A walk and a treat

One thing we love to do (or at least *I* do...I am guessing my kids do, too...uh, I hope!) is go for a walk somewhere and then go out for ice cream. There are so many nice trails around here to walk on. This time we walked at a trail in Redwood Shores. We took our friend Taylor with us. Nick brought his new birthday present along - the digital camera his Opa got him.

After this walk, we went to the Dairy Queen in Redwood City. I have an odd obsession with Dairy Queens...I *freak out* whenever I see one, because I love them so much. We have a small one at our shopping mall, but it isn't the same as an actual big Dairy Queen. Dairy Queen restaurants are not very common around here, which makes them extra special!

A little culture never hurt anyone...

While my cousin was here, we went to the art museum at Stanford University. Everytime I go to an art museum, I think to myself, "I just love art museums." That is my kind of fun! My kids seemed to enjoy it, too.

"Where should we go next?"

Karina, No touching, remember?!?!?!

Almost as cool as Nick's Native American costume...

Sorry, Amber, those are not for sale.

A cool museum, and even better, it was free!!!

I have a cousin!

OK, I have plenty of first cousins, but they are all in Europe. I do actually have 3 first cousins, who live in Canada. Here is Marc, who came to visit us this week. I guess since I am an only child, he could be considered the closest thing I have to a brother!

Nick turns 12

We had a fun day on Nick's birthday. First, we went out for bagels for breakfast. Then it was off to Coyote Point, to the beach there. Luckily, the weather was nice, and the kids played in the water.

Even though he is 12, I am glad Nicky can still act like a goof ball!

Here is Amber, taking a moment to think, "Wow, I am so lucky to have a brother like Nick. How can I make his birthday even more special?"

...either that, or she is thinking, "Brrrrrrrr, I am getting cold!"

OK, what are you doing to Karina?

Oh, of course!

After the beach (and cleaning up the car, the kitchen, the hallway, the bathroom and the kids), Michael came home and we all went out to dinner with 2 of Nick's friends, Jesse and Ryan. We went to an all-you-can-eat Asian buffet. The highlight for the kids was that the dessert section had a chocolate fountain and cotton candy!

Afterwards, Nicky's friends spent the night, and were up until who-knows-when.

Happy Birthday, Nicky!

Last Day of San Diego

Walking in the zoo

On the third and last day of our vacation, we had to get up early to pack up, and because we had a full day ahead of us. We were all "hungover" from our day before - we were SOOO tired!

Our first stop was the San Diego zoo. Our favorite thing to see there were the pandas. Here are some pictures:

A sleepy Panda

A sleepy Koala Bear

A sleepy Nicky

OK, now for some more awake pictures!

After spending a few hours at the zoo, we went to "Old Town San Diego." You can blame Nick for the lack of pictures...he left the camera in the car, and we were way too tired to go back to get it. We checked out some of the shops there, and ended up at a cute pizza place nearby. We tried chocolate pizza there! It was baked pizza dough, chocolate, with cheese sprinkled on it. It may sound gross, but it was really delicious. (of course, I can't think of anything that wouldn't taste good with chocolate!)

After lunch, we drove to Seaport Village once more, so that Karina could buy a doll that she had her eye on, and just "had to have." We walked around a bit, had more Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and said good bye to San Diego.

Looking at the bay, one last time

I would chalk up our vacation as a huge success! Other than our first flight being majorly delayed, everything went smoothly. I hope that we can have more fun vacations like this in the future!

Day 2 - Seaworld

After dinning on donuts and sugary cereal for breakfast (blahhhh...but it was free, so we can't really complain), we got to Seaworld right as it opened. First we checked out the animal exhibits. We went to the Artic Zone, Penguin Encounter, and to the Shark Tunnel. We saw all kinds of creatures.

A beluga whale

My kids favorite, a walrus. Nick took about 20 pictures of this dude...and they all look just like this picture!

What a cute little guy!

We went to the Killer Whale tank at night, and they swim right up to the glass. This guy was HUGE and weighed 9,000 + pounds. I was in awe of them.

OK, this guy is very creepy, and just too big.

At Seaworld, I learned that it is impossible to have a good hair day. My hair did things on this trip that I never knew it could do. Between the humidity, the wet rides we went on, and sitting in the "Soak Zone" (which of course, the kids insisted we do), my hair was about 3 times its normal size in frizz. (uh, yeah, ya' think I am going to post a picture of that?! Sorry!)

This ride was crazy - fast, high, twisty, and WET.

Our view from the Soak Zone - 2nd row! The whale pounded us with splashes.

OK, let's see of we can get any wetter! Here comes a big one!

No thanks. I learned my lesson...Michael, Nick and Karina went on this ride in the evening. Amber and I knew they would get soaked, so we passed!

We saw several shows - The Killer Whale Show, one with pets (dogs and cats together!), a dolphin/otter show, and the Cirque de la Mer show, out on the water. The coolest show was the night-time Killer Whale show, with rock music, cool lights, and the whales. It ended with fireworks. The dolphin show

A seal and walrus performing...

And my favorite, the night-time "Shamu Rocks" show.

Another highlight from SeaWorld was the Bayside Skyride, that you take over Mission Bay. We rode myself, Nick and Amber - and then Michael and Karina rode the other.

Pretty view from the ride...

...And a picture of Nick smiling!

We were at Seaworld from 9:00 AM until it 10:00 PM. Talk about a long day! We left exhausted but happy. We really got our money's worth...

Trip to San Diego - Day One!

Us by the bay, in San Diego

We just came back from a family vacation and had alot of fun. Here is how it went! We got to the airport Tuesday morning, all ready for our flight...to find out our flight was cancelled! We were to go on another flight...4 hours later. So, we just hung out at the airport and found things to do. Luckily, San Francisco Airport is a pretty cool place.

We had breakfast at Yankee Pier.

We checked out the airport's "Kid Spot" and fooled around with the steam tornado.

We read magazines, played with Gameboys, and got excited about our trip.

Finally!!! We are in the plane and ready to go!!!

By the time we got to San Diego, got our rental car, and drove to our motel, it was dinner time and we were starving. I couldn't wait to find a nice restaurant to eat at, and the kids were whining about being hungry. That is, until they saw the swimming pool and...

...well, dinner will have to wait!

After we got the kids cleaned up, we drove to Seaport Village. It is right by the bay, and it had shops and restaurants and paths along the water. We ate at the Harbor House for dinner. I had the sea bass, Michael had mahi-mahi fish tacos, Nick had the swordfish, Karina had crabcakes, and Amber had the, uh, macaroni and cheese.

This is where we ate...

Here is the path you can walk along, at Seaport Village.

Before we left Seaport Village, to go back to our motel, we had Ben and Jerry's ice cream there. Heaven!

Even though our first day in San Diego started about 5 hours later than we had planned, we still managed to have a fun day. After Seaport Village, we drove back to our motel for a "sort of" good night's sleep...the kids squashed in one bed, Michael and I in the other!

Tomorrow - Seaworld!