San Diego - 4: Sea World & Boogie Boarding

We took the kids to Sea World on Wednesday. They connected with the animals and liked the rides. My favorite part remains the dolphin show, though it wasn't as showy as in years past as the park moves to a more educational format. Sadly, there were no water acrobatics. But seeing the dolphins, orcas and whales jump and play is quite impressive regardless.

 Edison was so brave about touching the bat rays and also the cleaner fish.

 Charlotte's favorite part was being tall enough to ride the Manta roller coaster. She went five times!

 This river ride was closed last year, so I was really excited to try it out this year. Totally fun with the kids on a hot day.

 

There is a cool gondola ride over Mission Bay as part of SeaWorld. We had amazing views.

 On Thursday we hit the beach. Edison and Charlotte tried boogie boarding with great success. Charlotte's light weight and super kick led to nice rides for her until she got too cold and came in. Edison spent a lot of time practicing and figuring out how to catch the waves. He and Eben had a lot of fun in the water together.

Sadly, my camera battery died at this point and we have no more pictures of our second visit to Legoland and our final sunset at La Jolla. But, we always have the memories!

San Diego - 3: Beach Day

We recovered from Legoland by spending the day at the Mission Bay beach just outside our rental which was very relaxing.

 After lunch we moved to the pool at the condo.

 

In the late afternoon Eben took Edison and Charlotte sailing on this catamaran he rented from the sailing center. They LOVED it! I took the opportunity to go on a long walk along the ocean and let Reed nap in the stroller.

 After dinner we drove over to La Jolla for the sunset. The kids loved the waves crashing at their feet and the sunset was spectacular. Another day in paradise!

San Diego - 2: Legoland Monday

 The kids were over the moon to return to Legoland and Eben and I delighted in their joy. Charlotte has just passed 48" and a whole new set of rides opened up for her. Reed is now 37" so he also got to go on a lot more rides this visit. Some of the highlights are below. Reed's favorite was this airplane ride which we rode many times in a row.

 The Journey to the Lost Temple ride was Edison's favorite. Four riders sit in a car, each one has a zapper that is aimed at target discs along the ride. For every disc that is hit, the rider earns points. Edison rode this over and over and was really happy with a high score of 900!

 

Eben's brute strength helped the Phillips family prevail in the emergency vehicle challenge.

 This year it was warm enough to really enjoy the water park! Yay!

 

The Lego Star Wars area was also a hit.

Edison was great at driving a real boat with an electric engine around the course. Successfully lapping me and Reed (probably because Reed insisted on steering!).

San Diego - 1: Arrival!

We have been so looking forward to our Spring Break trip to San Diego this year! The flights were priced right so we decided to book a trip at the last minute and head south since we enjoyed it so much last year. Packing up the Phillips clan is no small effort, especially since we were determined to not check any bags. So - this is how we rolled - literally.

The flight was definitely worth it! By the afternoon we were in a beautiful condo with a view of Mission Bay and had a playground right outside our door.

 We headed down to the park again after dinner for a sunset swing.

 Today we played at the beach by our condo most of the day. It was 80 degrees, perfect for a dip in the water and building sandcastles.

 

 After lunch we splashed around the condo pool - definitely a perk with these three. Edison and Charlotte are both in "minnow" swim class at the Y. Their freestyle is starting to look pretty good.

 After dinner we walked over to the ocean side of town and played on the beach during sunset. It was stunning and the waves were spectacular.