goodbye california, see ya in november!

Bye Bye Coronado!

the last couple of days on our trip were spent relaxing.

we rented bikes and a trailor to explore the island.

that didn't last too long.

in california, you have to have all children under the age of 18 wear a helmet.

this is VERY smart!

but, ave had never worn a helmet before and did not enjoy it in the least bit!

it was still worth trying and we are looking into buying a trailor for salt lake!

we also tried the air and space museum in balboa park.
it was rainy and cold this day & we were pretty intrigued by the HUGE
sign advertising an "ALIEN" exhibit.
HA!
the alien portion was the allotment of people's imaginations of what alien's are or might be.
they even had toy figurines from the movies Alien and ET.
what a joke.
they even charged us $50 to get in. i was pretty mad!

once we made it over to the "air" side of the museum, it was a history of planes.
(mostly PanAm. think Aviator, the movie.)
this side was pretty cool. thank goodness.
i started chatting with an elderly man who was a flight instructor.
he asked me about my history with planes.
i had none.
except that my dad and brother are air traffic controllers.
and my mom is a flight attendant.
so i guess i kind of do!
we chatted for a while. then he asked me if i remembered the first time i saw a real airplane.
of course, i didn't.
he said he remembers seeing a small red plane fly over his grandfathers farm
when he was just three years old.
he said since that moment, he knew he wanted to fly planes.
it was so sweet.
i made sure to stand on the balcony outside overlooking the freeway
just so we could see BIG commercial planes fly within a few hundred feet of us to
the san diego airport.
maybe one day avery will remember the first time she saw an airplane!

(i'm standing by the history of PanAm flight attendant outfits...nick, well, he's an astronaut.)

such a cutie pie!

the rest of the trip was spent at the beach.

it was pretty cold, but avery did not mind.

she even ran into the ocean with pants and a sweatshirt on.
she could not get enough of it!

this is what happens if you try to take ave out of the ocean. she gets MAD!

we also spent alot of time collecting sand dollars. aren't they pretty?

we sure do enjoy our time spent in coronado.

so much so, we have decided to go back during thanksgiving.

is it november yet?

we were also able to spend almost every evening with nick's dad and step mom.

we have so much fun with them & they introduce us to the best restraunts in san diego!

we certainly are lucky to have such wonderful people surround us in our lives!

thank you dale & sheri for spending so much time with us!

SeaWorld!

i know, i know...

i'm still posting on our trip to California.

 

the day after our San Diego Zoo adventure, we picked up my mom from the airport

and decided, on a whim, to go to SeaWorld!

(we planned on going the next day, but since we were out...we thought we would just go.)

my mom works for Southwest Airlines and can get us in for FREE at SeaWorld

since they are a huge sponsor.

THANKS MOM!!!

nick and i went last thanksgiving to SeaWorld and did not realize how easy we had it then.

chasing after a one year old, in a busy theme park, is tiring!

we still had a blast and had a ton of help from my awesome mom!

we also were able to sit through the dolphin show Blue Horizons.

this was a 25 minute choreographed show with dolphins, a whale and aerialists.

avery actually WATCHED the show!

it was awesome!

(we did have to keep stuffing her face with goldfish crackers and cheerios to keep her happy.)

SeaWorld also has a water/rope/ride/play area for toddlers/kids.

we didn't go on any of the rides, avery was too stimulated by then, but she ran through the water areas

and had a blast!

that night we went to dinner at Il Fornaio, where we had our reception for our wedding.

it never disappoints!

thank you mom for flying in and spending 36 hours with us!

the beluga whale & walrus exhibit was our favorite!

i just LOVE these two!

(my camera focused on the sign in the background, but i adore this picture!)

aaahhh....this guy made me laugh! tough life right there!

san diego zoo

while in california we decided to hit up the san diego zoo.

usually avery and i will try to go to the hogle zoo at least once every other week,

so we thought this would be an awesome experience.

and it was!

when we got there avery was PASSED OUT!
she had two huge breakfast's that morning.
(a family at the cafe even commented that they had never seen a toddler eat thet much!)

while she was asleep, we were able to see the koala's and something unusual....
a leopard and domestic dog cohabitating in the same pen.
they have lived with each other since they were babies and have become best friends.
it was they coolest, weirdest and funniest thing we've seen!
we were able to stand within a foot of them, without a barrier, as they were transferring them to
a different facility.

i had never been to this zoo before and thought we would be there three hours tops.
ha!
it was HUGE and we were there almost SIX hours!!!
we survived a few meltdowns and two epic temper tantrums,
but also had the times of our lives!
we can't wait to go again.

my only complaint is the buses are everywhere and take up so much space.
it was pretty crowded and they only have standard sidewalks in most areas,
so having a bus creeping along throughout the park was a tad annoying.
other than that, it was perfect!

look closely: a leopard and a dog!

such a curious one!

my favorite...the ephulants! (and nick and ave of course!)

nick felt right at home! ;-)

best buddies!

these turtles would swim right up to the glass. avery got startled and stumbled backwards off of a stair and landed right on her bum. she didn't cry, but laughed!

somebody looks spent!

avery wanted to explore and not be confined to a stroller. can't blame her really. but it made for a really long day!

my two favorite people!

sarah, i was going to email you this! it made us laugh! :)

love these two!

after this tantrum, we knew we were done for the day. people were looking at us probably thinking "why isn't that child in a cage" or "man, we've been there".

WE SURVIVED!!

(but had SOOO much fun!)

4th of July

last year we went to coronado during the 4th of july and loved it so much we

decided to make it our annual family trip!

(this is where we got married and spend thanksgiving too!)

the hotel del

(we do not stay here, but our condo's are right next to it!)

this year didn't disappoint.

we got into coronado on july 2nd.

since the holiday fell on a Sunday,

it made for a 4 day weekend for most.

the island was PACKED!!

(this would be a HUGE understatement.)

we were lucky enough to fly with dale and sheri.

our nephews darwin and hayden joined us for a couple of days!

(haircuts courtesy of grandpa dale! i have learned you have to be very careful when sending the grandchildren with grandpa, he likes giving new do's!)

it was pretty chilly compared to scorchin' salt lake.

when we left salt lake, it was in the 90's.

it never reached the high 60's in coronado.

it was a nice change though!

we spent almost every day at the beach.

avery LOVED the beach.

she never sit still in one place for long.

put her on the beach and she won't move for hours!

we dug lot's of hole's.

built sandcastle's.

searched for sand dollars.

and played in the ocean.

we didn't get into the pool once!

only the hot tub of course.

(we had a near tragic event. nick was holding ave as he was getting into the hot tub.

as he stepped in, he slipped and avery hit her head on the side of the concrete.

she was fine but we were all a little shook up!)

we also went to spreckle's park every.single.day!

it is so beautiful and green!

i wish we had something like this in utah!

(notice the vehicle? it's a border patrol vehicle! made us laugh!)

on saturday the 3rd, we watched the annual coronado parade on orange avenue.

it starts from one end of the island and ends at the other.

we walked along the entire parade route.

both ways!

coronado consists of mainly rich old people and military.

this parade consisted of both.

old men in their fancy collectable cars.

and military galore!

what a way to celebrate our country!

the next night we were able to watch 3 sets of fireworks right from the lawn of our condo!

we had san diego bay, coronado yacht club and the military base!

avery didn't pay much attention, except for the BIG one's. she'd say "ooooh!"

i didn't take any pictures because the sprinklers came on while we were watching, so we had to scramble to move everything so they wouldn't get wet!