San Diego Zoo and Home

We spent Monday at the San Diego Zoo. 

They enjoyed seeing all the animals and birds.

The monkeys got a good laugh out of them.

Nathanh really took to the reptiles.  Snakes are a new favorite.  He even chose a snake stuffy at the end of the day!  We were enthralled with the leg less lizards, which we are still talking about.  They were lizards that looked like snakes due to the no legs!  Weird !

Thianna captured a gorilla.

My favorite part was seeing the giant pandas.  I've been watching these guys with my students via web cam for years, so it was good to see them in person.  We got really lucky because the sign said it was typically a 45 minute wait to see them, but we walked right in and saw them getting fed.

They loved rushing and getting their photos taken with all the statues!

After the zoo we took a taxi to Old Town for dinner.  There was Mexican dancers on the stage and both Thianna and Nathanh loved watching them.  We finally got the kids to leave the dancing so we could have dinner.  Then it was back to the hotel to pack.  We had to leave the hotel at 5:30am to catch an early flight home.

San Diego - Day 2

Today we headed to SeaWorld with the kids.  Nathanh has been waiting soooo long to meet a real, live orca!

I was pleased to find out that SeaWorld was celebrating Cinese New Year.  When I booked our vacation way back in November I didn't realize that I was booking on the same weekend as Tet.  Nathanh (and I) were quite disappointed that we would not be able to go to the parade in Chinatown this year.  But we did get a few photos and festivities here .

Year of the Sheep

We were there right from the time they opened the gates.  We started off with some rides because we didn't think we'd have time between all the shows later in the day.

Thianna and Erwin did this one while Nathanh and I watched.  Thianna is not afraid of anything!  Nathanh on the other hand is afraid of many things.  It really bothers him though that his little sister can go on them without a fear in the world.  So after this we did two other rides and Nathanh did go on.

Thianna was quite surprised when this beluga whale came right up to her.  Belugas are now her favourite whale!  She even chose a little beluga stuffy at the gift shop.

Watching the belugas.

Do kids ever both look at the same time?

Watching the Orca whale show.  As much as I dislike these great animals living in captivity, I have to admit I am thrilled to see them.  They really are amazing and captivating go watch.  Nathanh was pretty amazed by them too.  He wanted to tell his cousin Shaylene, a fellow orca lover, all about it as soon as the show ended.

We saw the orca show, the sea lion show, the dolphin show, the pet show and the acrobat show!  The kids did great and loved every minute of it.  At the dolphin show I asked each of them if they'd like to swim with the dolphins.  Thianna was an immediate and emphatic YES!  And Nathanh said no, not because of the dolphins but because the water was too deep for him.

The lion dance to start off the acrobat show for Chinese New Year.  This was our last show of the day so we were all pretty tired.  Thianna made it about half way through before she fell off to sleep in my arms!  I wanted Nathanh to get a photo with the performers afterwards but he was too shy.

Double strollers are a life saver!

Nathanh loved all of the touch pools around the park...Thianna liked that she got to wash her hands afterward!

Nathanh touching a bat ray.

Thianna liked this ray better!

While Nathanh was entertaining the rays, Thianna asked to go see the flamingoes again.

Apparently flamingoes are a new favourite!  She says she likes them because they are pink, tall and Nathanh doesn't like them.  (He doesn't mind them, I think it is because it is something that he doesn't go on and on about so Thianna feels she can "claim" them as her thing!)  She even told the taxi driver about them on the way back to the hotel.

After dinner when we got back to the hotel we decided to go for a quick hot tub before bed.  While we were outside in the hottub it started to downpour!  And here I was trying not to get my hair wet!  Nathanh was scared, I was quite content, Erwin wanted to wait for a break before we went in and Thianna thought the whole thing was terribly funny!  I sometime wonder what she thinks of us. I mean, five monthes ago she would barely even step into a swimming pool and now here she is outside in the pouring rain in a hottub and loving it!

The kiddos both fell asleep in about one minute tonight.  Nathanh even stopped reading his bedtime story and said he was too tired to finish.  That never happens!

Well I hope they get a good sleep because we are off to the zoo tomorrow.

Legoland

We are in San Diego for a short little getaway.  I guess that is one of the perks of adopting two kids from Vietnam...you rack up a bunch of travel points! We were in a use 'em or lose 'em situation so we decided to just go for it and get away to Southern California for a few days.  Nathanh has wanted to go to Legoland since the day he first heard about it and really there is so much to do here that it was an opportunity not to be missed.

So here's some shots of our fun:)

Getting ready to board the train from San Diego to Carlsbad.

Thianna enjoying her first train ride.

Nathanh building while we waited in a ride line up.

Their finished creations.

Thianna gets much more excited about having her picture taken than Nathanh.

No missed photo opportunities by this girl!

Thianna's hat, Nathanh's sunglasses!

Erwin and Nathanh

Lego Mexican Hat Dance!

Nathanh and I were in a police copter!

Nathanh's in the lead!

Lego StarWars!  I am not sure who was more excited: Nathanh or Daddy!

Thianna wasn't about to let Nathanh and Daddy get all the camera time!

The Millennium Falcon, need I say more?

A great day was had by all.  Both kiddos fell asleep on the train on the way back to the hotel and are now sleeping soundly in preparation for SeaWorld tomorrow!

Math Time

At dinner tonight Nathanh said, "Mom, when Thianna's 5, I'll be 10!"

The teacher in me needed to explore this more.  So I asked Nathanh why he thought that.  I got an explanation that impressed me and shows Nathanh's thinking skills (even if they were wrong in this case).  He explained that Thianna is two now and he is four, "so you just double Thianna's age to get my age."  Five plus five is ten so I'll be ten when Thianna's five.  Good thinking!  

The teacher in me also needed to correct him and explain that he will always be two years older than Thianna. He was even more excited when we figured out that he'd be seven when she is five:)