San Diego 2007

So we made it to San Diego in our canary-yellow PT Cruiser, and without wasting any time we headed straight over to the San Diego Zoo. Man, is that zoo immense. I venture to say a few little legs didn't even see half of that place, but we sure enjoyed what we saw.


Here's Evan tickling a bronze statue of a gorilla.


More of Evan "monkeying" around.


The giant panda bear really was impressive. Hollyn greeted it with an affectionate "oooohhhh."

The little warthog babies were cute in an ugly pig'ish sort of way.


This hippo was very impressive in its size and how graceful it would float through the water. At one point it came straight towards the glass and intimidated Evan a bit.


The statues were a great chance to rest and take a couple pics.


Can't recall what these were called.


If you look close over Evan's left shoulder you'll see an alligator lying on the ground. Evan thought that was pretty cool.


Tribal Evan!

Not quite a fit, but still cute!


The petting zoo was a smash. Evan got to hand feed straw to goats and sheep. Hollyn gave it a whirl too, but ended up just throwing the straw on the goat's back most of the time.


After the zoo we went looking for a place to find some dinner. A hotel worker told us Mission Beach had some nice places, so we found a little pizza joint right off the beach front. Evan loves playing in the sand and water, but Hollyn isn't quite so fond of it all.


The next morning brought a 30 mile trip north to Legoland. What a fun place for little kids to go. Almost everything there is made of legos.


Hollyn shoots water into lego-alligators...with a little help, of course.


This rope ride ended up being a bit more "work" than Daddy thought it would be. We pulled ourselves to the top, then let go for a fun little drop. Evan loved the rush.


Evan earned his "driver's license" on this Volvo lego race course. We told him he had to drive us back to the hotel but he said no.


These "helicopters" weren't quite as fun as I thought they'd be. Two controls allow you to go up-n-down or left-n-right, but it's done in such a gradual manner, it really wasn't as exciting as it looks.


Posing on the lego lion.

More lego statues.



This water canon ride would have been a lot more fun if Evan and I would have had ANYONE to shoot at. Instead it felt much more like we were sitting ducks. People standing by waiting to ride could fire on us from the sidelines. We still had fun though.


Evan's favorite part of the day was probably just splashing in the water area. He would'a stayed in there forever if we would have let him.


Hollyn enjoys a relaxing swing while Evan runs wild in the background.


Every so often a bucket would fill and dump on whoever stood below. Evan took great delight in being its victim.


We capped the day by riding this fun roller coaster. At this point it felt like we were shooting straight down!


Evan thought it was cool that the lego guy had "lego guy hands."


Day 3 in San Diego was SeaWorld, and the first thing Evan wanted to see was the SHARKS! SeaWorld has a tunnel that runs through the shark tank. Pretty creepy having all those teeth that close to your head.

No contest who the big mouth here is!


SeaWorld had a bunch of great shows. The first we saw was called "Clyde and Seamore's Risky Rescue" and featured a couple sea lions and walrus. Hollyn thought the sea lions were pretty funny.


The next show was Dolphin Discover. Very cool stuff, but we learned the hard way that Evan was devastated we didn't sit in the first 12 rows (soak zone) to get splashed. Heather took him back to a later showing just to make sure he got drenched!




The pride of SeaWorld is obviously the Shamu show. Truly amazing to see these huge whales glide through the water and explode into the sky.


Here three or four whales blast the audience with their tails.


All in all this vacation definitely rated as a 10. The kids had so much fun and we made so many great memories. We definitely pushed the limits of what we could pack into a six day trip, and although we are still recovering, we wouldn't have changed a thing. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures.

Disneyland 2007

Seems unfair to have to summarize our adventures so far in brief photo descriptions, but unfortunately if I tried to write out all of our wonderful moments it would take forever. So hopefully the pictures tell the bulk of the story.

Waiting for the plane. Sunday, May 13th, 7:00am.


Snack time on the plane.


Waiting for the Disneyland Express Bus.


The view from our room. Disneyland Hotel, Sierra Tower, Floor 10, Room 2864.


Downtown Disney from the "park facing side" of the tower we stayed in.



Our first destination is Bug's Land in the California Adventure park. Evan's first autograph is from Flik.


Our first "adventurous" ride is Flik's Fliers, which goes round and round in circles. It was a gentle, but fun start.


A little bumpier ride came next as Heather and Evan jumped on Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies, your classic bumper car ride.



Evan zipping through the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.


Daddy makes sure to be extra careful climbing the three story, cargo-net floored, trail fort with precious cargo on his back.


Mommy and Evan waited an eternity to get a chance to shoot the Grizzly River Run white water raft ride.


We all took a ride in a fixed cabin on the Sun Wheel (huge ferris wheel).



As our first night came to a close Heather took a turn with Evan on the Jumpin' Jellyfish ride, which pulls you about 3 stories up and drops you numerous times.


We settle down after sunset to enjoy Disney's famous Electrical Light Parade.





The first night winds to an end with some much needed rest.


Day 2 - On our way through Downtown Disney we swing by a Lego store to pose with a few statues.



We finally hit a bunch of characters and grab the autograph books. Goofy, Cruella DeVil, and Buzz Lightyear.




Next we hit the much anticipated Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride. You ride in a cart and blast away at Zorg and all his minions to earn points. We rode this ride a total of three times, but it would have been easy to stay on it all day.


Hollyn's favorite ride was It's a Small World. Even after just waking up from a nap, she lit up immediately when she saw all the small dolls singing and dancing.


Mommy and Evan zip around on Gadget's Go Coaster. It was a one-loop trip, but the first coaster Evan ever rode on, and MAN...DID HE LOVE IT! He was hooked and rode many others.


After a morning of fun it was time to cool off in the pool. Our main pool offered a gentle kid's slide, which Hollyn proceeded to try and climb before falling and splitting open her lower lip. Undeterred she was back in no time to continue sliding.


Walking to the Disneyland Park feels like miles away, so on day two we hopped the Disneyland Monorail and saved ourselves some effort. Luckily, we were first in line for one of the trains, so we got to ride in the captain's section. It was a great ride with fantastic views.


Our family with Mickey just past the entrance to the Disneyland Park.


Evan took turns with both Mommy and Daddy on a bit more challenging roller coaster. The Matterhorn Bobsleds takes riders up a few stories in the pitch black inside a mountain only to drop you down and around it and hair raising speeds. We all loved it!


An autograph from Wendy Darling (from Peter Pan).


Daddy and Evan sneak a shot just before taking off on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a very fun, curvy roller coaster through an old mining town setting.


Here's Evan peaking his head out of his car on Autopia.


The ruler by which all Disney thrill rides are measured...Space Mountain was a ride I would have never considered on day one, but after seeing Evan's passion for ALL the other roller coasters (including Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones), I figured "why not?" All I can say is..."thank God for the motion sickness patch!" What an insane ride!


We ran into a few more characters but were only able to get Donald Duck's signature. Chip and Dale were just too quick to catch.



The kids enjoyed any chance to stretch their legs. Here they have a blast running through Disneyland's Main Street!


Who can go to Disneyland and not ride on Dumbo?



There are so many more pictures from Disney it's a shame to only show these few. But alas...here's where they end. We packed up and waited for the rental car that we would take to San Diego.


We were supposed to get a mid-sized car like a Pontiac G6, but they gave us this fun little PT Cruiser Limited Edition with a sunroof. Not bad to head to sunny San Diego about . More pictures to come from our fun down there (San Diego Zoo, Legoland, SeaWorld, and more!).