Coronado Island

Today we enjoyed a Sunny day on Coronado Island! When we arrived, we had plans of going stand up paddle boarding, but apparently they were closed for the season. So we made our way to the beach side and enjoyed feeling the sand between our toes and watching the massive waves crash into the shoreline. There were some brave surfers in wet suits, and a few others scattered along the beach, but for the most part it was fairly quiet and layed back. The water was a lot colder than we imagined it would be, so we weren't too sad about the SUP place being closed. We let the waves crash into our legs as we walked and enjoyed listening to the sounds of the ocean.  

Twenty-Nine Week bump.

Pictures don't do this sight justice. Even from our hotel across the bay we could hear when these jets took off (and about three car alarms would go off as well). The sound these fighter jets produce is unreal and it was so fun to watch them fly along the shore and land at the base!

Once we had walked most of the shoreline, and the boys had had their fill of watching the fighter jets, we decided to head to Orange Avenue for some lunch,  shopping and sight seeing.

When our feet were tired, we made our way back to our rental car and headed back to the hotel for a quick rest!

The evening brought us back to the pier for a walk in search of gelato!

We spent over an hour visiting outside this little gelato place while the sun set and the city came to life with the evening crowds in search of food and drink. 

Speedboats & USS Midway

This morning we set out a little bit earlier than usual to meet up with our guide for a speed boat tour around the bay. Each couple hopped into their own speed boat and made our way slowly to the open water. Once our guide got everyone off the dock, he came ahead of us and led the way to some different sights.

After a long run across the bay, we circled around this dock full of sea life! Apparently this is where the fisherman come to get their bait, and the bait draws in the seals. 

They were jumping and swimming all around us, which was pretty cool to see!

Next, we were led over to the downtown area of San Diego where we looked at the various buildings, the Midway, and some tall ships!

We boated right up next to the Midway and learned a little bit more about its history and the role it played in the war. 

Seeing these tall ships up close reminded me of our time in Halifax when Camilla and Hyrum were small.

I was happy to let Mr. Stannix drive the entire time as I clutched onto my seat cushions and told him to slow down constantly. I hate hitting big wakes, and I'm usually terrified of flipping. Ha!

All in all, it was a gorgeous and informative morning! When we were finished, we all slowly came back to the dock to tie our boats. We then headed over to the USS Midway Museum for a few hours. We saw all of the cool planes and fighter jets, learned how they take off and land from the boat, and got a tour of "the island" on the ship where everything happens. 

We finished our afternoon with a late lunch/dinner on the pier across from our hotel where we enjoyed the sunshine and the company. 

 

Legoland, Balboa & Gaslamp

Today started out at Legoland. While the rides and sites are geared towards a much younger crowd, we still enjoyed a few things about the park. As we walked around we each mentioned how much more fun it would be with our kids at this particular park. The rides would have been perfect for them. 

Some of the lego creations were pretty neat to see! They had a whole section devoted to the different US cities such as Vegas, New York, San Francisco, and San Diego. The giant buildings were neat to see and it was mind blowing to read the plaques that tell how many hours were put into building these things.  

Near the end of our time there, we finally found the apple fries and each bought some to enjoy! Such a unique flavor and idea. They were yummy!

The afternoon brought us to Balboa park to wander around the check out the various buildings and museums. 

Our first stop was the Air and Space Museum!

The history as well as the flight simulators were pretty cool!

We then headed back to the Museum of Us for a 4:30 tour up to the tower. Our tour guide gave us a lot of cool information regarding Balboa Park and how it all came to be. It is a 1,200 acre historic urban cultural park filled with outdoor gardens, museums and incredible architecture. 

We could have probably spent much longer walking around and checking out everything there is to see, but we were getting hungry and decided to head to the gaslamp quarter in search of some dinner! After getting lost in the parkade and walking way further than we needed to due to walking out the wrong exit, we finally found the smokehouse we were in search of and ordered food and milkshakes. 

It was a great way to finish up the day!

 

Sea World

Today we spent the day at Sea World! There was lots to see and lots of fun rides to be enjoyed! Being pregnant, I ended up sitting on benches with the backpacks while they enjoyed roller coasters and other rides. 

I wasn't too sad about that though, because amusement parks are really not my thing and I hate feeling sick. I happily watched them and snapped pictures!

I think my favorite things about the park were the dolphin show and the orca show. It was neat to see how smart these animals are and how well they can be trained. 

Mr. Stannix sat us all in the "splash zone" for both performances. Luckily, with the dolphins, it really was just a few drops of water that we ended up getting on us.

The orca show was five minutes after the dolphin show, so we hurried across the park to grab some seats.

Again, Mr. Stannix sat us in the splash zone, and we all laughed as we apprehensively sat down.

And then while Mr. Stannix was taking videos of the performance, we ended up DOUSED in water. I've never laughed so hard. Thankfully, it was a warm day and the cool water felt nice. Josh and Step were sitting to the right of us near the edge of the row and didn't get nearly as wet as we did!

In the late afternoon, after we had seen all that we could see, we headed back to our hotel for a bit before dinner.

We had passed by a cozy looking Mexican joint the other night on our walk and decided to give it a try tonight!

It was delicious! I could eat Mexican food every day.

We wandered back to our hotel via the Pier and enjoyed watching the sunset!

 

Electric Guitar

Today we...

had lunch with Daddy at DQ...

And admired Hyrum's new electric guitar that he bought with his own money!