Vacation!!! (Day 4 - end)

Ok, I just need to finish this and move on. Be sure to scroll down to see the first 2 posts about our trip. :)

Day 4 - My (Carolyn's) Birthday! The day started off great with a wonderful breakfast in bed. Then we all went swimming at the hotel, which I like much better than the beach (no sand, not frigid water, no seaweed, etc). We headed out for the day around lunchtime, so we picked up some food and had a picnic at La Jolla Cove. It was so beautiful there! We all enjoyed seeing the sea lions and exploring the tide pools (and trying to avoid the waves). From there, we decided to head back to Sea World. We made it to the Cirque de la Mer show as well as the dolphin show again. They were both so impressive. Since we were soaked then (which wasn't my favorite thing to do on my birthday) we decided to get REALLY wet and go on the rides. We all got soaked through to the skin on the Shipwrecked ride, but we still had fun. Then we were going to go on the Atlantis ride again, until Katie had a meltdown and decided she really would die if she went on it again. So the girls and I decided we were done being wet so we changed into other stuff (which for me consisted of some swim trucks of Richard's and a sweatshirt...nice). Then we left the park intending to go eat some steak, but since I was not really dressed for anywhere in public, I needed to find some clothes. So I went shopping at Kohl's(the only place with maternity clothes open after 9) and got some new stuff. Since it was almost 10 and we were all starved, we opted for Boston Market across the street from Kohl's, but to us, it tasted like steak. It was a long day, but a nice birthday. The best part: being out of the heat with my family! Day 5 - Wild Animal Park and Zoo (again) We started out by going to the Wild Animal Park. It is NOT close to the beach and therefore, not cool. It was probably around 80 degrees...so hot! :) The best part about it was riding the carousel twice! The rest of our time there consisted in lots of walking, then waiting for our safari ride for 45 minutes with Jonny who was having a meltdown (probably from the sunscreen in his eye), then going on the safari ride still trying to calm him down, and then walking uphill back to the car(by then Jonny was asleep). Needless to say, we didn't take many good pictures of this part of the day. We did see some lorakeets up close and the girls thought that was pretty neat. We then headed back to the zoo, but it was warm there too. Oh well. We took the tram as much as possible and got some great looks at some animals that we just don't have in Phoenix, like the polar bear and the pandas. Here's Becca doing her Kung Fu Panda imitation. Surprisingly, the pandas do not actually do martial arts. And a polar bear...lying in the dirt. After riding the sky ride again and getting a few souvenirs, we were done with the zoo. We got some food for dinner (what else but Panda Express on the day that we saw the pandas?) and headed to the beach to watch the sunset. (Note: chinese food and sand do not go well together.) I think we were all tired and cranky so we headed back a little earlier....9:30. :) Day 6 - Last day in San Diego After packing up everything and checking out from our hotel, we decided we wanted to go to Sea World for our last day. We went to see Shamu again (3rd time) and got soaked again. But this time we were prepared! The girls all wore their swimsuits and we all had a change of clothes. They rode the wet rides again (notice "they" did, not "we"). We also saw the Pet show, which Jonny especially loved. Mostly it was dogs and cats doing incredible things and he just got so excited. We next went to the Artic experience, where they have a helicopter ride simulation, but Katie really did not like that part. Seeing the animals though was so "cool." We then made our way to the shark tunnel. That was really awesome, but hard to capture it in a picture. (Besides, this is getting too long anyway.) Lastly, the girls loved the dolphins so much, they needed to get some souvenirs. So after some serious shopping, our last stop was to try to pet the dolphins again. Becca was lucky enough and it made her day! They plan to be dolphin trainers some day, so I'm sure they will get another chance. After leaving Sea World, we headed up the coast to Huntington Beach. We stopped at a nice beach for an hour or so. At least it was a bit warmer. We arrived at Grandma Kay and Grandpa Towne's house around 8:30. YAY! Day 7, 8, and 9 - Huntington Beach We enjoyed visiting with Grandma and Grandpa. Saturday, Richard and I went with my dad to the Newport Beach temple. After a nice afternoon nap, we all went out to Boston Market again. Sunday we went to church together and then went to the park to feed the ducks (always a highlight). Kay made a wonderful dinner that night and we played some games together. Monday morning we headed to the beach. It was SO COLD though. I don't know how the others got in, because my feet barely touched the water and froze off. After a quick dip in the pool, we cleaned up and packed up the car again. We all went down to the pier and got milkshakes from Ruby's. Then we said our good-byes and we were headed for home. It really was a wonderful trip, but it is good to be home.

Vacation!!! (Day 3)

Day 3 - Sea World!
Richard and I went to Sea World 10 years ago for our 3rd anniversary, but the kids have never been. (Well, I was pregnant with Becca that time, but I don't think she remembers it.) They really enjoyed seeing all the animals and loved to sit in the soak zone for most of the shows. First, we made it to the sea lion show, but had to sit in the nosebleed seats. It was too cheesy and didn't show off the animals enough for my taste. No great pictures to share for that. Then we rushed over to Shamu and got great seats. Too many pictures! Those whales can do amazing things!


Right about here is where the camera starting acting funny. I wonder why?



See? It really is the soak zone.
Next we saw the dolphin show called "Blue Horizons." At this point we were getting tired and were still cold and wet, so we opted out of the soak zone. But then we couldn't see the show very well. But it was still neat to see the dolphins and other animals. We went again another day, so I will post pictures then.
Then we found the play area for the kids and they had so much fun.




Jonny loved playing on this large mat with huge building blocks. But all that was forgotten when he saw ELMO. At first there was tragedy, as Jonny was told he had to wait in line for a few minutes. Of course, it was 5:00 and he hadn't had a nap.

But his turn soon came...not a moment too soon.


We then left the park for awhile to eat some food and let Jonny get some much needed sleep. Then came back for some rides. Richard and all 3 girls rode on "Journey to Atlantis" and they all survived. (Katie wasn't sure she would.)

Then we saw the penguins and rode on some Sesame Street rides. We ended this fun day with the Shamu show again, but this time only Rebecca and Breanna were brave enough to get wet. It was too cold! We saw the fireworks and then we were done! We made it back to the hotel around 11-11:30 (which was typical for our trip). What a fun day!

Vacation!!! (Day 1 & 2)

We recently got home from a wonderful vacation to California (San Diego and Huntington Beach). It was so nice and cool and we hated to have to come back to the heat (and laundry). To all 3 of you who are reading this, sorry it is so long, but so that we can keep a record of what we did, I will go into SOME detail. Just be glad I didn't include all 750+ pictures. :)

Day 1-Sunday:
We were all packed Saturday late night so we could leave bright and early Sunday morning (which turned out to be around 6:00). We had primary and read books and watched a couple of "Sunday" movies on the trip. We made it to San Diego in time to go to a sacrament meeting. Then we went to the Mormon Battallion Visitor's Center (with probably every other LDS tourist in San Diego). It was very busy and the kids were not excited about waiting 45 minutes for the tour. But they did enjoy panning for gold and seeing some of the other displays.

We then drove to the San Diego temple, but unfortunately it was covered in scaffolding, and that kinda diminished the effect of seeing it.

We arrived at our hotel in Carlsbad in time to make dinner. (We were so blessed to get to stay at a nice Marriott hotel thanks to Richard's brother, David, who works for one in Park City.) After we ate, we went a few miles to the beach to watch the sunset, but NOT go swimming (yeah right, mom). It was too cloudy to see the sun, but we enjoyed it anyway.








What a wonderful way to start a trip!



Day 2-San Diego Zoo and our 13th Anniversary!
Well, it wasn't quite as romantic as our 10th anniversary trip to Hawaii, seeing as we had 4 kids with us ALL the time, but I am so thankful to be married to my sweetheart for 13 wonderful years. We had a good day and thoroughly enjoyed the zoo. This was the first time for all of us, and the weather was perfect and we were happy to be outside enjoying it. We loved to see so many animals so close to us. The gorillas were a favorite as the whole family came right next to our family to say hi. We also had great seats for the sea lion show (which was better than the sea lion show at Sea World, by the way). It was so fun to see the kids' excitement about different things, even leaves.






We ended the day by going to Coronado Beach and having a picnic and swimming. I was way too cold to bother with the water. But the rest of the family got in. I think they thought it was a little cold too.



Good Day! :)
Tune in soon for more pictures.

Summer Fun

So, it has been a couple of weeks since I have updated the blog. The most exciting news by far, is the arrival of my new niece, who has yet to have a name. My sister Debbie and her husband David welcomed their second girl yesterday at 5:38am. She weighed 8 pounds and is 21 inches long. She looks very much like her older sister, Isabella. Debbie was able to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) without any drugs! I spent several hours at the hospital trying to help Debbie, so David could go home and rest. (Rebecca is a great babysitter!) The baby is having some troubles breathing this morning, so she is in the nursery being monitored. Extra prayers are always welcome!
Here is Cutie Patootie Garza!


In other news, our garden is growing! This is our first year for a garden and it has been fun for the kids (including Emily and Kacy) to see their seeds growing. Unfortunately, the birds and bugs are getting to the tomatoes and strawberries before they are fully ripe. :( Here's the garden after everything was planted:


Here it is this week:

Look at those sunflowers! I am just glad that anything was able to grow. It is so hot, and we really aren't experts at this gardening stuff.

We had a great 4th of July, although it was SO HOT! (Why do we live here again??) We actually celebrated on the 3rd and 5th too. Just look at how excited we are!

Did I mention it was hot?

One last item to mention: our ward swim party/splash contest. Although I didn't get any pictures to prove it (a camera in the pool not the best idea sometimes), Rebecca got first place for making the biggest splash in the kids' division! For the adults, Richard came in second, but was the plucky comic relief as he yelled "I WANT MY MOMMA!" as he jumped off the high dive to do a huge jack-knife. The resulting splash was, from my angle, much bigger than any other splashes of the night. It was entertaining, to say the least. ;)