California!!!

On the airplane! We got stuck on the very last row without a window!! Seriously??? Zola was so excited to ride on an airplane to go to San Diego for so long! I couldn't believe that she couldn't look out. 

 Here was our amazing hotel lobby. Check out the mosaic mural ceilings...

 Our first day... without car in san diego, or "sandy ego" as Zola said. She was worried that her new suitcase would get sandy. We walked to the pier and took a ferry to Coronado island to swim. Here we are infront of the Disney cruise. As I walk downtown with my double stroller and baby on me everyone notices. Most comment... "wow, you have your hands full!" I respond, "and my heart full!" One man said, "I'm so sorry." I wasn't sure how to respond to that. :\ "thank you?"

 It was fun. Zola had to use the potty but with three kids and traveling solo... You put a diaper on her. :) but she never used it. I think I would have a hard time doing it too.

 We left our hotel at 9:30am and took the long walk to the ferry in order to have a longer ferry ride. Then we took the longest walk around the island (not intentional) We ate lunch at 2pm and got to the beach at 3pm. phew. Not much time for the beach. lol. Lunch was ok... I expected to have awesome mexican being so close to mexico... but it was so dry... bleh. And it was extremely difficult while holding Andrew. I was stretched to the limit on that meal.... I might have been tired from the long walk as well. I held Andrew in his own chair with my legs while I ate my lunch. Once again. Zola had to go to the bathroom. So I put another diaper on her... the bathroom was waayy too far away.

 We made it to the beach!!! The kids LOVE the beach. "sandy ego"

 Andrew was so curious about that sand... he just wanted to get in it!

 Ryan met us at the beach about 15 minutes after we got there. He took the short way and left 3 hours after us. I guess I'm slow when lugging 3 kids.

Dennis Loved looking for muscles, crabs and fish in these tide pools. 

 Here is a live clam.

I didn't even get my suit on... way too tired for that. 

Next day: We went to the San Diego Zoo! 

 ON top the double decker tour bus! Dennis was pretending that he wasn't having any fun. But he was.

 up on top of the gondola! Dennis and I were a little scared... Zola was too young to really understand how high we were. She thought it was fun.

 We also saw a 4D movie. While standing in line, Zola got lost in her imagination. She was talking to the saber tooth tiger and touching his teeth, etc. We walked up in line a ways before calling for her. She had no idea that we had moved.

 Panda!

 moving sidewalks!

Overall, the San Diego Zoo was just as good as Saint Louis except all of the extra stuff... The animals were just as good. And the quality was just as good.... St. Louis is just FREE and San Diego was an arm and a leg! I'm glad that I can say that we went. I will probably never go again.

Next Day: We went to the Children's Museum. That was super fun. And the bathrooms were easily accessible!

 We got to paint and play with clay... we made beads with our clay.

 Andrew made some friends... he was so good. Just sitting there looking at people. He is a people watcher for sure. Then, Ryan took a break from his conference to have lunch with us.

 ... then we went back to the museum because it was so much fun.

 I got to see one of my former students! She is just as cute as ever. Love her.

Then we took a train to Los Angeles! Where we got a rental car. 

 The train was awesome! I would totally recommend it to everyone!

 We got to see Thomas, Alex, Camille, Buzz, Barron and Harrison! We had a picnic together.

 The view from our awesome hotel!

 My kids in front of the Hollywood sign

 at the observatory... where Zola pretty much had a melt down. She was tired. So we drove a lot to let her take a nap.... well, actually it was just normal LA traffic but it worked for a nap time.

 My other former student, Jarron! We had breakfast... it was good to see him. Great guy.

 It was inevitable! Andrew had to experience the sand. It wasn't worth fighting his constant desire... So, He got a face full.

 Dennis was super good at boogie boarding... we were with our friends at the beach and they asked if Dennis boogie boarded a lot because he was a pro...and caught the wave without problem. Dennis and Water go together like peanut butter and jelly.

 My very good friend, Emily Gibb, She moved to LA the same time that I moved to MN. Fabulous girl. Miss her.

Andrew's first time on the swing. He loved it! 

  We went to the park with Camille, Barron and Harrison. Zola made a new friend... that was unexpected. It is hard for her to do that... she is pretty shy with new people.

Barron and Zola at the Temple! 

Overall, it was a super fun trip. I was so proud of my good travelers. 

Something about me likes to do things that people think are impossible. Traveling alone with 3 seems to be one of those things. So is going down the escalator with my stroller... I unfortunately let the crowd of people telling me not to do it bother me enough that I took the elevator... probably my biggest regret of the trip. 

Seriously people.... its not dangerous! Im not going to let go of my stroller and my kids are not going to jump out... so no problem. I do it ALL. THE. TIME. I just wish that I showed that group of people that it is possible. and easy. 

People in Europe do it all the time to get to the underground metro. And nobody bats an eye there!