Vacation Time!!!!

Last Monday morning we piled 8 of the kids in the van, Zanna was at my cousins' house (thank you Tony and Wendy!), and drove to San Diego. The kids had never been there before and 4 of them had never seen the beach before. They were dying with anticipation, but for the most part they were amazingly patient and well behaved.

We drove straight to the beach. Of course we had to park about a half a mile away, so Richard dropped us off and parked while we made our way to the water. I told the kids to stay ankle deep until Dad came, 8 kids are hard to keep an eye on at a crowded beach. They did great. It was about 69 degrees outside, so they were cold when they weren't in the water. They loved every second, especially the waves, seagulls, shells and sand.

The seaweed was exciting too.

Laney LOVED the sand. She played in it almost the whole time. She liked that the dry sand was warm and would bury herself in it.

It was wonderful to see them all in such a state of joy and awe. Vacations with kids are the best! Everything is better through the eyes of a child.

The Old Spaghetti Factory

Here we are walking from the parking spot we found a few blocks away, all of us hungry and ready for our vacation tradition of eating at The Old Spaghetti Factory! We never go out to dinner with all the kids, so this was a big deal. We don't eat out much at all, but when we do it is with one or two of the kids at a time, it is just too expensive with so many of us at one time.

Laney
Daniel

Nate
Drew

Sara
Tim
Josh
Sam
Steph
Rich
Laney in spumoni heaven!

We had a great waiter. He was great at making sure everyone had their sodas refilled and even gave 4 of us free spumoni, the younger kids got it with their meals. He snapped this photo for us.

We all had a great time and the kids behaved wonderfully. It was quite a relaxing dinner, for the most part. It is fun to have traditions that the kids can be excited about, and see how it carries on from generation to generation. It was the San Diego vacation tradition in my family when I was growing up.

Sea World

Tuesday, we spent the whole day at Sea World. The kids loved watching the trainers surf on dolphins and loved touching the bat rays, starfish and sea cucumbers. We saw almost all the shows and went on all the rides. It was a blast to see them exploring so many new things. Cirque de la Mer was super cool. We were all amazed at the acrobatic skills we saw and the strength they had.

Checking out the dolphins.

Tim trying to blend in with our new friends.

The Forbidden Reef, our favorite spot. We visited three times. The kids couldn't get enough of the hands on stuff. The bat rays were really friendly.

Josh, Sara, Nate and Sam wanted to sit 5th row center for the Shamu Show. I explained about the soak zone, but they didn't care. However, before we got very far into the show, Nate, Sara and Josh all came to sit with us in a safer place. We still got wet but not too badly.

Wet after the river raft ride, but all smiles.

They did a great job staying together, no one got lost. Sara gave Laney piggy back rides on and off all day. They are great buddies.

Unprompted, Laney showing that her mouth is almost as big as the prehistoric shark jaw.

Our kids holding up a manatee, plus some random kid with a pacifier.

Who knew a little girl could be so strong!

My beautiful Tim.

Drew, Nate and Daniel's first roller coaster ride! Daniel said he hated it, but he didn't cry or seem to be too bothered by it.

The fearsome roller coaster riders. Tim didn't go, but only because he didn't want to be wet. The sun was setting and it was chilly out. I agreed with him so we took Laney and saw the penguins.

San Diego Temple / Presidio Park

Our hotel was near the temple. It was fun to see it as we would be returning to our hotel. The kids agreed that it looked like a Disneyland Castle, only better.
We went to San Diego on our honeymoon over 14 years ago. It was fun to be there again with the kids.

As soon as the kids and Richard saw the hill next to the temple they threw themselves on the ground and began rolling. Probably not a reverent thing to do at the temple grounds, but they will always remember it. They had just mowed the lawns, the grass was sharp and gave the kids little cuts all over, making them itchy.




Almost all of us, minus Sam taking the picture and Zanna back in AZ.
A nice lady snapped this one for us.

This is a museum at Presido Park, in Old Town San Diego. My family always visited here when we would go to San Diego. It is pretty, green and hilly. Great for picnics.

The twins decided this cool cross looked great for rock climbing. I didn't know they even did this until I loaded my pictures onto the computer. Sam had been following them around snapping shots.

It was a great trip. The kids were amazing. It did not feel like we had 8 kids to take care of, they were so well behaved. No one got lost, except for Daniel on the beach for just a few minutes. Having a big family is a blast! They love each other tremendously and love to be buddies and look out for each other. It is rewarding as their mother to see them making sure the little ones can see or have the food they want or have someone to carry them around when they are tired. And the little guys love to share with the big ones and follow in their footsteps. They are the best kids!