Weekend in San Diego

Ryan had a conference to attend in San Diego over the first weekend in January, so after two days' rest at home, we packed up again and went with him!  
  

Corinne Showing off her Grabbing skills

   We stayed at a hotel near downtown, so Ryan was able to bike to the conference each morning, leaving the kids and I to explore on our own.  
  

Hanging out with Dad at the Hotel

   Friday morning, as my first big outing with four kids, I picked Sea World.  It was probably too ambitious.  There was quite a lot of chasing naughty Evan around, and losing the older ones, but it was fun anyway.  We saw Elise's beloved dolphin show, and Connor sat down near the front by himself in hopes of being splashed (turns out, dolphins aren't that splashy.)  A good chunk of our time was spent at the baby playground/bounce house/climbing nets.  I remember doing this with Evan when he was eighteen months, and he still loved it.  At the turtle exhibit, the kids mostly stared at a turtle video game.
  

Dolphin Show

  

Connor's Turtle got the High Score

Saturday we went to the Birch Aquarium, which was awesome.  The kids decided ahead of time which animals they wanted to learn about.  Connor picked jellyfish and squid, Elise picked octopus and seahorses.  Fun, and less stressful than the day before (also 1/5 the cost.)
  

     

On Sunday, we went to church at the closest ward, which happened to be one that covered the naval base nearby.  A lot of people thought I was a new move-in with a husband on deployment - I guess single moms with lots of kids are a common sight there!  
    

This was on the way back from church, but the behavior was about the same.

   

   Later that day, we went with Ryan to see the USS Midway aircraft carrier.  It was fascinating, and something I knew practically nothing about.  Ryan and I have started watching that "Carrier" documentary on Netflix since our visit.  
    

Chatting with the Admiral

Navigator's Chair

   

    Monday was our drive home, but first we headed to the Himalaya Tourmaline Mine north of San Diego.  Connor wanted to learn about crystals for his passion project, so the kids got to dig through and screen mine tailings!  They found some pretty little gemstones, so they were super excited.  They worked for about an hour before their hands got too cold in the muddy water. 
      

  

   We got home tired and happy.