We're still in San Diego, CA to start the month. The weather has not been typically So. Cal as I've been told. Lots of morning clouds and cool temperatures, but towards the end of our stay, the weather started behaving a little more typically with warm, clear days and cool nights.
July 1st was our first day without Jada since her convention was getting underway. Since she got breakfast every morning, it was just the girls and I fending for ourselves. It was too early, and we were too tired to go hunting for a new place to eat. I'm sure the hotel serves a nice expensive breakfast, but I was looking for something inexpensive and fast so Denny's it was. Plus it had the added bonus of free Wifi which I can't say the same about the hotel. I brought my iPod to check my email while we dined. Following that, we made our first foray into San Diego's Balboa Park. Our goal was to see a couple museums and walk around a little bit. By chance, I found my way to a parking lot behind the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and it was only about 5 minutes to opening time at 9:30am. Thanks to our OMSI membership, we were given the same privileges here and not charged for admittance, which was nice. It was a pretty standard science museum with similar exhibits to the ones we had just seen in San Francisco. That didn't matter to the girls. They love these places, and we stayed there for almost 2 hours. Phoebe really enjoyed the planetary exhibit talking about the ringed planets. Ellen was getting antsy to leave though since the hands-on experiments were through. Walking back out of the building's front doors, we spied the Museum of Natural History across the plaza so we went over there next. OMSI membership came in handy again at this museum. (Luckily, I had checked the site ahead of time to get a list of the approved museums with reciprocal agreements) This time it was Ellen who was enthralled by the walk through the sands of time showing the evolution of different animals and the extinction of others. She could have stayed longer, but it was nearing lunch time. We found a place called the Balboa Park Village Grill and had burgers. We probably should have stayed in the park a little longer to look around since there is so much now that I realized I missed thinking I'd get around to seeing more, but at the time, I didn't want to wear them down after their long day at Legoland the previous day, and an upcoming long day at SeaWorld. So we packed it in, and the girls went swimming back at the hotel. The hotel has a whole bunch of noodle floats in the pool which was nice for Phoebe since she isn't a strong swimmer yet, and Ellen's imagination went wild creating a little boat contraption out of several of them. We went to Chipotle for dinner (which Phoebe didn't like) and then picked up some Aloe and laundry detergent at Target both of which were right across the highway from our hotel. While in that area, we also found a few other places to try for dinner that week as well as the train station to go into town (they call it the trolley, but it's got more cars than MAX). Before bed, Phoebe practiced her guitar. She did really well considering she had taken a few days off. It really is amazing how well she can do when she stops whining about how she can't do it and just does it. Got the girls to bed at a decent hour, and they fell asleep ok. Jada had a dinner with her team that evening so she didn't get back until later.
The girls actually slept in (all the way until 6:15am. I know you're thinking that doesn't sound like sleeping in, but in a hotel room in the same bed, that's sleeping in), and we went to Denny's again for oatmeal and free Wifi. It's also nice that we can just walk there instead of driving somewhere. This was one of Jada's short days, so the plan was for us to go ahead to SeaWorld, and she would meet us there. However, as we were getting ready to leave, she got out of her meeting early so we all got to go together. It only took us about 10 minutes to get to the park from our hotel. We had pre-purchased our tickets from AAA, so we were able to go right in. It was only 8:45am as we entered the park and were trying to get our bearings. The park didn't open until 9am, but the Sky Tower was open already. So to pass the time, we went ahead and bought the combo Sky Tower / Bayside Sky Ride tickets. Phoebe didn't want to go in for some reason, but once she was up in it, she liked it. It was just a room that rotated around a pole with windows all around so you could see out over the park and out to the Pacific. We were the only ones in the cabin too, so that was nice. By the time we came back down the park was open.
We went straight for the closest thing we could see, and that was the Rocky Point Preserve where the dolphins were already playing with a few people gathered there. Since we were still just after opening, there was plenty of room for the girls to be right up close to the dolphins. They had a lot of fun playing with them. The dolphins really are everything you hear about them. They're very playful, and willing to spray water on anyone nearby just for the fun of it. I guess you could say they're aquatic clowns in that respect. I was talking to one of the information people there, and she said it wasn't uncommon for one of the dolphins to just pinpoint one person and follow them around the tank splashing them. The one the girls took a shine to didn't do any of that, but he did flip water with his nose out of the tank at some other kids. What I though was interesting up close was the tears and chunks missing from some of their fins. All in the course of play, I was told. I guess they play rough. We weren't allow to pet these though. There's a separate area (and fee) for that privilege. The Shamu show tanks were nearby, but the first show wasn't until 11am. We still had over an hour to kill, so after looking over the fence into one of the holding tanks to watch the orca's swim around, we headed off to the tide pools. They had a lot of sea stars in them. I watched one of them move along a wall. I could really see the little pods moving it along. The World of the Sea Aquarium was adjoining the tide pools. There are some really large fish that live in the oceans. From there we went over to look at the sea turtles. Talk about large beasts. It's amazing to watch them struggle mightily to move on the sand, and then once they make it back into the water, they swim with so little effort. We stood there for a little while watching. The Forbidden Reef was the next exhibit we happened upon (in case you couldn't tell, we really didn't do much planning on how we were going to hit things which is not like us at all) which had a pool full of rays. They're my favorite creature from the sea. I love watching them glide through the water. I didn't actually touch any, even though this was encouraged here, but I did get splashed by them when I got near the edge of the pool to take a picture. The park expert posted there talked about how they don't get the credit for being as playful as the dolphins, but they do have that personality as well. (This would be the first of many exhibits where the people there referenced the Shamu show. Apparently the entire rest of the park has a massive inferiority complex for the big whale.) They also clip their stingers so they don't injure anyone since this is a petting zoo type of experience. The stingers are similar to cutting finger nails, since they do grow back. We walked down into the Eel cave next past a couple of sleeping guitar rays. Moray eels were not where you could pet them, and why would you want to? Man, those things just look scary, but according to the information posted around the walls, they are really not that bad unless provoked. We mostly saw them half in their little wall holes. We started making our way back towards Shamu Stadium at this point passing the otters and dolphins again. The otters weren't terribly playful. They were mostly sleeping floating around the pool on their backs. We watched the dolphins a little bit more, and then walked to the orca tank so we could watch them at the lower level glass underwater. Orca can swim as fast as 30 mph, and their dorsal fins are often droopy, though they don't know why it's not the same for all of them. There were 2 whales in the tank at the time, and there are 4 in the big show.
At 10:20am, we wandered up to the gate where a line was already forming for the 11am show. The sun was starting to come out too, so once we were let into the stadium, I slathered the sun screen on everyone..(well, everyone that I was responsible for). We got the first row of seats outside the "Soak Zone", but I had a little bit of a railing obstruction to the forward stage that I had to work around for pictures. Apparently the whales can splash the first 16 rows, and they don't make apologies for it. It's encouraged, and you can buy yourself a towel if you need one for $20. They even have a little cheer with hand motions to go along with it which the girls will happily demonstrate for you if you ask...or even if you don't. They do have a little video show going before the show to keep you occupied, so that's nice. The show itself was really fun to watch. You go into it thinking that it's kind of lame watching whales jump out of water. However, you get in there and it's amazing to watch these massive creatures move like they do. The girls were absolutely enthralled. I tried to take some pictures of them with mouths agape. As we made our way out of the stadium after the show (we waited for the crowd to clear out a bit), we found a walk way over the staging tank behind the main stage and watched one of the whales playing with her food sucking it in and spitting it out again. One of the other whales did it, and one of the many gulls hovering around the area swooped down and stole it. I saw that happen a couple of times during the day.
It was lunch time after the show, so we set off looking for something to eat nearby. We selected the Shipwreck Cafe. We purchased an All Day Dining Deal which allowed us to pay just the once, and then eat anywhere on the list of restaurants (which was pretty much all the sit down places there). In the end, I think we at least broke even, but I have to say after I decided to do it, I felt like I had let myself be taken by the tourist trap. They had some decent options other than the standard kiddie fare which was pretty much the same at every cafe (hamburger/cheeseburger, hot dog, mac-n-cheese). We were able to get a salmon and shrimp salad at SeaWorld. Yes, I thought it odd that SeaWorld would sell any fish dishes, but alas, I guess as long as it's not on display, they can serve it. We dined out back next to the sea turtles watching them eat their lettuce lunch. After lunch we went straight over to the Shipwreck Rapids ride. If anyone ever remembered the Thunder River ride at Six Flags, it's like that. You ride in an 8 person round raft that spins as it floats down a water trough through spilling and splashing water and under a water fall. I forgot to put my camera and wallet in the locker along with my backpack. I was able to keep the camera dry, but the wallet took a couple days to completely dry out. Next we went to the Bayside Sky Ride which was a cable car ride over the bay and back. This Phoebe didn't bat an eye at. Go figure. It was interesting to feel the temperature differences throughout the park. It was quite cool and windy over the bay, but in all the amphitheaters, it was hot when the sun was out and none of them had over hangs.
Our next show we decided to hit was the 2pm dolphin show so we sauntered through the fresh water aquarium and shark viewing tank to pass time before getting in line. There was a line to view the sharks for some reason. Not sure why since once we got inside, there was plenty of room to move. The set up was interesting, but I liked the way the Newport Aquarium does theirs better. More species of shark together with the rays floating all around the tubes. Here, there were only the great whites and I think a leopard shark or two that I remember seeing, and they have you on a moving sidewalk so you can't linger. The hammerheads were in a tank closer to the beginning of the exhibit. There was already a line forming when we came out of the sharks for the dolphin show, and it started letting in as soon as we got in it. We found some seats in the upper middle of the stadium, and it was also filled to capacity. Again there was entertainment before the show began to pass the time. It was hot and sunny now, so I was strapping some of the wet clothes that the girls had changed out of after the Shipwreck Rapids to my back pack to dry in the sun during the show. The warm up act was the care taker of the Dolphin Stadium and he played some songs on his guitar including, and I'm not making this up, "Sweet child of mine" by Guns n Roses. He was entertaining though. The show proper had about 8 dolphins and 2 large, black pilot whales. The dolphins and whales did some jumps, and they said they could splash as well as the Shamu Show (there's the inferiority complex again). They also brought a family up to participate. The trainers are really quite funny. When they brought the little girl up on stage to meet the dolphins, they started explaining to this 6 year old that all she had to do was jump into the 26 foot deep tank while holding her hands out in a hoop shape and the dolphin would come by and pick her up on his back. She was kidding, of course, but it sure seemed like the little girl was ready to do it. Then the "mom" fell into the water which was fishy (pun intended) since she didn't panic all that much and swam a little too well in clothes as the dolphins jump over her and swam around her. She was introduced as one of the trainers when she got back to the stage.
After that show finished, we were checking the schedules and saw that we had enough time to make it over to the Aquarium Stadium for the Cirque de la Mer. (Like I said, we played the whole day by the seat of our pants, and it just happened to work out for us.) It was an acrobat show like Cirque de Soleil with acrobats and clowns all in dramatic and colorful outfits. Ellen got really worked up about the clowns abducting an audience member and then stranding him out on one of the floating platforms in the bay where they performed. She just couldn't handle it "Is he going to make it back?". We had to explain that most clowns have their fun at the expense of others, and it's all in fun. He's going to be fine and returned unharmed at the end of the show. I couldn't say the same thing about one of the acrobats who I noticed looked like he landed wrong and maybe blew out his knee. Ellen just couldn't enjoy any of it until the end when they brought out the guy as well as the stunt guy they had dressed like him to do one of the stunts.
That inability to separate herself from the situation is one of her tells that she needs to get some protein into her, so we employed our all day eating pass at a place called Mango Joe's where the girls each picked up a souvenir Shamu lunch box that came with their meal (yes, we actually let them keep them). It just so happened that there was the final show we wanted to see starting up at the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium nearby, so we ran over there to catch it. This stadium wasn't quite filled to capacity, but it was funny. I think this was probably their favorite just because they laughed a lot. The pre-show was entertaining for Jada and I. The premise of the show is that it is variety show like SNL, but this one is called SLL (Sea Lions Live). As part of the cast, they have an otter, and two sea lions along with trainers putting on lame sketches just like the actual SNL. It would have probably been fun to see the night show too since it was supposed to lampoon the park's other shows. There were several shows in the evening, but we didn't plan on staying late enough to see any of them.
By this time it was already 5:30pm, but since we had already had a snack/dinner (sinner, or Dnack. The girls love the merging of words - Brinner is one of their favorites...just like Turk and JD) we didn't have to worry about that. However, we had completely neglected an entire side of the park at this point. We started with the manatee rescue. We love the manatee mostly because of our friend Pete's imitation of a skit from the Dr. Katz cartoon that used to be on the TV many years ago now, but the girls like it because of the John Lithgow book about the manatee. This is the only display for manatee's outside Florida. This was also the first exhibit where we noticed that we were put out directly into a gift shop. (as a helpful aside, if you ever find yourself here, if you're looking for something for a specific animal and find it in one of these specific shops, don't assume that everything will also be at the main store in the front of the park because at least in SeaWorld, that is not the case.) The Penguin Encounter, where we went next, was the same deal dumping out into a gift shop as with the Wild Arctic. For the penguins, the environment was very dark in keeping with the Antarctic where it is dark for half the year. It was also very cold in the exhibit itself which, combined with the cloudiness outside as dusk approached, made us feel like it was fall outside. On the exterior of the exhibit they had some of the penguins that are more commonly found in South America along Chile and Argentina.
When we got to Wild Arctic, we weren't prepared for the options at all. It was sort of a motion ride, but it didn't charge extra which threw us off. You can skip that part and just walk through, but we did the ride anyway. The premise here is you are taking a heli-submariney thing to the north pole research station, and, of course, something goes wrong on your trip. You make it safely, but not before you get buffeted about and shook pretty good. Ellen and Phoebe both made it through just fine, though Ellen said she didn't like vibrations. She preferred the roller coasters in Legoland to that. Once down at the "research station" (wink wink), we got to see beluga whales. The station setup itself was neat including at least one wall near the polar bears of real snow like the Rebel Base on Hoth. Back to the beluga's, they absolutely glowed white. They were mesmerizing to watch. The polar bears weren't around to watch, but the walrus was swimming around. That thing was huge. It looked like it was about the size of a hippo.
From there, we went to the Clydesdale exhibit. Why horses at SeaWorld? Apparently a beer company owns the park, can you guess which one? Ellen got to get up close with a horse, so she was happy. We indulged Phoebe in her request to go into the Sesame Street Bay of Play area, though we only agreed to the tea cups which weren't as much fun as the ones at Legoland. We saved the coolest looking ride for last - Journey to Atlantis. No, the band isn't including Atlantis on this summer's tour, it's a rollercoaster ride where you get wet as well. We only had to wait in line for about 15 minutes while I hurriedly crammed everything in my backpack into a plastic ziplock bag so I wouldn't have to pay for another locker. Ellen and I sat in the last row since we had heard that was the least likely to be splashed after the big drop. What surprised us was that that big drop came immediately after the first rise, and wow, what a drop. It was just long enough to make you wonder if you were going to hit soon or not, and then you really do get drenched no matter where you sit, and just to make sure they have water cannons that fire a quick burst just as you come through the first impact. Then you lazily float around the track into a building where some dramatic narration happens which is hard to understand with all the other noise. It was at this point that everything just stopped as we bumped up to two more boats in front of us. Then we were soon joined by 2 or 3 more boats behind us. After about 10 minutes, they finally came to lead us out of the ride through the back paths. The girls were very brave the whole time even though they didn't know what to expect. We were offered some line jumper passes for later in the day if we wanted to come back to check which we declined since we were done for the day. We were really disappointed (Ellen was distraught) when we heard that the part that was coming next was an elevator that pushed you up on a water column to the top of the drop and sent you back through the rear of the ride where all the banked turns and another drop into water was waiting. Alas, it wasn't to be.
We went in search of somewhere to eat since it was coming up on 7pm by this time, and dusk was upon us. It got a little cool out when the sun went behind the clouds, and as the sun set, it got colder (it never really got below 65 the whole time we were in San Diego, but it feels cold out of the sun all the same). The first place we went to that had originally sounded good, didn't appeal to any of us, so we tried two more places before standing in line for Mama Stella's which was a pasta and pizza place. I think it was one of the longest, and certainly the slowest moving, line of the day. We relaxed eating our meal (which I think helped us actually come out ahead on the meal deal) listening to the Dolphin stadium PA stating the show was full, and no more seating was available over and over and over and over again. We stopped at the gift shop on the way out and found the selection lacking a bit, but the girls finally settled on a couple of sea turtles in different colors, and Jada was super nice and purchased them each a Shamu sweatshirt which was good since we can't find one of Ellen's jackets (we're hoping to find it at Pete's on the return trip). In total we were at SeaWorld for 12 hours! The funny thing is that I don't remember the girls complaining at all about being tired of walking. They complained about other things, mostly about what they could and could not buy or eat, but not that. They were also pretty well behaved all day. They just had the usual tired and hungry jitters towards the end of the day. They crashed hard when we got back to the hotel, but luckily it was only a 10 minute drive and not an hour.
Since July 3rd was the day after SeaWorld, we figured we'd make it a light day again. We were up early since the girls were up anyway. The girls and I had breakfast at Denny's again, and went over to Balboa Park early. We found the museums that were the target of our day, the Air & Space Museum and the Automotive Museum. They didn't open for another hour, so we next went in search of the park we had seen the other day. It was a nice, large park, but the playground equipment is pretty much like every other playground these days. We were the first ones there. There were some interesting features in it like a sun dial and directional markers at each side of the playground. We went to the Air & Space Museum first. I'm not sure that the girls liked it so much, but they were good sports about it. Phoebe liked the space capsules most, and I think Ellen liked the WWI era air crafts. I liked it all. We went to the Automotive Museum next. They call it an automotive museum, but it's really more of a collection cobbled together in a large garage. The girls seemed to like this one a little bit more since they had some things they could climb in and around. I tried to get them to pose on the motorcycle, but it ended up being pretty funny in an Elaine Benis dancing sort of way. (that's for you Seinfeld fans out there. For the rest, enjoy). We limited our trip to just those 2 museums today. I can't even remember where we had lunch, but I'm sure it was out somewhere. We spent the afternoon getting piano and guitar lessons done while I did a load of laundry. Luckily they had a couple of coin laundry machines on our floor, so I could pop down the hall for a few minutes. Once the laundry and practice was done, we could go swimming, so the girls sort of cooperated. We spent about 30 minutes out at the pool. We were the only ones out there, and the girls used all of the floaty noodles. They divided them up and made rafts. Phoebe can kick like mad, and she was using them to get across the pool. The pool itself was your standard lima bean shaped pool, but it was 3' at each end with stairs, and the middle was 5', so neither girl could make it across without help. Ellen is really good in the water, but Phoebe is still a little too short to reach the bottom successfully. The only thing about the pool I didn't like was the constant wind that blew across it. It was really kind of cold, but the water was heated. Of course, the girls didn't care one bit. They were in the pool almost the entire time until we needed to go downtown to meet Jada for dinner. She was getting done at 5pm, so I had made reservations at a restaurant on the bay near the convention center. We couldn't find the place on the first pass, but we did find Jada since she was walking up from the convention center while we were walking down from the Seaport Village. We eventually found it and got a table out on the front porch. We were able to get the girls to bed at a decent hour, but they didn't sleep much during the night.
We actually did something patriotic on July 4th. We went down to the USS Midway. The girls and I took the train down town (or as they call it, the trolley even though it's bigger than MAX) and walked to the dock a couple blocks away. The admission fee included the audio tour. Ellen and Phoebe both started out listening to the tour and enjoying it. Phoebe got spooked as we were heading back down below decks from the hanger bay by the shift change whistle, and she didn't get into it after that until we were up on the flight deck. Ellen really got into it, though. She listened through every bit of extra material about each stop. It was a beautiful sunny day once we made it to the flight deck. We learned about the landing process, but missed the presentation with the catapults that launch the planes off the deck. After spending about 3 hours there, we took the train back out of town to find lunch in Old Town San Diego. We ate at the Coyote Cafe. Good food, but not outstanding. We went back to the Old Town area where they had many July 4th activities going on. The girls took part in learning how to do a little square dancing, but since they were each other's partners it got a little ugly anytime they needed to promenade with Ellen trying to push Phoebe off, and Phoebe trying to hold Ellen around the neck instead of by the hands. I happened to notice that there was a dance demonstration going on off in another court yard with ladies in colorful dresses and men in Mexican cowboy outfits doing more traditional dances. The girls enjoyed this more, I think. The day was hot and sunny, and I didn't get enough sunscreen on them. Even though I applied it twice, they still ended up with a little pink on their faces and arms. We ended the day with some time at the pool and a late-ish dinner at the Corner Bakery.
Sunday, the girls were fighting by 5am again. I think next time, we'll employ the system my parents used where they used a mix of cots and sleeping bags to keep us all separated. My plan was to make it to the San Diego Zoo. The plan was to buy the 2 day deluxe package since it was only $5 more than the single day. It included unlimited rides on the Zoofari ride (a cable car ride over the park from one corner to the other), the express bus (a double decker shuttle bus with different places to board and unboard around the park so you don't have to walk all over the place), and the guided tour (the express bus without the stops and with someone giving information about the park and animals). The zoo looked quite large, so I wanted to have plenty of time to see everything without a death march through the park to see everything in one day. My main goal on the first morning was to see the panda bears. We managed to get there even though the park is big with lots of trails that don't obviously go where you want them to. They have roads all throughout the park where the busses run. Some of these are bus only, but most are both pedestrian and motor, so you constantly have to watch for the busses which run frequently. We found our way there and we were among the first few which is always nice. We had plenty of time to just watch them and talk to the park host positioned there to answer questions. It turns out the panda's are like big cats. They sleep most of the day. Both of them were asleep when we stopped by the first time. I took some pictures, but they weren't that good. We walked up to the cafe in the Panda Canyon with accompanying gift shop to eat a quick snack and look around for a book that Jada had been looking for. Then we walked back by the Panda's one more time, and this time we got to see one of them get up and climb into a tree before lying back down with it's feet dangling. They had a massive velvet rope deal set up for later in the day when there will be loads of people trying to get in to see them. That's why we always try to get to places early in the morning. Both times we walked straight in without anyone else there but us. After that, I let Ellen have the map and decide where to go in the park. This lead to a rather circuitous and inefficient route around the park, but we still got to see a bunch of the park. The Polar bears were fun to watch. We spent a long time there watching one of them play with a ball in the water. It was a massive bear bobbing the ball around, throwing it up against the glass, pushing it down and watching it rise back up. From there we went to the opposite side of the park on the aerial tram, Zoofari. (this was a major theme of the day). It went from one corner of the park to the other over the whole zoo which took ~4 minutes. The other end landed us in the children's zoo area where we saw lots of insects, lizards (including the Kimono Dragon), turtles, otters, and the girls even got to pet some goats. After that, we went in search of lunch. We stopped at several places to find something suitable...meaning, when we found peanut butter and jelly on one of the menus at the Flamingo Cafe near the front gate, that was the one. Ellen had a turkey sandwich, and I had a roast beef. The kids meals came with buckets and cups for souvenir's. I made them carry them around the rest of the time since they wanted to keep them. It was actually convenient for them to have the cups since it gave me something easy to put water in from the bottle that I brought with us. [It wasn't until we were on our way home that it occurred to me that I could have bought some bread and deli meat to keep in the cooler in the car and eat it parking lot style the way we did when I was a kid. Oh well, live and learn.] Looking at the information we got at the door, I saw that there was a bird show that we could make, so we hopped on one of the express busses and rode up top (did I mention it was about 80 degrees and sunny that day?). As we were passing the Polar bears, we had to stop on the hill to let people cross, and the driver couldn't get the bus to move again. There was a shudder and a small boom from somewhere beneath, and even though we could hear her revving the engine, nothing was happening. Ellen was starting to get upset because we were going to miss the show. Eventually, the motor pool guys showed up, backed the bus down the hill into a side path out of the way and let us off. We still had about 10 minutes, so we headed for the amphitheater. We walked in just as it started. The girls had a lot of fun at the show. The birds were beautiful. One of their favorite parts was the parrot that sang Old McDonald...It really did it. I couldn't believe it myself. Following that show, we had just enough time to get to the children's zoo to see the sea lion show. They liked that one, but not as much as the bird show. Too much loud music and wacky sound effects. After that, we were able to get on a tour bus pretty easily so we took a ride around the zoo and saw all the places we hadn't visited yet so we could plan for the next day. We met my old boss from the UofI out for dinner. Ellen behaved very poorly, but luckily he has kids of his own, so he wasn't completely put off by it. We talked about all the stuff we'd done so far, and some things that would have been fun to do if I had brought the bike. At least I'll have some different ideas for next time. The girls were pretty out of control by the time we left dinner. Too much alone time with dad and not enough sleep, I guess.
Monday, July 6 was our last full day in San Diego. We went to the zoo again, and this time I laid out what I though would be the most efficient route that would also employ the express bus and aerial tram, but this time, I gave the decision to Phoebe to say where we would go. This time, we spent a lot of time watching the gorillas. There was a baby in there that was very active. The girls liked watching that. We spent all morning in the lost forest area where the monkeys were. There were lots of birds there too. We had lunch near the rhino's and giraffes. This is when I found out that the souvenir cups cost $4. I was trying to save money by just getting the kids meal without the plastic and extras, but when I asked for water, they put it in the cups still. I was just too tired to argue at that point. The Elephant Odyssey area which just opened this summer apparently was really neat. I got to see the lion up close. (The funny thing about the big cat exhibits was the signage warning visitors that cats were able to mark their territory up to 4-5 feet from the cage. Nice.) They had several elephants and a massive area for them to play. They also had these large rodents of unusual size which I don't recall the actual name of, but they looked exactly like the ROUS's from the Princess Bride. They definitely do exist, and we didn't have to visit the fire swamp to see them. We were done with the zoo after another couple rides on the aerial tram and express bus by 2pm. We spent an hour out at the pool after getting piano and guitar practice done in the room. The girls made some new friends. We went to dinner at Chevy's across the highway, and I must say, the girls were extremely well behaved all day on this day. So much so, that I let them have the ice cream that comes with the kids meal at Chevy's. I packed the girls' bag after they went to bed. Jada had done hers in the morning, and I was done with mine too. I started working on the June journal until Jada came home late from dinner. The girls had fallen asleep right away. Unfortunately, Phoebe woke up in the middle of the night for her usual cry of not having enough blanket. Ellen was moaning by 4am. It sounded like she was having a bad dream, but when we asked her what was wrong she just said she was hungry.
So, we started off the last day with our drive to Mountain View with 3 hours of sleep. I didn't keep very good notes on our drive, but we started with a latish breakfast at the Corner Bakery so Jada could experience that, and I could catch a little bit of Tour de France coverage on my iPod (Love that free WiFi). We left a little after 8am to avoid the morning traffic. We only hit a little slowdown between San Diego and Carlsbad. Otherwise, we sailed through pretty unscathed. Even through Los Angeles with the Michael Jackson memorial planned downtown was pretty smooth sailing (I was so out of touch with actual news, when Jada mentioned that they were having a memorial service for Jackson at the Staples Center, I immediately jumped to the former coach of the Bulls, Phil Jackson, thinking he had died...yes, I intentionally didn't mention the other team he is now coaching). We reached Pete's house in Mountain View around dinner time, and we went out to eat at a Thai place with his mom and dad too. We had a pleasant visit, but had to get back to our hotel to go to bed. We stayed at a Hampton in which was so much nicer than the Sheraton we stayed at in San Diego with free parking, free WiFi, and a free light dinner and breakfast, and a free larger fridge in the room! The beds were better too, but unfortunately, that fridge was really loud and kept waking me up much of the night.
We partook of the free breakfast the next morning after I got the car packed up, and we were on the road by 7:15am. It was a long day on the road. I-5 through central CA is excruciatingly boring. We finished listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Ellen was very nervous about whether Voldemort was going to get the stone, but she didn't ask us to turn it off either. She knew Harry would be ok, so she didn't worry about that. She read the whole book 2 more times in the car after we finished the CD's. We'll wait until next summer for the Chamber of Secrets. We arrived at home almost exactly 12 hours after we started, put the girls to bed, and Jada and I were not far behind. We found that Flower had chewed through one my mouse cables too.
Upon retuning home, our lives are more normal-read mundane. Not as much to report. We had to restock the empty refrigerator, do laundry, and give the cats some much needed attention. Jada and the girls visited Gram, who was excited to see them. Unfortunately, Ellen has had some behavior problems and she ended up with an extended stay in her room. Her "grounding" was the result of being disrespectful and disobedient at Gram's apartment. At least it was near the end of the visit, but it was still disappointing for Jada and Phoebe who were having fun. I returned to work for Friday after spending Thursday at home getting the laundry done and getting through the email that had accrued while I was away.
On my (Dave) birthday, Ellen was still grounded, so Jada did the shopping and hurried home so I could attend a soccer coach training camp. I spent 4 hours at the coach's camp, but I'm glad I went. The field training was fun since we got to do the drills that we would have the kids do. The classroom portion wasn't as fun, but it was more risk management and drilling in the sportsmanship and responsibilities to the kids that we have on the field. I got home around 1pm, and finally ate lunch. By 2pm, the sun had come out, and Jada let me go for a bike ride. I wanted to do as many miles as my age, but I didn't know a route that was exactly 37 miles, so I ended up doing 39.9. I should have just ridden up the block to get an even 40, but after 2 weeks off the bike with only walking to keep me in shape, I was happy to finish the 39 miles. We ate at home since we had done nothing but eat out for the last 2 weeks. Jada got some good chicken sausages from New Seasons which I grilled, and we ate outside on the deck. It was a nice day.
We had originally planned to get out on the quad on Sunday, but the weather didn't really cooperate. It never got much more than 64 degrees, and it was threatening rain all day which it finally delivered in the late afternoon while we were at Grams. Phoebe played her guitar for Gram. We made a quick errand to the mall to get a new iPod sync cable to replace the one Flower had chewed through in June. I also picked up something that I was hoping would deter the cats from chewing on the cables. When I got home, I plugged in my iPod to re-sync, and while it was doing that, I left it plugged in while I laid down in the big chair and closed my eyes. I thought the cable would be fine since the cats were both with Jada and I, but when I woke up, I found flower chewing on the cable again. I took back the spray I had tried the first time, and got something that was recommended by our friend Laurie's fiancé. It actually seems to be working. My iPod cable still works, though some of the wire is exposed.
Monday morning, the girls started their gymnastics camp which lasted all morning for five days. The up shot of this is that Jada was able to get to the gym and enjoy a couple of brunches with friends without the kids for a change. On Friday, the parents were invited to attend the last hour of the day to watch their kids do the vault, balance beam, uneven bars and several routines. The girls were grouped for a rhythmic gymnastics routine and then did a variety of poses to demonstrate their flexibility. In the afternoon, the girls are attending swimming classes. Phoebe moved up 2 levels in the first week.
Friday, we had originally planned to go up to the mountain for Laurie's camping wedding, but thanks to my work and issues that arose, I wasn't going to be able to get out early enough. Instead we got up early and headed out. Laurie had put some camp chairs and towels around our site to make it look lived in a little bit. It was at Trillium Lake camp ground, which is really nice. There are lots of trees, and our spot seemed really secluded. We couldn't even see other camp sites from our tent, and there was easily room for 2 tents on our plot. We pitched tent and headed to the lake to see it for the first time. After driving down there, we now know that we will never make it all the way to the lake snowshoeing. It's like 5 miles away from the parking area. After delivering our chairs and bag of dirt to the amphitheater, we went back to get dressed for the wedding. Pictures were at 11am, so we wanted to get there on time. We weren't officially part of the wedding, but we sort of stepped in to take care of extra things that Laurie's parents needed help with. I took over the sound system duties which really just consisted of making sure the mics were turned on and the speaker volume was high enough. We helped setup plants and chairs. Jada and I don't like just attending weddings, apparently. We much prefer to have jobs to do. Jada's official job was to wrangle all the kids to be flower girls and cedar bough boys. She and the girls decorated all the baskets earlier in the week, and we brought them up. She and girls filled the baskets, and we milled around chatting with Laurie's fiancé's family and friends. We were the first full family there, so we got our pictures first. Jada arranged all the kids to walk in sprinkling their flowers ahead of the bride and groom. The weather was perfect with just a light breeze. There were lots of canoes on the lake that we tried to keep out of the pictures, but who knows if we succeeded. The dinner was really good with very healthy food. Laurie has food allergies, so everything has to be just so. That also meant that there was no wedding cake. Instead they had some big bowls of berries, low sugar short cakes that were more like biscuits (these were stacked up with a bride and groom carrying their snow skis), ice cream, and syrup for all who want them or any combination of them. After the wedding, we helped clean up, and the girls played with Laurie's nieces and cousins. They were hunting newts and salamanders. They caught one, and Ellen actually held it. That surprised me. The only part that wasn't as good for us is that we didn't bring any dinner type things for ourselves. They had a fire in the evening for s'mores, and I brought my cook stove to make popcorn and there were peanuts (since Laurie can't eat s'mores like Ellen). I wish we would have brought some hot dogs or something. But we managed with some peanut butter that we did bring. Jada toasted the bread over the fire and the girls that that was fun. We even let the girls stay up until 9:15pm. The night was long for me since I never sleep well in the tent, but the girls slept pretty much all night. It was cool over night, probably in the 50's, but I had Jada snuggling up to me on one side, and Phoebe from the other side.
Sunday morning, I made oatmeal. We almost didn't get packed up in time to make breakfast up at Timberline Lodge. It was yummy, but I don't think they were ready for such a large crew since they ran out of everything shortly after we got there. We got to eat up around the fireplace with a view of Palmer snow field. We somehow got to eat at that same table with the bride and groom. That made it easy for me to intercept their bill (insert evil laugh). It was perfect weather up there. We had clear views across the desert to the east and down the cascades to Mt. Jefferson. We got home by 2pm, and we took a nap..well, I did anyway. We followed that with going out to dinner since we didn't want to cook, and we bought the girls some goggles.
On Monday, the 20th, Ellen started her Saturday Academy class on Games, Puzzles, and Codes. Swim class continued in the afternoons. On Wednesday, Phoebe had a playdate in the morning while Ellen attended her class. In the afternoon, they headed over to the library for a "variety show," and a stop at the market for berries, followed by swim lessons. That evening we were able to attend a game night over in a neighborhood where many of Ellen and Phoebe's friends live. It was a water game day, and the kids had fun. Thursday the girls had a playdate with some friends followed by Phoebe's guitar class. She does really well in class the the last 2 times, raising her hand and giving answers. I just would like to harness that for home and practice here.
Saturday we went on our first bike ride in weeks on the quad. We only did about 25 miles, but it went pretty well. The weather is getting very hot here this week, so we went early. It was in the 80's already before noon. I finished watching the Tour de France coverage when we got home. It was an exciting stage up Mount Ventoux. In the end, no change to the overall leaders. Looks like Lance will finish on the podium, but not on the step he was hoping. Still, it's pretty impressive that he was there at all. Before heading over to Grams, we picked our first home grown tomato which Phoebe got to enjoy. She said, "it tastes just like a tomato!" Then I took the bike I'll be using on Cycle Oregon in for a tune up, and we went to Grams for a while. We were hoping Phoebe would just practice her guitar for Gram. Instead she put on the same attitude display that we've been getting this week. She has a serious case of the Sixes. She'll be missing out on a birthday party next weekend for sure if she can't get control of this little attitude she's developed this week. We got the girls to bed on time for a change (they actually slept in this morning until 6:30am!) this week, and Jada and I are still trying to catch up on all the Daily Shows and Colbert Reports that we missed over our vacation.
Sunday was supposed to be the start of the scorching hot weather, so we started our day by riding the quad down to the Murray Hill cafe for breakfast, and then starting out from there. We met lots of other cyclists on the road. We even got to watch a house get moved down our route. We had to wait for 10 minutes as it passed, but at least we were in the shade. We ended up just shy of 30 miles. So that puts us just over 200 miles on the quad this year. Not a lot of rides, but the rides we have done have been longer. Hopefully we can get a few more in that will help us get near 500 miles again. There are a couple organized rides coming up that we haven't registered for just because it's hard to justify the cost these days, but we're thinking about it since we know the kids enjoy them. Jada and I just have to work out how to get the quad to the events and setup in time to start. In the afternoon, Jada cleaned the house in preparation for Auntie Mandy's visit while I did laundry and watched the final stage of the Tour de France. Phoebe and I got her guitar practice done, and Jada managed to salvage dinner even after the propane tank gave out in the middle of cooking it.
Monday another week of gymnastics class for the girls was on the docket. The temperatures registered at 106 around 6 pm when Jada was on the way home from swimming class. I, of course, rode my bike to work and to the chiropractor. Tuesday got up to 106 degrees again. Hotter in some areas. Jada and girls came out to pick me up from work, and we enjoyed dinner out in the AC. Wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far. The PDX airport only hit 106, but we had temps around 110 out our way in the afternoon. I had picked up Mandy and Nathan from the airport that morning. Lucky them. My mom and dad come out and we have a massive snow storm. Mandy and Nathan come out and we have a heat wave. I think the moral of the story is that I need to stop inviting people to come visit. Anyway, I dropped them at home, and I had to head in to work for the afternoon. Jada kept them out of the hot, stuffy house by taking them to see BJ the Clown at the Library. Everyone got to participate in the act. Nathan even got a balloon hat out of the deal. They met me out at a restaurant near work for dinner. Then I took them to the mall since Nathan had forgotten to bring shorts on the trip. I found a super cool Star Wars Lego Han Solo watch at the Lego Store so I bought it for my birthday. Thursday, Mandy and Nathan went down to Powell's and Voodoo doughnuts while Jada took the girls to gymnastics camp and herself to the gym. It was our anniversary (9 years! Can you believe it?), but I had to work late and missed Phoebe's guitar practice. We didn't get to go out yet. Friday was the last day of the girls gymnastics camp, and they gave a performance. Nathan and Mandy got to go watch along with Jada. I had to miss it again. I took the van in for service, and ended up getting all the 7 year service completed for a lot of money. At least we won't have to do that again for a long time. In the afternoon, everyone went to the venerable Woodburn Factory Outlet malls where there was much shopping done. It sounded like everyone was able to find something they wanted and the girls' school clothes shopping is complete! The van wasn't done when I left work, so I went home to have dinner with everyone. Nathan cooked dinner on the grill which was very nice of him-although I will eat even the most charred burger Jada puts in front of me. We put the kids to bed and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to prepare for going out to see the next film this coming weekend...which is next month.
And with that, we bring another busy month to a close.
Journal entry: August 1, 2009