Oceanside

We had a wonderful trip to southern California with the Slades right after Chrismas.  We drove down and stopped in Vegas for a night on the way.  I love Vegas! It was fun to watch Livy discover the wonder of the Strip...all the bright lights and wierdos-so much to see!  We stayed at the MGM Grand.

 We ate at the Rainforest Cafe which was a blast!  It was the first time we've never had to entertain Liv during dinner at a restaurant.  She was totally enthralled by the animals, water, and noises.

We left the next morning and finished the drive to Oceanside.  We stayed at the Worldmark condos there.  Here is Spence and Liv searching for seashells with Jennie.

We went to Sea World which was a ball! They have an entire Sesame Street area with rides, playgrounds, and things to see.  The Ya-ya's (Liv and her cousin, M) LOVED it there!  They even got to meet Elmo and Grover!  It was so cute! They could barely stand waiting in line to get up there and hug them.

Livy rode her first theme park ride-Elmo's flying fish.  From where I was standing, her face looked very serious the whole time, but Spencer said she was kicking her legs and having fun.

They also rode Oscar's Rocking Eel, which was a little more thrilling.  Both ya-ya's were a little unsure of this one, but they made it through with their daddys by their sides!

We saw Blue Horizons, the dolphin show and sat in the splash zone.  This was Spencer's favorite show. Boy did we get soaked.  It was fun!  I brought a change of clothes for Liv, but Spence and I were pretty chilly for the rest of the day.  We also saw the Shamu show.  Liv was so tired, she didn't make it through that one.  It was amazing-definitely my favorite of the day!

 We saw sharks, sea otters, penguins, and sea turtles...

 Livy having some Uncle Shaun time...

 Spence and I got to meet up with my friend Ali who lives in LA while we were there! We had lunch and caught up.  It was fun to see her!!

Spence and Liv went swimming...

But we decided it was a little too cold to swim outside, so we went to the bathtub instead!

We went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack on night.  Livy was hoarding her drinks.  She drank so much on this trip! We probably went through a gallon of juice plus plenty of milk and water too!

Grandpa gave her a lemon to try...

Livy's favorite thing to do in our condo was get in the kitchen cupboards.  I kept losing her sippy cups and realized she had been putting them all down there!  

We also hit the San Diego Zoo while we were there.  Here's Liv scoping out the map...

Monkeys!  By far, one of her favorite animals!

 Elephants!

 We had such a great time with the family.  We played games, ate plenty of junk food, watched lots of movies, played on the beach, and had a fun time together.  Thanks for a fun trip, everyone!