The Zoo

I am going to (someday) finish up our Thanksgiving trip.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving we took the girls to the San Diego Zoo. What an awesome place!

Hannah loves monkeys.

Notice the panda over Kerrie's head. Susanna was honestly having a great time.

One more stop by the giraffes before we headed out of the zoo.

Family Pictures

I am taking a break from Thanksgiving vacation pictures today.

In October we finally got new family pictures.

We had a great time, and I am so happy with how these turned out.

SeaWorld

On the third day of our Thanksgiving vacation we enjoyed an awesome day at SeaWorld.

The little girls loved hanging out by the Bat Ray exhibit. They loved touching them as they swam by. It wasn't very crowded and the shows were awesome. We sat just high enough at the Shamu show that we didn't get splashed. That would have been great in August, but not so much in November.

I would have to say that the highlight of the day for the three oldest girls was being able to interact with the dolphins.

All suited up.

What an incredible experience! Now Paige wants to work with dolphins when she grows up.

Brad and I were able to do this once in Hawaii. It was fun to watch these three have this experience.

USS Midway Museum

On the second day of vacation we went to the USS Midway Museum.

www.midway.org

It was raining most of the time we were there. Luckily, much of the museum is indoors.

This was so interesting. As you can see by the headphones, we did a self-guided tour.

These beds were in pretty tight quarters. It made me thankful for the big bed I get to stretch out in every night.

There were several planes and helicopters that the kids could play in. I would be frightened to have any of these people pilot my aircraft.

By the time we got up to the flight deck the skies had really cleared up.

The structure in the background is the "island".

All the navigating and decision making for the ship is made here.

These four are hanging off the very back of the ship.

After our tour we went to the mall and had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.

Where to?

In San Diego we rented a 12 passenger van. When we got back to the hotel our first night Brad pulled up to the front door and I got out and unloaded all the girls. I noticed two men standing on the curb. As I was closing the door they walked over to the van and reached out to open the door. Suddenly I knew what they were thinking. "Sorry," I said. "This is our rental, not the hotel shuttle bus." They seemed a little embarassed and made some jokes about our "sweet ride". I thought it was hilarious. If I had thought quicker I would have let them get in. I would have loved to see Brad's reaction to that.

Thanksgiving in San Diego - Day 1

We can't seem to have a group picture without a pouter.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we loaded up and flew to San Diego for a week of fun in the sun. The only problem was we didn't see much sun. It was mostly chilly and rainy. We were lucky though because most of the rain (the hardest rain I have ever seen except in Hawaii) came on the first two days and we timed our outside adventures between storms.

We landed in the early afternoon. After picking up our 12 passenger van, we headed to In-N-Out for lunch. Yum. That place makes me happy. After settling in at our hotel we decided to drive out to Mission Bay and have a look around. We got there between storms and were able to walk up and down the pathway next to the beach for about an hour. We enjoyed the sound of the waves and the beachy smells. We also decided which beach house we will buy when we hit it big. We called it an early night and headed back to the hotel.

Christmas Programs

Paige started playing the cello this year.

I love this picture. If you look at all their feet, it looks like the perfect elementary school orchestra.

Lizzie's holiday program. I am not sure why she is the only one not singing.

Meeting her public (Kerrie and Grandma Jean) after the performance.

4th grade Christmas Program. Paige is one happy girl. She loves to sing.