Sea World - Day 2 (continued)

On our second day at Sea World, we went to many exhibits, rode rides, saw the Dolphin show again (so Travis and Kezia could see it), took pictures with the Sesame Street gang, saw Pets Rule, the Cirque de Sol show and Madagascar Live.

Tate found a water monitor. It looks an awful lot like the perentie goanna (also a monitor lizard) that Tate chose to study during our study of Australia. He was VERY excited about this!

These pictures just start to capture the interactions with the Sesame Street crew... Bert took Tate's hat. Grover took Zane's hat and put it on his nose. Kezia was not afraid of any of them. She just wanted to stay with them, get more pictures... it was hilarious!

 

The Armstrong family at Sea World.

What a LOVELY vacation we had in Arizona and California! Did it have to end?

 

Sea World - Day 2 - The Atlantis

We went to Sea World our first day in California. We went to Sea World our last day in California!
This time we spent some time riding rides (The Manta - a new roller coaster; The Atlantis (see pictures below; Shipwreck Rapids - a river ride - Katiree, Travis and I got SOAKED!). Amber was always able to talk Zane into trying the rides (he was too short for the Manta)... so funny because he probably wouldn't have even tried the "big rides" if Amber hadn't been there.


Amber, Zane, Katiree and Travis rode the Atlantis first.

 Then, Zane, Katiree, Tate, Travis and I rode second.

Group picture...See that big climb and the big drop on the Atlantis ride behind us - the three older kids rode this ride! So proud of them!

Father's Day 2013

Father's Day was spent in California too! We went to breakfast at The Broken Yoke, but the wait was an hour so I waited while Amber and Travis took the kids to feed the ducks at the Temecula duck pond.
 

Travis with his kiddos...

Happy Father's Day, Travis... (I love this man!)

At the Broken Yoke, Amber's friends, Drake and Betsy, joined us. It was a wonderful morning.

Later that night we BBQed (after swimming, of course) and Drake and Betsy came with John and Tiffany. Amber's friend, Dani, also joined us for a fun backyard BBQ!

Daughter of Many Expressions

Amber caught Kezia on camera on an evening where she was being the clown. This girl has more facial expressions than I know what to do with... but it is rare that I can catch many of them on camera.

Blessed

What a blessing it was to stay at Amber's house. She rents the upstairs of a house and the couple who owns the house invited us to stay at their house. They were gone to Hawaii while we were with Amber, so it was sort of like having our own place! It was a beautiful house, with a beautiful back yard and a wonderful golden lab named Colby (who all the kids loved, but Katiree and Kezia especially adored him).

There was a pool out back to swim in and an orange grove out front with the most AMAZING oranges. Seriously, they ruined oranges for me for a good long while. They were just that good. Juicy - like juice dripping down your arm kind of juicy!

On top of that, Amber drove us around in what she termed "The Beast". When my boys saw it, the first thing they said was "This is a cool car. It is just sooo cool!" This  was a 1986 or 1988 Suburban - complete with bouncy seats, rolled down windows as AC and a loud engine. It was definitely a "cool car".

Swimming at Amber's

We loved swimming at Amber's! It had an 8 foot deep end, so Katiree perfected her dive and Tate made improvements to his dive/belly flop. Everyone enjoyed swimming, diving for dive rings/sticks and being outside!
 

 

 

 

 

Beach Day

We went to the beach on a Saturday - oops... issue #1 - S. California beaches are busy on weekends. We drove out to Oceanside and proceeded to drive through Carlsbad and onto Encinitas before finding a place to park. Once parked, we had to hike to get to the beach. But - it was worth it! The water was warm, the sand was soft... we all had fun!
 

My only picture showing I was also there at the beach!

 

My Cousin

My cousin, Mike Randall, just moved to Newport Beach for his new job. What fun it was for us to meet up with him in Encinitas! Unfortunately for him, he walked into the ocean with his phone in his pocket. We went to a wonderful woodfire pizza restaurant and were able to spend the evening chatting away.

The picture on the left is Mike with his "son". Zane looks A LOT like I remember Mike looking like as a young boy. The picture on the right is all of us (minus Amber) after eating dinner.

Sea World Day 1

We drove from Arizona back to California to spend time with Amber Young. The first day in Southern California, we went to Sea World! It has been seven years since we've gone to Sea World and a lot has changed! Katiree was only one when we went last. This was a whole different experience!

They now have a Sesame Street Bay of Play area with Sesame Street rides and a song/dance by Sesame Street characters. Definitely Kezia's favorite part. The older kids liked it also. The rides were perfect for Tate, Zane and Kezia. Katiree didn't complain.

Zane and Amber on Elmo's flying fish ride

Kezia loved Abby's Spinning Sea Star ride (like teacups).

Watching one of many shows... On the first day we saw One Ocean (Shamu - orca show), Blue Horizons (dolphins, birds, high divers, trapeze artists), and Sea Lions Live.

 

While waiting for Shamu, Travis got a push-up pop for the kids to cool them down. It was getting warm and Kezia was getting tired! But, this helped for a little bit.

 

We also went to many of the exhibits, like the sharks, sea turtles, sea lions, sea otters and dolphins.

Amber and Zane have always had a very special relationship. Since he was less than 2, he has been "Auntie Amber"'s little sidekick. He would cry when she left. This time we saw her was no exception. He was attached to her side, holding her hand, sitting in her lap and begging her to hold him if the opportunity presented itself.

 Mommy's in some pictures! This was as we waited for the Blue Horizons show. Daddy was wheeling Kezia around while she slept in the stroller.

Blue Horizons - the dolphins were amazing!

Our group picture with Shamu character.

Kids with O.P. the otter.