San Diego Zoo

Our next stop was the San Diego Zoo!  I just love going to the zoo!  This zoo was huge and it definitely didn't disappoint!  To say that Nathan and I got a workout would be an understatement.  They actually have buses that shuttle you around because it is that big.  We only got on the shuttle bus once at the very end of the day because we didn't think it would be very convenient to collapse two strollers, load all the kids and our stuff onto the bus, and then reverse the whole process once we got to our destination.  It seemed too much of a pain so we roughed it the whole day.  Right before we got on the tour bus a man who works there said to imagine the zoo as a bowl.  Ya, he wasn't kidding about there being really steep hills!     

Video of some monkeys (holler monkey?): 

This monkey along with another monkey were pretty loud and entertaining with their sounds.  I didn't get the second monkey on tape but it seriously sounded like a fire engine.  Easton was pretty good at impersonating that monkey.  I should have got Easton on tape. 

The crew ready for the bus tour.  If you decide to do this I would suggest not sitting in the back.  I got a lot of exhaust sitting back there and it gave me a headache.  Sitting on top was definitely nice and we were able to see a lot.

Leopard was saw on our tour.

Elephant we saw on our tour.

I think we all enjoyed watching these monkeys/chimps.  They would randomly come up to people standing close to the glass and pound on the window.

I only included this picture so you could see the man pounding on the window with his fists.  Easton saw him doing this and thought it would be a good idea to do it himself.  I'm not a fan of banging on glass and I thought it was strange they didn't have signs anywhere saying "Do not tap on the glass".  I'm not sure why but I let it slide this one time.  I guess I was a little curious how they would react to Easton.  Anyways, it was interesting that the monkeys seemed to like it when the man banged on the window.  They would come and put their chest right on the window where the man's fists were pounding and just stay there until he stopped.  It was almost like they were getting a free massage.  It was a different story when Easton did it.  The monkeys basically freaked out and it looked as though they were trying to attack Easton.  I don't think they liked Easton very much.

Video of Easton and the monkeys:

The monkeys actually attacked Easton before he even started pounding on the window.  Don't you just love how bossy Blair is in the background?

Easton acting like a monkey.  The monkeys really didn't like Easton standing up next to the glass.  Maybe they felt threatened? We left soon after this because I didn't want Easton pounding on the windows anymore and I didn't think it would be easy to tell a 5 year old he couldn't pound on a window when a grown man was.  Easton's all about things being FAIR!

The kids loved the gorilla statues.

Blair was so sweet with this statue.  Right before I took this picture she was rubbing the baby monkey's head and said, "It's okay little monkey, you're mommy's got you."

Piggy back ride!

I thought this one was cute too!

Real gorilla

Easton really wanted to take pictures of the croc.

And then of course he had to pose with one too!

Orangutan

Tortoises 

Blair and Easton

We took the sky lift up to see the polar bears.

Easton on the sky lift

Dyer on the sky lift.  He was a little unsure about the whole thing at first.  After a while I was afraid he might fall because he kept trying to stand up on the seat.

Nathan and Blair rode together.

Video of the view we saw from the sky lift:

Blair and Easton popping up!

Dyer stretching his legs for a little bit.

Blair

Nathan and Dyer taking a break!  Can you tell that Dyer isn't excited about getting back into the stroller?

Elephants!

Dyer riding an elephant.

Giraffes

Rhinos

Panda

I'm pretty sure this was Dyer's favorite part of the whole day.  He had a lot of fun petting all the goats.

Video of Dyer petting the goat:

Blair posing

Silly picture of Easton and Blair!

I had to snap this picture of Blair with her "friend"  We just happened to follow this family around for quite a while and Blair kept calling this little girl her "friend".  "Where's my friend?"  "Look, there's my friend!"

We all had a great time and we were all very tired and ready for bed after this!

Sea World

We headed down to San Diego for a week long family vacation.  We had a blast and we all came home exhausted as well!  Our first stop was Sea World!  We had it all planned out that we would wake up around 7:30, get ready, eat breakfast and then head to Sea World.  When we got to our room the radio on the alarm clock was on so Easton was playing around with it trying to figure out how to turn it off.  I'm assuming during this time he somehow managed to turn the clock ahead 2 hours.  When Nathan woke up around what he thought was 7:30 he woke the whole family up too!  It turned out that it was really 5:30 in the morning!  I guess that explains why it was still dark outside and why we all were so tired.  It probably wouldn't have been a problem if we hadn't woke Dyer up.  Once that boy is up, he is up, and there is no way to get him back to sleep.  On the bright side we were one of the first people to get to the breakfast room so there were no lines and we also got to make a stop to the beach before the park opened!

Playing in the sand/ocean.

Dyer checking out the water (of course) with Dad.

Easton got drenched by the time we left.

Blair was more content playing in the sand.  

Video of the kids:

This shows exactly how the kids are.  Dyer is all about the water, Easton's right in the middle (enjoys both the water and the sand), and then there is Blair who wants nothing to do with the water.

Video of Dyer trying to play in the water:

Easton petting a legless lizard.

Touching a crab.

Polar Bear

Walrus  

Dyer was screaming when this guy came swimming by.  I'm pretty sure it was a very excited scream!  One where finger pointing and dancing was accompanied with it.  I wish that I would have gotten it on tape because it was rather cute and entertaining.  

Beluga Whale

Yes, they were fighting over the wheel.  I love their facial expressions (especially Blair's).

I guess Blair won!  She probably used one of her favorite lines, "Ladies first, Easton!"

We saw the killer whale show!

We sat in the splash zone.  Luckily we didn't get wet since Dyer was fast asleep in my arms.  I'm sure that would have been a rude awakening to get drenched in your sleep.

Touching the sting rays.

It helped that the people beside us bought food to feed them so the rays kept coming close to us.

Dyer still asleep!  He was one tired little guy but I don't blame him since he was up at 5:30 that morning!

These little guys cracked me up with the loud noises they made to beg for food.

Video of the seals begging for food:

We also watched the dolphin show!  I thought this was the best show!

Video of the dolphins pushing the swimmers:

Video of the divers:

The kids really enjoyed the Sesame Street area.  Dyer had fun in the little toddler area playing with the soft blocks.

Video of Dyer:

He is such a little bully!

Blair and Easton had fun on the obstacle course. 

Easton jumping

Blair jumping

The boys riding Abby's starfish ride.

The girls riding together.

Nathan and Easton on the Elmo ride.

Blair and Nathan

Dyer of course loved the splash zone!  

The people across the way thought Dyer was the cutest thing ever.  They couldn't help but laugh every time the water shot up into Dyer's face.  The water shut off for a little bit and they all kept trying to figure out how to turn it back on because they enjoyed watching Dyer so much.  The water didn't end up coming back on until sometime after we left and got Dyer changed out of his swimsuit. 

Nathan and I took turns going on the Manta ride.  Definitely a must if you ever go to Sea World!  Easton really liked the sky tower ride and he wanted something like that for every park we went to after that.