Spring Break

Below are a few pictures from our trip to California.

We spent one day at Sea World. 

This is C and J at the dolphin pool.  J was a little hesitant to touch the dolphin. It has tons of sharp teeth that look a bit frightening to a 5 year old...and his mom ;)

Here are C and J observing the whale pool. 

They were pretty active and were very fun to watch.

J and myself at the whale observation deck.

We love the Bat Rays!  I think it's great to be able to park yourself there as long as you want, can touch them as much as you want (assuming they are coming near enough)...without being charged $6 additional per person. 

Beluga whales are so fun to watch!

Here are the tide pools...which are also fun at no extra charge :)  Notice how wet J and I are in these last two pictures.  We were fortunate enough to be direct recipients of 3 great waves of water from "Shamu".  The first one was, of course, expected.  We were sitting in the splash zone after all.  The whale went to 3 other spots in the zone before getting to us...all of those people got splashed once.  We got splashed once - and were surveying the "damage" done to our little one when we, VERY unexpectedly, received another one....and then another.  We were shocked and SOAKED! 

*Mental Note - Do not remove protective poncho at any point while sitting in the splash zone.  Even if you think the whale is finished with you.  Oh..and keep your mouth closed!*

Today J told me that his favorite part of Sea World was the Churro.  Looking back on it...I'm pretty sure he wasn't kidding.  Nothing else made him smile quite like the Churro!

Our next day was spent at the tide pools in La Jolla.

  J was very cautious at first but once he was convinced we weren't in any danger from tsunamis we had SO much fun!  (mental note...don't talk about current events in front of a worrisome 5 year old)

We found some empty oyster shells that we used as shovels to pick up the little ocean creatures we found.

Hermit crabs are hilarious and quite fascinating! 

I think the tide pools were my favorite part of our trip.  The ocean and shore here were beautiful!

There are some 'beached' seals (or sea lions, I'm not sure which) not too far from the pools.  We were running low on time so we didn't get any closer but I think we will try too next time we get the opportunity.  Doesn't it look like J's going to eat them in this pic?

We also went to Hoover Dam on our way to Vegas.  Holy-moly that thing is huge.  J wanted to look over the edge to see how far down it went which made me SO nervous.  I don't think I've ever held on to him more tightly! LOL :) 

We were able to spend the night at some friends house for the last night of our little vaca. 

What a fun time we had!  It's always great to "get away" but I was glad to get home...and recuperate from our break :)