Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

At the Aquarium with the sharks

Long Beach

Sea World

Shamu?

Justin wanted to try shooting the gun, but the thing was way too big and heavy!

At the Beach

The Birthday Boy

Seal Beach

Mama Seal with baby seal

Okay, so maybe we didn't use a train, but I think an airport shuttle should count, cause we did that one too. Last week, our family took a trip to California. Kris had a work convention out in San Diego, so we thought we would take the whole family and use our JetBlue connections and go. We arrived at the airport very early Thursday morning at 5 am for the 6 am flight. The flight was looking full, and we were 26 thru 32 on the standby list. It didn't help that the whole BYU cheer squad was on the flight we wanted. Well, the flight left without us on it, and the next two fights to Long Beach were just as full if not fuller with lots of people still on standby. Kris and I made an executive decision at 6:30 am, and decided to load up in the car and drive to Las Vegas so we could catch the 3:20 flight to Long Beach where our rental car and hotel waited for us. At first the kids were not too happy, but the ride went quick, we got to see some extra sights along the way, and made it to Vegas with time to spare. We had to warn the little boys about the billboards they might see, and I can attest that there was plenty of giggling going on in the back seat. Got on the Vegas flight to Long Beach with no problems, even getting to sit up front and together as a family which never happens flying from Salt Lake. Once in Long Beach, we visited the Aquarium and had some dinner, before going to our hotel. The next day we drove up to San Diego and went straight to Sea World. It had been a while since our family had been there, Tyler was only 10 months old at the time, so we decided it was time to revisit. The kids enjoyed Sea World so much more than they did Disneyland, and Mom and Dad have decided that we are good on visiting any amusement park for a while. The day started out a little chilly, but the sun came out and turned out to be a great day. That night, Kris had to start his convention, so we dropped him off at the hotel and checked in and the kids and I headed down the street to Old Town, visiting souvenir shops and checking out all the action on a Friday night there. Saturday just happened to be Justin's birthday, and Kris had to spend most the day in meetings, so I really felt the pressure to make it special. Not all presents made the trip due to the lack of space in carry on luggage, but Justin didn't seem to mind. First stop was the Mormon Battalion museum right by the hotel. The kids enjoyed this so much, getting to see first hand what the people had to endure and then they got to mine for gold. The kids and I then ventured out in the car on the busy California roads and eventually made it to the beach without getting lost. It rained on and off that day, but we were able to enjoy the beach until the birthday boy tripped while running backwards away from the waves and fell into the ocean! Luckily we had clothes in the back of the car, so we changed and started to head back since Dad was done with his meetings. We then headed up the coast to La Jolla and Seal Beach which the kids absolutely loved. There was a seal there that had just moments before given birth to a baby seal. The kids were in awe watching the mom seal try to protect her baby from the seagulls that were trying to get the placenta which had still not delivered. Quite the learning experience for the little ones. From there we tried to find a restaurant that would be birthday worthy. Somehow we stumbled upon a Cafe Rio and this made everyone happy, especially the birthday boy. We finished off the day with a pathetic attempt of cake in the form of Cold Stone icecream. Justin told me that going to the beach was what he hoped he could do for his birthday, so at least we made it there! Next day was flying out of Long Beach back to Vegas which was so easy and we didn't have to try to fight the Salt Lake flight with all the BYU cheerleaders again. Drive home from Vegas seemed a lot longer, but all in all I think everyone enjoyed our crazy adventure!