Favorite Picture Friday: August 26th, 2011

Disneyland... need we say more?

San Diego: SD Zoo

Our final destination in San Diego was to visit the world famous San Diego Zoo. Neither of us had been to it before, so this was another Jason and Lisa first time visit. The main thing that we couldn’t believe with the SD Zoo was the SIZE! We’ve been to a few zoo’s around the US and this one is by far the largest one we’ve ever seen. The trails and animals are scattered on the vast landscape that you think will end around the corner but then you see a trail leading down a hill to an entirely new section. Let’s just say that if there weren’t signs everywhere we would have been lost and running wild with the animals.

If you don’t think it’s really that big, maybe you should know that it is so big enough to have a double-decker bus services as a way to get around the park. I love it because it’s like combining London and a zoo all in one wonderful package.

Here we are hiding among the plants.

Outside the Zoo.

So many animals to see and so little time. Here are some pictures of just a fraction of the animals that live at the zoo.

Now for the best part of the trip to the zoo. We had no clue that the zoo did anything like this, but apparently the zoo has this one time in the day when the visitors can feed the giraffes! If you know me, you know that I love giraffes. We were given these little red biscuits and were asked to hold them out to the giraffes who will reach down and wrap their tongues around it. Jason and I figured that if we fed the biscuits with our backs towards the giraffes they would have to reach over and we could get better pictures.

Here are our pictures from that memorable experience. Look for their long, purple tongues.

Here is Jason on a moving walkway within the zoo. Some of the hills in the zoo are so big that they placed these walkways to make life so much easier on those of us that stumbled down the hill.

Here are some elephants that can be found in the zoo.

Here are a couple of pictures of Jason around the zoo. It was a sunny day and he was such a joy to explore the zoo with.

On our way out of the zoo we were clear at the back of the zoo, which was also at the very bottom of a huge hill. Instead of hiking back up we decided to take the sky ride over the entire park. It was fun to see all of the animals from above, but I did get a little nervous when we went over the lions and wondered what would happen if we fell! Here are our pictures on the sky ride.

Once we were done with the park we headed back home to Costa Mesa. We had a wonderful time in San Diego and like being able to visit it when we want to. It’s a gorgeous city!

Favorite Picture Friday: August 19th, 2011

An evening at the beach!

San Diego: Sea World

So many things have happened since we took our little detour to San Diego but I knew I still wanted to show pictures from the last 2 days of our trip. We spent one of the days at a place that I visited a few times growing up... Sea World! This is actually a place that is near and dear to me because of my mom's love for the ocean. My family grew up learning about the oceans, what lives in it, and what comes out it. I was excited to take Jason and spend the day there together.





Here we are outside the main entrance. We went during the middle of the week and really it wasn't busy at all. It's warmer in San Diego than back in Costa Mesa, but it worked out because we went on several rides that got us completely SOAKED, so we dried off easily.




Here we are standing within view of the Sky Tower. It is basically a round elevator that rotates as you travel up and down the pole to get a 360 view of the park.



This is a view of the elevator coming down to pick us up. You'd think that we would get dizzy spinning around in the sky but I found it quite relaxing and wouldn't mind taking a little nap there.

Here is a view of the tanks where they keep the Orca whales before the shows.

Some more of the tanks around the park from the tower.

Of course you can't visit Sea World without seeing the biggest star of it... literally the biggest! It's Shamu! It was fun to go and see the show since the last time I went I was small enough I probably sat on my dad's lap to see it better.

We sat up higher outside of the splash zone- and this picture shows why you don't sit in the splash zone!

Here is a picture of us in front of the Shamu pool. It is a bit funny because we took it with our iPad.

Probably one of my favorite things to do at Sea World is to go and visit the dolphins. I remember when my sister, Karen, and I went to go and feed the dolphins when we went. I reached out my short arms and was able to feel dorsal fin of the dolphin and down the back a bit. I never forgot that moment and since then I have been in love with dolphins. Jason and I wanted to feed them again but it's nothing compared to being in the water with the dolphins and swimming with them.

Another vivid memory I have of Sea World is going and playing in the hands-on area where they let you touch some of the sea creatures. Now all they have is this big, shallow pool where you can play with the sea stars. I'm always amazed at how strong their suction is to the floors and walls because you can't just pick them up easily. It was nice to go there in the middle of the day and cool off because the water was freezing! Our arms were numbs by the time we were done.

Here is a giant replica of a sea star so you can see the suction cups they use to move around in the ocean... and apparently this one is attacking me.

As much as we love Shamu's show I think the dolphin one has always been better. We did enjoy this one, but it is a bit different than the old one they used to do. I still enjoyed watching the dolphins do their flips just look adorable.

We enjoyed our time there seeing all of the magnificent sea creatures and seeing the shows. We also enjoyed riding the rollercoaster rides there, which seem to be there with one purpose: to get you wet! There was one where you rode it directly under a waterfall. How do you dodge that? We had a blast running around the place and would love to visit Sea World again!

Favorite Picture Friday: August 12th, 2011

A special moment at Disneyland. We just rode the spinning teacups ride at sunset when the lights turned on. How could an evening go any better?

Favorite Picture Friday: August 5th, 2011

Mission Beach at sunset in San Diego. Words can't describe a romantic walk on the beach as the sun sets in the distance.

San Diego: Legoland

While we have been unpacking and getting our place ready we know that we only have a couple of weeks to explore Southern California a bit before Jason will be studying his heart out. We decided to take a midweek trip down to San Diego and visit a few of the sites down here. One of the places we have been curious about attending was the Legoland attraction. Let's just say that if you or your little boy likes legos then they will LOVE this place. Every other item in the park is made out of legos. There aren't as many large rides as at Disneyland, but there are a ton of places for kids to explore and interact. We had a fantastic time playing around here and visiting Legoland!

Here we are outside of Legoland ready to run inside.

In addition to Legoland there is an aquarium section of the park that you have to pay extra to enter called "Sea Life." It was nice to go in there to cool off during the day and it was fun to go and see the sea animals.



This dragon is made out of legos. Jason stood next to it so you could get a perspective of how huge it is.

Again, another sculpture out of legos. Seriously, EVERYTHING is made out of legos. This shark one was over by all of the pirate rides.

I LOVE YOU!! Sign language even works in legos.




This ride was our favorite ride at Legoland. It's this mechanical arm that you get locked in to and then you decide what level of intensity you want to experience the arm throwing you around. From 1 to 5 Jason and I chose level 5... what were we thinking?!?! We actually have bruises from that ride and we were twisted, turned, and thrown so much that I thought my head was going to fly off! It was awesome!

Squirting some lego animals.

Here are some pictures from the Sea Life Aquarium.

As you can see, the area in Legoland is quite lovely and well taken care of.

Jason is just awesome to travel with! He always makes me laugh!