San Diego - part 3

Day 4 - Monday, April 1st

It was another warm day and we headed off to Sea World.

We didn't have room in our van for our double stroller, just the umbrella stroller, so we rented a double stroller for the park.  There were times that three of the four kids were riding in it.

The first thing we did was ride Journey to Atlantis.  Cedric was barely tall enough to go on it, although he opted out the second time 'round.  We all got pretty wet.  So much for doing my hair that morning!

When you get off the ride, there's a pretty cool aquarium.         My dad was awesome to stay with us and help with the kids. 

Next we went and did some shows.  We started out with the Shamu show, then the Dolphin show.  I thought the dolphin one was better out of the two and I loved the acrobats that performed in it.

Afterwards we stopped for lunch.  We had brought in our own bagged lunch of PB&J and saved ourselves about $50.  

Then we went on the sky-tower ride.  Despite being tired, Sophie enjoyed the view.

Then we went on the gondola ride.  It was a bit cold, but another nice ride.

We saw a bit of the marine life.

Sophie finally fell asleep while we all went to see the Parana and sharks.

The kids had fun petting a sting ray too.

Then we headed over to the Sea Lion show, always a favorite.

We ended the day with the pet show.  This was the kids favorite show.  

Not only did the animals do tricks, but Sophie learned a new trick of her own, how to pick her nose!

We left in the late afternoon and headed to a burger joint called Island Grill for dinner.  It was one of the best burgers I've ever had!

Day 5 - Tuesday, April 2nd

Tuesday was a lazy day.  We started off the morning slow, then just our little family of six headed into Escondido to a restaurant recommended to us by a co-worker of Tom's called Killer Pizza from Mars!  It was all decked out in 80's sci-fi decor and I instantly wished my brothers were there with us.  It even had the old arcade games, which the kids loved. 

One of the games was the classic claw game.  Jeff really wanted to play it, but we told him what a waste of money those games were.  Well, we ate our words when after only two tries (and $1 of his souvenir money spent) Jeff won this frog.  He was so proud of himself! 

And may I mention that this was tied in first place (with my Island burger) as my favorite meal on the trip.  The pizza was amazing and I recommend this place to anyone visiting Southern Cal!

When we got back we just hung out.  Tom took the older three to the pool.

Sophie and I went to Mike & Karyn's condo and played games.

We decided to walk to dinner that night (I think we walked to 90% of our dinners).  

But we didn't realize that walking for a half an hour, up-hill, in the heat, with four little kids would be such a dumb idea, until it was too late.

The funny thing is, when we got to the Chinese restaurant we had heard such great things about and saw what it was, we all voted against it and left.  There wasn't even a bathroom in the place!  So we opted to go to Johnny Manana's, a little authentic Mexican place we were going to eat at later, but had passed on our walk and knew it would be much better.
Cedric enjoyed a nice nap in the stroller and at the restaurant.

Afterward, we went across the street and got Cold Stone ice cream, then headed home.