Spring Break: Day Two

Tuesday was Sea World day. However, since Sea World didn't open until 10 a.m. (and our kids are up at six), we spent an hour combing the beach in Carlsbad. Our kids have never been to the beach, and although it was far too cold to encourage swimming, they seemed to enjoy it. We let them dip their toes in the surf to convince them that it *was* cold and they ran back onto shore shrieking. Andrew collected shells and Evelyn made little sand castle. I walked with Andrew and watched the brown pelicans fly in orderly rows, swooping down and skimming the tops of the waves.

I don't know where Evelyn gets her sass, but she sure makes us laugh.

 Her "sand castle." She was inordinately proud of it.

Our entry into Sea World was much less eventful than yesterday's entry. We got to the park early, but all of our extra time was eaten up waiting in line for our tickets. Today was another lovely spring day--the sun shone brightly (after the morning clouds burned away) and a brisk breeze blew. We spent a little time looking at exhibits: the kids especially liked the shark encounter, where they got to walk down a glass tunnel with sharks swimming overhead.

As a side note: Evelyn was a lot more willing to pose for pictures than Andrew was (and to meet "characters"). Also, Evelyn and I couldn't go on some of the rides Andrew wanted to go on, so Evelyn and I spent a lot of quality one-on-one time together while Dan and Andrew rode rides. And guess who had the camera? So yes, if you notice a lot more pictures of Evelyn than Andrew, you'd be absolutely right.

Then we went to wait for the Shamu show (One Ocean, I think it was called). The kids wanted to get wet, so we sat in the "Splash Zone"--and then they were quite disappointed when the show started and they didn't get wet  immediately. We told them to wait--sure enough, it didn't take long before we were all well-splashed (although Andrew and I got the worst of it).

In the afternoon, we split up for a little while: Evelyn and I went to see the Sea Lion show while Dan and Andrew went on a ride (Andrew was done with shows). Then we spent some time in the Sesame Street play area. Andrew enjoyed climbing around and Evelyn got her picture with Elmo and Grover. We finished off by seeing the polar animals (polar bear, beluga whale) and penguins.

Andrew and Dan coming off of one of Andrew's favorite rides (let's just say it involves getting wet after a long drop). One of the things we discovered about Andrew is that he likes fast rides--and roller coasters. He did not get this from me. (Truth be told, I'm fairly chicken about rides. I didn't mind at all when Evelyn didn't meet the height requirements for certain rides!)

We had dinner that night just outside of the Old San Diego Historic State Park--at the Old Town Mexican Cafe, where Hispanic women stand in the front window tossing tortillas. Dan had been there before and wanted to go back; I figured it must be good when we arrived before 5 p.m. and there was already a wait. It didn't disappoint, although I think Dan enjoyed it the most.

Evelyn fell asleep on the way home and now we're just waiting on Andrew . . . Tomorrow, the San Diego Zoo and then North to Anaheim. Um, and yes, I know: we're crazy. (But we survived!)