After Lani picked us up from Mexico, we went
straight to the San Diego zoo, thus kicking off five days in a row of fun at
San Diego parks. The zoo was emptying out at 5 PM, and so we were able to spend
3 hours doing the sky ride, taking the bus tour, and enjoying a couple of
things, knowing we would be back.
Tuesday we got up early and went to Sea World. One
thing about me is that I don’t like crowds, and when it comes to theme parks, I’m
pretty neurotic about planning things so that we minimize crowds. We got to the
park 30 minutes before it opened (thus gaining a sweet parking spot) and saw
Shamu swim. Then we (as planned) hit the two popular rides before the crowds
came, and the started watching the shows, it was a busy and full day, with more
to do than we had time for. We had fun going to all the stuff, my favorite part
was the dolphin encounter, where all the kids got to touch a dolphin.
We did
not heed the “splash zone” warning and got soaked by Shamu at his show. That
show was the least favorite of my kids, especially Katrina who did not want to get splashed.
Wednesday
was the Wild Animal Safari. Honestly, this was my least favorite of the parks
it was way too big and you had to walk really far to get to the different
places. The shows there were really piddly and honestly, I would rather go to
SLC’s Hogle zoo instead. On the upside, the kids did get to feed some birds.
Thursday
we went back to the Zoo and realized how smart we had been to come at 5:00 PM
the previous time. People had fun, but again, it was lot of walking and some of
the exhibits were just so-so. Everyone voted to leave early to come home and
watch a movie. It was good to have a little down time after we've been running
so hard.
Friday
was back to Sea World, which I think is 100x better than the zoo and safari
park put together. We rode the 3 best rides 10 times before 10:30. I really liked the wet ride until I rode it for the 4th time and got soaked.
We re-watched some of our favorite shows. The Cirque de la Mer was awesome, and we
also loved the night time sea lion show.
We
had determined to save the best for last, and so on Saturday we went to Torrey
Pines again and had a wonderful time there again. I love that beach! We did lots
of great boogey boarding…Lani and I even did a double boogie board kiss (that might
have been the best part of the whole trip!) We did the awesome hike again and
loved walking on the beach and enjoying the sunset.
After
enjoying two sets of church (Dale and Kathy’s and Lani’s old ward) we went to
the Mormon Battalion Center (awesome!) and came home to get ready for an early
start the next day. Part 4 of the vacation was about to begin!
