Sand, Sea, and Where's the Sun?

Beautiful, sunny California was all that it promises, minus the sunshine.

Our family took a quick trip this last week to visit Sea World with Grandma and Grandpa Stum in San Diego. In my attempt to pack light, I opted to leave behind any cold weather clothing, and instead, took only a light jacket for everyone. Oops on me! The coldest moment? Remington can claim the top spot! Remington was DYING to get splashed during the shows, and since the rest of us weren't as adventurous, he usually sat in the splash zone by himself. Well, he sat by himself until the Shamu show. Past memories of previous shows conjured up images of HUGE waves crashing over the audience, so Ryan and Grandpa and Walker all went to join Remington equipped with rain ponchos to cover and protect. A certain boy who is almost 7 refused to get under his poncho in spite of pleading from the older and wiser. It took only one good wave for Remington to be completely drenched and completely sobbing. He kept sputtering something about how he didn't know the water would be so cold...um yeah, Shamu doesn't live in warm tropical water, and there is a reason the trainers all wear wetsuits! Luckily, it was the end of the day and we wrapped Remington up and carried him to the car. It took a good 12 hours for Remington to forgive Shamu and stop muttering about how much he "hates" the large, finned beast.


I think the shows add an element of low-key-ness to the amusement park vacation. A chance to sit and rest and watch and enjoy!

So much to see and learn! Who would want to run into a mouth like this while swimming in the ocean?

Two days at Sea World was enough for us. On day three we ventured to the beach; the cold, windy, practically freezing beach. Since we were so ill-prepared, we stopped at Target on our way out and I bought the warmest things I could find...which wasn't a lot. The end result was a not quite flattering, but oh so elegant (not) look. I may have gotten a lot of second looks (who wouldn't want to check out the blonde crazy lady in a clown suit?), but it did wonders in keeping me warm!

Ryan's older brother and his family, and one of his younger brothers, met us on the beach.
Cousins+Beach+grandparents+lots of food=lots and lots and lots of fun!

Our last stop was the San Diego Temple. I was seriously stunned when I saw this temple in real life. It is so much more beautiful than any picture I have ever seen! And--miracle of miracles--the kids were actually cooperating during picture time! We had such a wonderful time on the temple grounds and the kids were so happy to be discovering snails and rollie-pollies in the flower beds, it was a near perfect time for our family and the perfect ending note for our trip!