the monroe family: May 2008

Some would say that San Diego is not quite the destination location when you only live about 2 hours away, but when you have a member of the family that will neither fly nor drive loooooooong distances (we are talking about me by the way) you have to be very creative with our vacation spots. This year our spring vacation took place in San Diego. We left on Wednesday morning and headed straight to the San Diego Zoo. Ethan had not been in over a year and he was very eager to see all the animals. He really wanted to see the elephants, giraffes, and bears because they are just like Boog (have you seen the movie Open Season?). We walked around the entire zoo, got to enjoy a bus tour, and got to ride the sky rails (or something like that). Ethan loved flying in the sky. He definitely did not get that from me, and he loved seeing all the animals at the zoo. A few of his highlights were seeing the bears, elephants, the sleeping polar bear, zebras, and the giraffes. His favorite was seeing the giraffes, but not because of anything that you could possibly imagine. It wasn't because they were long necked, tall, colorful, etc. They were his favorite because one of the giraffes pooped in front of him. You read right. Ethan laughed and laughed and laughed, which the picture above shows. If you were to ask him what did you like at the zoo, his response would be the giraffe pooping. What a crazy kid! Gotta love two year olds.

In front of the bears...aka Boog!

Look Elephants!

Getting a drink

In front of the Giraffes

Overlooking the zoo

Gorilla in the mist

Sleeping Polar Bear

How did the Zebra get its stripes?

It was lots of fun!

After we left the zoo, we headed to our hotel by the bay. We were able to get a nice suite for the two nights that we stayed. It was beautiful and the beach was just a footstep away from our patio. Ethan and Jon were able to take a quick dip in the pool before we were off to dinner. We had dinner that night at Seaport Village at the Harbor House to be more specific. Ethan enjoyed the bread and mac 'n cheese and also enjoyed walking around the shops and seeing the ducks in the pond. (Below is outside our room)

At dinner

Day 2: We were off to Sea World, but before we could leave we had to wait for a very important someone to join us, Miss Taylor Rose. Briz was able to drop her off on his way to work for the day. Taylor was as eager as we were to go to Sea World for the day. The kids saw lots of exciting things while we were there. Highlights were the Shamu Show, seeing the Dolphins, touching the Sea Stars (apparently they are not fish soooo they can't be called starfish...), and seeing the sharks. Taylor's favorite was the sharks even though she hated it when she was in the exhibit. Ethan's favorite was seeing the Dolphins. We will have to swim with the Dolphins once he gets a little bit older. I think he would love it.

Touching the Sea Stars

Shamu!!!

Taylor in front of the prehistoric shark relic

In the Shark Exhibit

It's coming straight for us!!!

A helicopter!

All of us in front of a giant S!!

Up close with a dolphin

During the Dolphin Show

Up it goes!

After Sea World, we still had about an hour until Briz was going to pick up Miss Tay, so Jon and the kids headed for the pool. They had a blast in the cool refreshing water.

Splashing Jon with water

Such a big boy!

Best of Friends laughing together

Day 3: Our final stop was to a place that none of us had ever been before, and it was our favorite of all three stops....LEGOLAND!!

This place has it all. It has great rides for small kids, it has great play areas, a beautiful view, and a water area as well. Ethan had a blast on everything and we did as well. A few of Ethan's favorite things were the Horse ride, the Pirate Ship ride, driving his very one car(which side note he needed to be 3 or older to ride, but close enough right?), the roller coaster, and the helicopter ride. Jon & I know that we will be back to this place very soon because it was so much fun!

He is almost as tall as Bob the Builder

It was so much fun seeing him drive his own car

Fire truck ride with Daddy

On the Helicopter with Mommy

On the Horse ride like S

Taking a moment for ice cream

He loved the Log ride

On the Pirate Ship (you get wet and you can get others wet!)

He picked his favorite color red

His 4th time on the roller coaster

Playing with the Seals

LegoLand water fun!

We all had a wonderful time on our vacation. We made tons of new memories and enjoyed every minute of our adventures together. Jon & I hope to take Ethan on at least 2 more vacations this summer. We can't wait!

On Saturday afternoon, we spent a wonderful time at the Temecula Children's Museum with our dear friends Stacey, Briz, Taylor, and Brennan. We were able to see all the crazy inventions and experiments of the professor. The kids had a blast. They were running from room to room playing with musical instruments, science experiments, balloons, water, time machines, magic wardrobes, and mazes. The parents had a great time as well. We learned a crazy trick with ivory soap that I just might have to show you if you ask me. It was a wonderful place for children and kids. We spent the entire two hour session there. The time flew by. If you have never made your way over to the Temecula Children's Museum, I highly recommend that you go. I know that we will be going again. Ethan loved it!