Breakfast With Sham Sham

There was one more place we had to go while we were in San Diego. Sea World. It's been four years since our first visit and Harris still talks about Shamu almost daily. We wanted to do something special and memorable for him involving Shamu, besides the daily shows, so we booked "Breakfast with Shamu". This is as close as you can get to Shamu. Needless to say Harris was really excited.

The kids are obsessed with "Slug Bugs" so they were super excited to see this parked out front of Sea World when we arrived!

We got there early to get checked in and then headed to the waiting area to be seated. Harris was immediately plastered to the glass waiting for Shamu to swim by.  And Shamu didn't disappoint.

I love this picture. It was like Shamu was saying "hi" to Harris. He just hovered there. It was priceless.

When we got seated it was right next to the glass! It was so fun. It was pretty much a private show for those of us eating breakfast. Well, it was more than a show. There was a lot of talking about the whales: their likes/dislikes, personalities, size/weight, how they train them, things like that. There was also a Q & A. Harris was enthralled with everything. He especially loved how close we were.

Sooo excited when Shamu finally came out!

Watching Shamu is more fun than eating breakfast

Shamu waiving to Harris.

Sham Sham (as Harris calls him) doing tricks for us.

Harris once again plastered to the glass trying to be as close as possible to Shamu.

Saying goodbye after breakfast.

When we were finished with breakfast and were leaving we ran into one of the trainers. Liv and Harris were pretty excited to talk to her. They had tons of questions (that they didn't ask during the Q & A) that she was happy to answer. Harris asked her how he could be a trainer and Liv wanted to know if her ears ever hurt after diving so deep (40ft)  into the pool.

After chatting with the trainer Harris was ready to see the sharks so that's where we went.

The shark tunnel

I think it is time for Sea World to redo the "Shark Encounter" area. It's way too crowded and you can't really see anything very well because of it. Harris didn't seem to mind though.

I don't remember what Harris was telling me but it is a cute picture. :)

From the sharks we went to the Sea Lion show. We had never seen it before but Liv is going through an "I love Sea Lions" phase so we made sure to see it. I'm glad we did. It was hilarious!!! We will definitely see this again.

This is Clyde he is the star of the show. He is soo cute!

When the show was over the kids wanted to see and feed the other sea lions that are outside of the stadium.

They sit up against the wall and wait to be fed but if you aren't careful and feed them quickly the seagulls will swoop in and snitch the food out of your hands. It's so funny to watch them fight for a spot up against the wall.

This guys wasn't interested in eating. He was working on his tan, I guess. ;)

Harris loves the show "River Monsters" and last year when we were there they had his favorite river monster, the alligator gar. That is what he wanted to see next. We headed to where they were and were surprised to see that they were gone! They had redone the "river" area into a "sea turtle area". Harris was very disappointed about this but he enjoyed watching the turtles. And the area is pretty cool.

There were probably 30 (3 or 4 different kinds) sea turtles swimming around.

When we had had enough sea turtles we headed out to see if they had moved the river monsters to a different area. We didn't find the gars but we did find the piranhas. This was pretty exciting because they were going to be feeding them.

Harris was pretty excited to see the piranhas.

The feeding was not as exciting as we had thought it would be. Since they are in a tank and not in the wild they get fed regularly. So there was no feeding frenzy, mostly just nibbling. The kids still enjoyed it.

As we continued looking at the fish in the piranha area we did find one small gar. Not nearly the 10ft giants they had last year.

Harris and his best gar impression.

Harris had been begging all day to ride the roller coaster that they have which gets you wet. It wasn't super warm but we finally caved and decided to go on it.

I thought I was zoomed in a lot closer than this but they are in the back 2 rows.

When we were done with the ride it was time for the Shamu show to close out the day. Our favorite spot is off to the left of the center stage and up about 5 rows. We have learned that getting a good spot is was easier if just one person goes in and gets a spot to save for everyone else. So Chet usually runs ahead and sneaks in solo to save the rest of us a spot. It works out really well.

Happy when the show starts

The show this year was all new and was really cool. It seemed that there were a lot more tricks and way more water! Harris loved it! He oood and awwwd and laughed and cheered through the whole thing. His favorite part though was when they tried to feed Shamu just one tiny fish and he shook his head "no" so then they offered him the whole bucket of fish and he nodded "yes". He laughed and laughed at that. It was a great way to end the day.

As we exited the show we stopped at Shamu's tank to say goodbye. This was not an easy thing to do. Harris feels the same way about Shamu as I do about Disneyland.

Having a hard time saying goodbye to Sham Sham.

After saying a tearful goodbye we packed it up and headed out to our next destination, Disneyland!

Not the ABQ Zoo

I'm pretty sure that in the 3 times we have been to the San Diego Zoo we still haven't seen everything. I think that is part of the fun though. Finding something that we haven't seen before and enjoying the journey.

For example...

...this botanic trail that had 3 bridges and a waterfall. There weren't any animals here just tons of plants so we were the only ones on it. It was so fun! I could have sat there all afternoon and listened to the birds and waterfall.

The kids on the top bridge

There are a lot of things though, that we have seen before that the kids like to do every time. Like feeding the giraffes. They were really excited because there was a baby that they thought they would be able to feed but alas the baby one you don't get to feed. They still loved it.

The kids and the baby giraffe waiting patiently.

The baby is the middle picture. He stood at the back while the adults got snacks from the kids.

After we fed the giraffes we set out to find more trails and animals. We found several baby animals...

Baby Capybara. Even though it's basically a giant rat he was adorable!

All of the ducks had 7 babies. It was so weird...

Mommy baby Takin love each other.

 There was one baby that I was really excited to see, Adhama, the baby hippo! As some of you may know, there are 2 animals that Harris is deathly afraid of; bears and hippos. After some convincing we made our way to the hippos.

He hesitantly smiled for the camera

The mother pushed the baby up for a breath before they took a swim.

After "braving" the hippos we decided to "brave" the bears as well. Panda and Black to be specific.

A casual glance over his shoulder. Just keeping his eye on the bear.

Pandas are adorable!

After conquering our fears it was time for a lunch break. The Zoo is very hilly so there are moving walkways up the steepest hills. There are only a couple of them though but they are fun to take a break on on the way to lunch.

Taking a break on the walkway up to lunch.

Almost to the top.

When we made it to the top we got some lunch and enjoyed the weather. It was a perfect 72 degrees.

Harris soaking up the sun during lunch.

After refueling we got right back to the animals. Starting with the Arctic section of the zoo.

The Arctic area leads to the Elephant Walk. There are a lot more animals than just elephants there like the lions, cheetahs, jaguars and then the elephants.  Along the trail there were the coolest plants! I was fascinated by them. I really wish that I could remember what they were called because I totally want to plant one!

The kids decided to be goofy in this picture. Those cool tall green things are the plants I want!

So beautiful! They are striped up close. A stripe of thorns and then leaves. So cool!

The elephants were just given a bag full of hay for a snack. He was having a great time, except he kept getting it in his eyes.



After walking around for 8 hours our feet were getting pretty tired. Thankfully at the end of the Elephant walk there were these silly foot massagers. You pay 25 cants and it vibrates your feet. The kids thought it was hilarious and tickled more than it massaged.

After a nice foot massage it was time to head out. It was a perfectly perfect day at the zoo. Even if it wasn't the ABQ Zoo. ;)

On to the Beach

Saturday morning we were up early and ready to continue on to San Diego. Our first day there was supposed to be our beach day. It was 65 degrees which is nice but not nice enough when the water is only 60 degrees. We still headed to the beach, however, just not in our swimsuits. :)

We decided to go to Mission Beach. Mission Beach is nice because there is a carnival, some shops and places to eat. Which was nice since we weren't planning on spending time in the water. We walked through the shops down to the beach and immediately the kids had their shoes off and were running to the water. They were a little shocked at how cold it was but after their feet went numb they didn't seem to mind. ;)

Getting a feel for the water.

Chet and the kids enjoying the water.

One of my favorite things to do, as a kid, at the beach was dig for sand crabs. I remember my dad teaching me to look for the "v's" in the sand after the wave receded. I showed my kids this last time we were at the beach in San Diego so they knew right what to look for and waisted no time in getting digging. They didn't have to dig very much though because there were hundreds of them as soon as the wave washed ashore (they must have just had a hatch). Even in your footprints they would collect! It was crazy! The kids loved scooping up a big handful of sand and then feeling all the crabs trying to dig out. 

Diggin' for sand crabs.

Looking for the "V's".

We had made dinner reservations about a mile up the beach and decided that it would be fun to walk the beach to get there. So Chet gathered up the shoes and we started walking. We were almost to the restaurant when we noticed that one of Liv's shoes was missing. Crap! We had zigzagged a mile up the beach to get to dinner. Her shoe could have been anywhere! Since we needed it for her to get into the restaurant Chet took off running on the beach to try and find it. About 20 minuted later he came back empty handed. We decided to head to dinner anyway.

We ate at a steakhouse called Saskas. It was awesome! When we were all finished eating the kids begged us to walk back along the beach again, which was fine with us. We could look for Liv's shoe again. It was a beautiful walk. The sun was setting into the ocean and most of the people had left the beach. We decided to stick close to the water so the kids could stop and dig for more crabs. As we were walking we saw a big purplish blob in front of us. It was a giant sea slug! Unfortunately it was dead and kinda gross so we didn't take a picture. So we left it and moved along. We were almost back to where we started when we spotted something silver sticking out of the sand ahead of us. Guess what it was? Liv's shoe!! Chet was so mad, he had stopped looking only about 5 feet away! At least we found it. It was a happy ending to a happy day.

Meteor Crater

For a while now Chet has been wanting to go on a road trip. I'm not sure why, because my idea of a good time is not sitting in a car for hours at a time looking at nothing. But Chet suggested that we do a road trip through California, up the PCH, because then we would all get what we wanted-- a road trip and a Disneyland trip. ;)

We left Friday when the kids got out of school and made our way towards the coast. San Diego was our first destination but from our house that is a 13 hour drive. No way we were doing that in one day! So we drove to Phoenix and spent the night.

As we were driving through Arizona we saw signs for the "Meteor Crater". Chet got really excited and decided this was something that we needed to see. We took a slight detour and headed towards the crater. Not until we were almost there did a sign inform us that it closed at 7. It was 6:55. We decided to go anyway and made it just in time. As long as you are in by 7 you can stay until 7:30. We skipped the museum and headed straight for the crater.

Fifty thousand years ago a meteor travelling 26,000 MPH hit the earth. The hole it left is 550 feet deep and nearly a mile across! It is a very grand sight...

Meteor Crater from the sky.

That rock jutting out of the top is the size of a 2 story house!

There are several observation decks to view the crater from. It was quite windy at the top deck.

You could see for miles from the top deck. The view was amazing!

Harris wanted to take a picture next to this holey rock to send to Auntie Lindsay...

Beautiful Liv posing on the middle deck.

I'm glad that we stopped to see the crater. After all it isn't always about the destination but the journey.

Schools Out

Yesterday was the last day of school. The kids had a great year! They made so many friends, loved their teachers and learned so much. I was really quite concerned with the kids going to a Montessori school. Their style of teaching is so freestyle that I was worried that they wouldn't learn as much as they would at a regular school. I was wrong. Harris advanced so much more than Liv did when she was in kindergarten. He is reading on a 3rd grade level and was doing long division math and double digit multiplication by the end of the year! Liv was in a combined 4th 5th and 6th grade class and was reading on a High School level and finished all the math through 6th grade! I am glad that we chose this school and am looking forward to what they will learn next year!

Harris and his teachers Mr. Ian and Ms. Erica. Wonderful teachers!

 

A teary eyed Liv and her teachers Mr. Rob and Ms. Megan. She loved them!

 Liv was having a really hard time saying goodbye. Especially to Ms. Megan. In Montessori, to help the kids have consistency in learning, they have the same teachers for 1st, 2nd and 3rd and then 4th, 5th and 6th grades. For next year they were able to hire a new teacher and so they had to move 5 kids from each class to the new teachers class. Liv was worried that she would be one of the ones moved but she got lucky and gets to stay in Mr. Robs class for the rest of her time there. But because they hired this new teacher the classes are small enough, 20 kids each, that the teacher no longer needs an aide. So Ms. Megan will not be her teacher next year, which is why she was having such a hard time saying goodbye. On a positive note, however, Ms. Megan will now be Mr. Matts aide who just so happens to be Harris new teacher for the next 3 years. I'm pretty sure Liv will spend a lot of time volunteering to help in that class. ;)

Have I Mentioned...

...that I love the ABQ Zoo!

Chet has been out of town the last 2 weeks and so when he got home on Thursday we picked up the kids and headed to the zoo. I was really excited to go because the burrowing owls had 4 baby chicks! Owls are my very favorites. :)

The daddy and 3 of the babies.

See where the Daddy is standing guard? There are 2 burrows there each with a chick poking his head out.

After quite a while ;) we went and got some ice cream and then headed to the cat walk. The lions are at the end of the cat walk. The first time we went to the zoo we got a surprise when the male lion started roaring. Unfortunately we only had Chets phone to take video with so the quality wasn't very good. Now whenever we go we are prepared and this time we weren't disappointed!

They were both just lying around when all of a sudden the male stood up and started roaring at the female who was sleeping under the tree. She then started roaring back at him. It was a quick conversation but apparently they both had something to say. :)

Brace Face

This morning at 6:30 Liv came into our bedroom in tears. Why? Well, yesterday she got her braces on. And while the procedure was quick (45 minutes) and painless the actual straightening of the teeth is not.

In the next 6 weeks the special wire that they put in will pull all of her teeth down from the top and up from the bottom so that they are all even and level. To accomplish this, every night she has to rinse her mouth with hot water or drink something hot. This will tighten up the wire which is heat activated (things have really advanced in the 20 years since I had braces). When she goes back to the orthodontist they will put in wires to do the actual straightening. The whole process will take about 8 months.

I love her smile and can't wait to see the finished product!