fun together.

Living in Texas we don't own sleds and skis, so we figured some box tops would work well for a sled....

She's off to the races....

That box top did not work!

"It's too cold out here."

Luckily, the family next to us let us borrow their sled. It made AG feel a bit better!

That's more like it! She loved going down the hill and wanted to do more. "Whee!!"

Had to get some slide time in too

Family picture after getting a snowball in the cheek. She threw it on herself.

Warm at home and watching Daddy make a snowman!