San Diego

*Long post ahead*
Nov. 16-19
Sometime in October, I was chatting with my mom and she said that she and my dad were flying out to San Diego to meet up with my brother and his family (they live about 3 hours from San Diego).  I sweet talked her into letting Ethan and I tag along!  It was last minute and a ton of fun!
We flew from St. Louis to San Diego on Wednesday (Nov. 16).

Doing all his homework on the way there :)

Mountain view from the air

On the way off the plane, the pilot invited Ethan into the cockpit to help him out with some post landing stuff.  He told Ethan which buttons to push at what time.  It was pretty cool!

Ethan in the cockpit

After getting our luggage, and rental car, we were off to meet up with Jim and family.  It took a while to get our lodging figured out.  After getting into our rooms we headed to dinner and then bed.

On Thursday (Nov. 17) we were planning to go to Sea World, but it didn't open until 10am, so we decided to fit something in beforehand!  I had been researching and wanting to see the La Jolla sea lions/seals (I'm not exactly sure the difference or what we saw), so off we went!  We found a beach/boardwalk first and looked around a bit and then made our way to the "Children's Pool" to see the seals.

Checking out the pacific ocean

Paige, Ethan and Josiah found a cool tree

Jumping from the cool tree

View of the "Children's Pool" from above

Ethan and a seal

We could have walked up and touched them! (But the signs ask you not to)

Waves crashing over the sea wall, startling the sunbathing seals :)

Ethan and I- having a great time!

Grandma Terri too!

The whole group

Enjoy a video of the scenery!

Ethan and Josiah had so much fun trying not to get wet...or maybe they were really trying to get wet, who know?!  I didn't get much on the video, but you get the idea ;)!

After we had spent a decent amount of time watching the seals, we headed to Sea World!

We were the only 3 brave enough to sit in the "Soak Zone" for the Shamu show! (and we didn't get a drop!)

So neat!

Josiah and Ethan- right next to the tank and a whale

We got a special- behind the scenes- opportunity!  We were able to go on top of a sting ray tank and feed them.   I was thankful that no one fell in!

Ethan and the ray food 🐠

Petting a dolphin

Riding the rides, was by far Ethan's favorite part of Sea World!  Especially "The Manta"!

We were so fortunate that the park was pretty slow the day we went.  There were no lines for anything!  I think we rode this ride 6 or 7 times!  And some were back to back without getting off!

Loved his first real rollercoaster

We had to buy this one of the boys on the ride!

Leaving the park with Ethan's killer whale stuffed animal he picked out!

We basically closed the park down!  What a fun, exhausting day!  That night I had Ethan and Josiah in my room, and they were out as soon as the lights went out!

On Nov. 18 (Friday), we went to see the USS Midway, a retired Naval Aircraft Carrier.  It was really really cool, and might have been Ethan's favorite part of our trip!

Walking up to the ship

Ethan and Josiah as the "Boss" and "Mini Boss"

View out of the "tower" windows (where the Air Boss and Mini Boss work)

Steering the ship

Waiting on the flight deck

Flipping all the switches and pushing all the buttons :)

Ethan being a "shooter" on the flight deck

Just hanging out in a jet engine, no big deal!

Ethan and Josiah earned their wings while onboard the USS Midway 

After we had spent the morning on the aircraft carrier, we grabbed a delicious sea food lunch.  Then headed to Mission Beach.  We didn't plan to swim or get wet, so we didn't bring suits/towels.  Turns out...we should have!  The kids had a blast running into the water and back on to the sand.  They were soaked (and cold) by the time we were ready to leave.  

He was having a blast :)

Ethan and Josiah with the pacific ocean and a pacific sunset!

I LOVE this picture

San Diego beach selfie with mama

Saturday, Nov. 19, was the day we had to fly home.  We said goodbye to Jim and family as they drove home.  Our flight wasn't until the afternoon, so we had the morning to do a little more sightseeing.  When we went to the Midway, we drove past some other ships (all sorts: sailboats, submarines, fishing vessels, etc.) and decided we would check those out.  

The deck of the first boat we walked through.  You can see a submarine and a couple other ships in the background that we went on also. 

This is inside a Russian submarine (the black one in the pic above).  I found this one very interesting as we crawled through to each part!

Pop and Ethan in a control room on the sub

At the bow of the ship with San Diego in the background 

 We had an amazing time and can't thank my parents enough for letting us come along!  It was so special to have some one on one time with my biggest.  It's a trip we will both remember for a long time :).