Fall Break in San Diego!

Our family didn't really have a big summer vacation since Merril and I went to the Florida Keys for our anniversary.  We did some smaller trips but nothing big.  Fall Break meant a 4-day weekend and we decided to spend it in San Diego, CA.  SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo were running huge specials on entrance fees and we decided to take advantage.  Merril liked strapping his surf board to the top of the Tahoe.

We looked at getting a suite at a hotel but what ended up working out was a nice beach house rental.  It wasn't anything fancy but it was a perfect situation for us.  There were beds for everyone, and a pack and play for Mark.  There was a garage for us to use, sand toys, boogie boards, beach cruiser bikes, a tv with a Netflix subscription, a full kitchen, and a fridge full of condiments, all 1/2 block from the beach.  It was a located a little further south of San Diego, in Imperial Beach, CA.  We got there late on Wednesday night and crashed.

 We woke up and went to SeaWorld.

Some of the smaller, I mean, bigger kids, insisted on riding some of the rides.

  
There were pools full of manta rays or some sort of rays and allowed the kids to touch them.  They were a huge hit!

Mark was a trooper but couldn't stay awake for the Shamu Show.  We hung out in the shade while the rest of the family watched the show.

This was the dolphin show and we ended up sitting in the soak zone.  Big mistake.  Mark did not appreciate being splashed.  :/  We moved up a few rows.  

We stayed until closing time, which only 5:00, and then ordered some pizza.  Merril saw an ad on the fridge for a pizza place right by the condo called "The Giant Pizza King."  I thought it would be ridiculous to get such a giant pizza but the kids were astounded at it's size.   

Mikayla kept remarking that, "it didn't even fit on the table!"

Mikayla's curly hair became even curlier in the humidity, if you can imagine.  Oh and that chair that Jack is sitting is was Juliet's favorite.

We tried to talk the kids into the San Diego Zoo on Friday but they weren't having it.  They decided it was beach day.

Mark is a stud muffin.

He was attracting all the ladies.  Or maybe just his Mom.

I was cold, of course.  I didn't even get in.  I was cold just sitting there.

The cold didn't stop the other kids.  Maxine played and played in it.  

Merril surfed.

There was a dead dolphin washed up on the beach but I didn't take pictures of that because it was yucky.  There were cones put out by the lifeguards but I guess they don't clean up dead dolphins.  We went back to the condo for naps and pizza leftovers and just vegged out watching Netflix the rest of the day.  

Maxine specifically requested to go to the San Diego Temple and do baptisms so we went Saturday morning.  We got there too early and waited.  Then we got put with a deaf branch.  We were confirmed in sign language, which was pretty neat.

Driving to San Diego to do baptisms took us longer than we had planned and Merril and the smaller kids were back at the condo and got bored.  They went back to the beach.  Merril liked this statue of the surf dude.

We got back to the condo and changed and everyone went to the Zoo!

The Zoo was pretty packed because it was Saturday and everyone was kind of tired.  Mikayla was barely moving.  She kept stopping to look at flowers and random rocks.  

We didn't end up staying at the zoo for very long.  We left after lunch and seeing the Pandas and drove home Saturday night.  It was a great little getaway.