We ♥ San Diego! Day 3

Sea World! Brian was really looking forward to this day and it did not disappoint! I think this was our favorite day of the entire vacation. It was so great, we had to go back 2 more times! We went after naptime and then again for a couple of hours before our flight on Sunday afternoon.


**Warning! This is a long post. LOADS of pictures!**

I was a good Mama and forgot Jaxon's sweatshirt in ABQ... at least I let him borrow mine!

He insisted on petting this plastic dolphin since the real ones never came to him.
Looking at the dolphins. Trying to pet the bat rays. This was a bit of a problem since he actually wanted to SWIM with them!

Family Picture #3!

Shamu!

Looking & feeding the Sea Lions, by far our (mine & Brian's) favorite. Jaxon know likes to make Sea Lion sounds.

A hungry sea lion
Entering Shark Encounter! Brian was very much looking forward to this since he has a fascination with sharks. Little did we know that Jaxon was going to become obsessed with them too! As soon as we walked away, "See sharks again." We saw them like 5 times during our 3 visits!

Wanting to pet the baby sharksIn the shark tunnel. "I see sharp teeth. Shark has sharp teeth!" "I touch shark teeth." We are great parents! We just let him crawl right into the exhibit!

One second after this the alarms sounded and I grabbed him and got the heck out of there! I seriously thought the shark police were coming to get us. But we weren't the only people who set off the alarm. Next time we went an adult got in and set it off too! Made me feel a bit better. Before we even left the hotel, Brian said, "Let's get Jaxon a souvenir from Sea World. Maybe he'd like a shark." Now, this went against what he said the day before, "No need to get Jax anything from The Wild Animal Park. He has plenty of toys." Of course sharks are ok because Brian likes them!

So, we walk out of the Shark Encounter right into the gift shop. Of course, what is there on the floor, perfect for a little boy to look through, but a bin of assorted sharks. There were big ones and little ones, Hammerheads and Great Whites. We were trying to steer Jax toward the small $5.00 sharks, but do you think this is what he wanted? Oh no. He went straight for the $15 sharks! Not only that, but he had at least THREE in his hands! At one point he made a run for the stroller... a good 20 feet away, with FIVE UNPAID sharks in hand! We ended up carrying a kicking and screaming Jaxon out of the gift shop because he only got one. "I need to hag dem all. I need dem!" Oh I'm sure you do! I think this is why he kept wanting to go back to see the sharks. He wanted more toys!

"I get dees sharks. I take dem home."

Not a happy camperFlamingoes on a walk

Waiting for the first show "Blue Horizons" to start. To my amazement, Jaxon LOVED it! He was facsinated with the people diving into the water and the dolphins doing tricks.

Family Picture #4... with our new addition, Sharka

Headed out of the park to get a bite to eat at Chipotle again and to take a nap, then back to Sea World!

This is what Brian & I did while Jax slept.Back at Sea World for more fun... Sea Lions & Sharks!Bubba & I HAD to have ice cream! When Jaxon saw the stamp on my wrist he touched it and said, "Mama get tatoo at Sea World? Mama has tatoo yike Uncle Se?" (Uncle Jose)Family picture #5 with penguins!

"I get in hecopter. Abu fie me."

Beluga Whale Touching the "Artic Walls" or "toad wall Daddy! Brr!" In the polar bear's house. Bubba was NOT a fan! This walrus was hilarious! He was seriously playing with us! He would splash water at the window and blow bubbles. It was great! The Sesame Street play area was our last stop for the day. Jaxon went on his very first ride (multiple times) The second day, I made Brian go. I was done going round and round.

Elmo's Flying FishWaiting in line

Finally! Our turn to ride an Elmo Fish
After the ride we ran into Elmo. Now this was a complete fluke. We had no idea he was there and the second we got in line an employee came and put the ropes after us. We were the last ones allowed to see Elmo that day! As an added bonus... we got to meet Cookie Monster!

Giving Elmo a high five.

Sitting with Elmo & Cookie Monster. Telling them about Sharka. Not kidding.

Playing on the bouncy floor. Watching all of the toddlers was a riot!

Back at the Sea Lions in our last 2 hours in San Diego.Feeding the sea lions. We weren't very good at it according to Brian. I even screamed once when a bird tried to snatch the fish from Jaxon's hand. Yes, Jaxon's hand, I didn't care to touch the slimy, stinky fish. But Jax had no reservations, plus he was pro. He and Daddy did it twice the first day!

His smile simply melts my heart.

One last time at the shark encounter. This time he had to get closer to the sharks!Family Picture #6Daddy's turn to ride the Flying Fish!

Bye bye Elmo... see you next summer

This poster cracked me up!

ne more day of We ♥ San Diego!

We ♥ San Diego! Day 2

The second day of our trip took us to the Wild Animal Park. If I had ONE suggestion for anyone headed there I would say, take the African Tour. This is where you can see the majority of the animals (giraffes, zebras, rhinos, etc). Guess who didn't take the tour? The Pearsons! Well, we tried, but while we were waiting in line Jaxon fell asleep and we knew that he wouldn't wake up or be happy by the time we got on the bus, so we decided to head back to the hotel. Now, if you're thinking that we wasted an entrance fee, don't fret. We bought the 3 in 1 pass which is good for unlimited entries to The Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo & Sea World for 5 days. The BEST part is that it sells for $121, but we got it for $90 at Costco! Score! We were excited about the few extra dollars we saved.

We started the day with some milk & cereal in bed.

Cool Joe. I seriously LOVE that little mouth! First stop at the park was the carousal. This was an ordeal because Jax wouldn't make up his mind on what animal he wanted to ride! We first sat on the tiger. Then the zebra. Finally the elephant, but while on the elephant he wanted to be on the lion. He's worse than a woman when it comes to making up his mind! Another plus on the 3 in 1 pass was that the carosaul ride was free instead of $2 a person!

Notice his leg... he's trying to get off!

Meerkats! I LOVE them!"Hewoe ducks. Come here I pet you."
One of the highlights for us was the petting zoo. There were a ton of deer for us to pet and feed. Of course Jaxon was in absolute heaven! The deer let him pet them and one even licked his face! You can only imagine how our little animal lover enjoyed that! I

At 11:00 am there is an "Elephant Rush". The Wild Animal Park has a herd of 16 elephants with 3 of them being babies (too cute!) At 11:00 am the zookeepers let the elephants out into the yard where there are new toys and treats for them to find.

The elephants walking out into the yard. There is a group to the left ready to get out.

Mama & Baby elephant.

On top of Daddy's shoulder getting a better look at the elephants

Daddy was a sucker and bought Jaxon this tiger straw. This is Jaxon telling me all about the straw, but he is SOO excited he can barely get his words out!Remember in Day 1 I said my goal was to get family pictures? Here is Family Picture #1

Asleep before the African Tour :(Still asleep on the way to the hotel.

After his 2 hour nap (1 hour after we got to the hotel) we headed back to the beach! I chose my two favorite of the afternoon

Family Picture #2! And it's on the beach! Too bad Jax isn't looking.

I mentioned in another post that Brian & I aren't the parents who like our kid to sleep with us, so it was important for us to get a hotel room with seperate rooms. We stayed at a Residence Inn that has a seperate bedroom from the living room. Jaxon would obviously fall asleep before us, so we slid his pack 'n play in the bedroom and when we were ready for bed we would slide him out into the living room. The problem was that there was no night light. Brian, or Maguiver (sp) as I called him, came up quite the set up. He put a lamp under the desk and draped towels around it to tone down the light. Pretty ingenius, I would have never thought of that!

Notice the "night light" to the left.

We had to turn the coffee table on its side or else Jaxon was too close to the bedroom door. We found this out the first morning when he opened the door and said (with a HUGE smile), "Morning! I had good sweep. I open door!"

Only 2 days left of We ♥ San Diego! Sea World (2 days in one), San Diego Zoo & of course a few more beach pictures.